Page 1 of Twister

Daniel

Talking to my adopted twelve-year-old daughter about her first period on the day there was a tornado warning had not been on my bucket list.

If I was being totally honest with myself, I should have been expecting this day to have happened well before now, meaning that I should have already purchased her what she needed so she wouldn’t have been caught out like she was.

But I hadn’t.

I was a single thirty-six-year-old gay man that worked far too many hours a week on his farm. Period care didn’t really factor into my life.

Therefore, on the day we should have been staying at home where we could shelter safely if one of the predicted twisters actually touched down, we were instead headed to the local gas station to buy sanitary products that, again, I realized I should have had enough forethought to have already purchased in readiness of the day that they were needed.

I’d obviously forgotten that I had a daughter who was diving headlong into puberty whether I was ready for it or not.

Understanding that I had only myself to blame for the predicament we both now found ourselves in, I scrubbed my nails against the coarse hair on my chin as I drove, darting a glance Rose’s way every now and then to make sure she was okay.

She was in the front passenger seat, staring out at the passing scenery. And she was unusually quiet, which utterly terrified me.

More than the period talk, I mean.

Bucky, our white three-year-old mutt, was whining quietly in the back seat. No doubt he could feel the awkward unease in the cab and wasn’t sure how to process it. He had doted on Rose ever since I’d brought him home a couple of years ago, and now whenever she was stressed, so was he.

“Storm’s looking nasty, huh?” I said idly, trying to break the tension, glancing up at the ominous dark clouds above us.

There was definite slow rotation off in the distance, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we got at least one twister by the time the day was through.

We didn’t see as many as some other states, but we still got the odd one here and there every year, even this late in the season.

Rose shifted her gaze from the side window to the windshield to get a better view. “Mm.” She nibbled her bottom lip, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of the storm or because of our far too uncomfortable conversation that we’d finished only minutes ago.

As silence fell between us again, the sound of multiple motorcycle engines came roaring up behind us.

No one else was on the road because of the tornado warning, so they quickly overtook us.

Five bikes, all Harleys. It was the second grouping we’d seen in our reasonably short drive, so I assumed there had been a rally or something going on.

“Hey, Daddy Danny,” Rose said uncertainly. “Can I ask you something?”

When I tore my eyes away from the bikes zooming past us to peer at her, I noticed she was nibbling at her bottom lip again.

Something was obviously on her mind, and it was making her nervous.

Was it more puberty talk? God, I hoped not.

One revelation a day was enough for this old man.

“You can ask me anything you want, Rosey.”

“Why don’t you date?”

My eyebrows shot up as I blinked in shock, and then my mouth opened and closed a few times before I forced my jaw shut.

This wasn’t at all what I was expecting her to ask, and to be honest, I kind of felt like more uncomfortable puberty talk would have been preferable.

“Uh….” I needed time to come up with a viable answer.

What did the parenting books always say?

Answer a question with a question? Hell, maybe that was standard business practice or generic friendship etiquette.

Whatever. It’d work here, surely. “Why do you ask?”

She shifted in her seat so she could look at me front on, her soulful brown eyes as wide as dinner plates as she sucked on her bottom lip in thought. “Pappy Jacky has Brett, and they’ve been together for a couple of years. I wondered why you don’t have someone.”

I grimaced. Bringing up my ex-husband and his boyfriend was always a mood killer. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy for Jackson to have moved on after our divorce had gone through, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hear about it.

A small spark of contentment settled in me, however, when I realized Rose still hadn’t given Brett a nickname, even after all this time of them being together. Was that petty? Probably. Did I care? Not. At. All.

“Well,” I began, swallowing to give myself just that little bit more breathing space while the resentment of the way Jackson had left us swirled within me. “I’ve been busy looking after you and the farm. Just like you’ve been busy with school and your volunteer work at the vet’s.”

She hummed. “Yeah, but you don’t even go out on any dates.” She frowned at me, her mind working overtime. “Is it because you don’t want to leave me home alone? ’Cause I’m twelve now and more than capable of looking after myself, you know.”

I pressed my lips together to stifle my grin. There was the return of the sassy little queen I adored so much. “Yes, I’m well aware of that fact.”

Rose crossed her arms and pouted at me. “So why aren’t you even going out on dates? It’s because you don’t trust me, isn’t it?”

Raising an eyebrow at her, I mustered up the biggest what on earth are you talking about look I could possibly create and responded, “Trust has nothing to do with whether I date or not. You know I trust you.”

“Then why ?” she asked, drawing the question out like only a truly precocious twelve-year-old could.

“ Because ,” I said, obnoxiously drawing out my response in the same exact way as I rolled my eyes at her theatrics before ruffling her hair.

I breathed a sigh of relief when she started giggling at me.

With the tension from earlier gone, it appeared that I had succeeded in this crazy thing called parenting. At least, for now.

On the outside, we were both all smiles, but inside, my heart splintered at the knowledge that she was getting to an age where she noticed more adult things like this.

How could I tell her that running the farm was a two-man job?

Jackson and I were supposed to have been looking after it together, but I had to do everything myself now.

Once he’d ditched us, he had the time spare that he could go out and meet people, hook up, whatever.

I didn’t because I was essentially working two full-time jobs and being her primary caregiver.

Where was I supposed to find the time to date?

Thankfully, I was spared any more humiliating questions about my social life, or lack thereof, when we pulled into the gas station.

I’d already noted that my fuel was lower than I liked it being, so I parked next to one of the pumps, figuring I could grab some gas while we were there.

I hopped out of the cabin and waved at the attendant, Gabe, who was standing at the window, watching for customers.

He waved back and flicked the switch to allow me to pump what I needed.

Rose hopped down from her seat and called Bucky to follow. He was a well-trained pup, and Gabe knew him well, so I wasn’t worried that she was taking him into the store with her. “If you wait for me to finish pumping the gas, I can help you find what you need.”

After making sure Bucky had his leash clipped to his harness securely, she shook her head. “Nah. Starlet Scarlett’s in there. She’ll help me.”

Sure enough, when I looked through the windows to the rest of the store, Scarlett, Gabe’s work colleague, was packing the shelves.

Somewhat relieved that Rose had a woman she could ask about these things and proud as all hell that she didn’t feel embarrassed to ask for that help, I said, “Okay. Don’t take too long, yeah?

We need to get home just in case a tornado touches down. ”

She waved over her shoulder at me as she walked into the store and headed straight for Scarlett, her long brown hair swinging in the breeze that had been present all day.

I watched Scarlett stand up straight, then tilt her head to the side as she listened to Rose, then nod before she cast a quick glance out the window to see me watching them.

With a cheeky grin on her face, she signed something to Rose, who laughed and nodded.

They both then headed to a different shelf and paused like they were discussing something.

Eventually, Rose nodded again and hugged Scarlett before she headed to the rear of the store, where the restrooms were located.

Given the high windows somewhat hindered my view of the store interior, I couldn’t see where Bucky was, but I was sure he’d dutifully followed Rose.

We’d trained him early on that whenever he had his harness on, he was to stick close to whoever held the leash.

Regardless, both Gabe and Scarlett loved him, so if he hadn’t clung to Rose, he’d be fine with them until I went in to pay for everything.

I watched Scarlett grab a couple more things from the shelves before she headed to the counter to leave them there, no doubt for me to pay for when I went in.

After the pump kicked off to let me know I’d filled the tank, I replaced the nozzle and frowned when I realized how dark the sky had become in the short time since we’d arrived.

The pumps were all under a canopy, so I didn’t have a clear view of the sky, but looking out at the horizon, I could see the dark clouds from before had dropped further and had tinted a worrying shade of green.

Clenching my jaw, I grabbed my phone, wallet, and keys from the cab, locked the truck, and hightailed it to the store. I needed to pay for our stuff immediately and get Rose and Bucky home now .