Page 4 of Of Course, Cutie
It was all bullshit, Lexi acting like I couldn’t be trusted when she was the one that cheated. Thinking about the way things ended left a bitter taste in my mouth. I could still hear Lexi’s tear-filled voice over the phone. “Burke, I’ve been… seeing someone.”
If she weren’t the mother of my beautiful baby girl, I would have told her to burn in hell. But instead, I quit my job on the Alaskan oil rig — the one that she insisted I take because the pay was so good— and came home to try to make things work.
Things didn’t work. They got real ugly between Lexi and me, but I fought like hell to keep the ugliness hidden from Tess. I couldn’t hide it all, and my sweet little girl’s tear-filled eyes were burned into my memory. I could still see her standing on the porch when I moved out, still hear her crying, “Daddy! Don’t go!”
It broke my damn heart.
Then Lexi met someone new. The asshole got a fancy management job near Seattle, and Lexi took my little girl and chased after him.
I had no choice but to follow her.
My doorbell rang, and I headed down the hall to answer it.
“Daddy!” Tess’s brown eyes sparkled, and she flung her arms around my legs. This was always the best part of coming home from the oil rig in the off-season— my Tess.
“Hi, sweetheart.” I sank to my knees and wrapped my arms around her tiny six-year-old body. I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too! You wanna see what I made at school today?” Tess grinned.
“Ye—“
“No, honey. Your backpack is in the car, and we’re only staying for a minute.” I almost forgot Lexi was standing there, too. She smoothed her expensive sweater with her freshly manicured hands and reminded me how much she liked to spend all my money. “Are you going to invite me in, Burke?” Her tone carried a bite.
“Of course. Please come in, Lex.” I stepped back, keeping Tess’s hand in mine.
Lexi stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her. I took note of her freshly bleached hair and expensive bag and shoes, too. Did she buy these when we were still together, or was she spending her new boyfriend’s money?
My ex-wife folded her arms. “Show me where she’ll be staying.”
“Right this way.” I headed down the hall and held open the first door on the right. “Go check out your room, Tess. We can make it more fun for you, but I got you a bed and a dresser, and I made you a toy chest.”
Tess grinned and dove onto the bed. “I get two beds! That’s cool, daddy!”
Lexi pursed her lips and glanced around the room. “It looks fine.” She sniffed and poked her head in the bathroom across the hall. “Clean.” Lexi sent a cool glance my way. “And you got a job here already?”
I fought to keep my eyes from rolling back in my head. “I did. I already worked out my schedule so that I’ll be free every other weekend like we talked about.”
“Great. Tess, baby girl, it’s time to go!”
Tess was wandering around her new room, checking out her closet and dresser. She was just about to open the toy chest I built for her, and her eyes filled with disappointment. “Mommy, can’t I have like five more minutes?”
“No, baby girl. We have some errands to run before dinner, and I’m sure your father is busy.” Lexi held out her hand. “Let’s go, Tess.”
I groaned inwardly. Lexi didn’t have to make me sound like an asshole that was too busy to spend time with my daughter. I sank to my knees and held out my arms to Tess. “Hey sweetheart, I’m glad you like your room. I can’t wait for you to come and stay with me.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Listen to your mom, okay? I’ll see you soon.”
Tess pouted but followed Lexi to the front door. After I waved goodbye to Tess, I closed the door behind them and leaned against it. I never in a million years pictured my life turning out this way, but there was no point dwelling on regrets. Things could always be worse. Bartending to be closer to my sweet little girl was better than working on a dangerous, frigid boat half the year and missing her like crazy. I could handle this. I glanced at my watch and noted that I had to be at work in thirty minutes, so I took a quick shower and then headed to the bar.
???
At 9:30 pm, I stepped out the back door of ’69 to take my break and found my boss’s little sister sitting on the steps. “Hey, sorry. Didn’t know anyone was out here.”
She turned her bright, blue eyes up to look at me and attempted to hide a beer in her leather jacket. I stared at the beer, then back at her, then back at the beer. A laugh escaped my throat, and I held out my hand. “Give it here.”
“Fuck.” Charlie handed me the bottle and pulled her beanie down a little lower on her forehead. “It’s bullshit, you know—the drinking laws. If I can vote and go to prison, I should be able to drink a stupid beer.”
“You’re not wrong.” I took a sip of her beer. She went with a Shock Top, which was not surprising. “But, the law is the law until we change it.”
Charlie let out a long slow breath into the chilly autumn night. “Please don’t tell my brother.”
