Despite becoming exclusive, we never had plans to start a family. There was a reason people always said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Rightbefore Roxy was about to take a job on Wall Street, she found out she was pregnant and all those plans had to be adjusted.
If she didn’t get pregnant, we wouldn’t have made it another month. We wanted different things. She wanted the fast-paced city life and I longed to own a business in Grand Haven. After talking things over, Roxy decided we could try small-town living at least until the baby was born.
Things were rough. We moved in with my mom. Money was always an issue, despite me working round the clock at the bar. To help save as much as I could, I also did odd jobs around the town, learning any skill I could to make a buck to support our baby girl. Roxy insisted she try her hand at being a stay-at-home mom. When I suggested she work part-time, she said I was doubting her capabilities and assured me that she was top of her class and “good at everything.” So I supported her fully. When she had bad morning sickness during her pregnancy, I worked more to cover the bills because she sacrificed a lot by moving home for me.
Noelle arrived on Christmas Day during a bad snowstorm. Luckily, Nicky used his plow to dig us out so we could make it to the hospital. After Noelle was born, Roxy and I fought constantly. She wanted to move back to the city. She hated that we lived with my mother, so I did handyman jobs along with working the bar to save extra money for a house. She thought small-town life was too boring, and her worst fear was getting stuck here. Roxy was always saying how being in Grand Haven plateaued her potential and robbed her of the opportunities her friends were experiencing. I wanted Noelle to have a similar childhood to my own and I didn’t have any jobs lined up in the city. We had help and support in Grand Haven. Her parents lived on the West Coast and they weren’t close. She would often say how she regretted her decision of moving for me and eventually resented both me and Noelle for it. Being a hotshotwith a corner office was all she longed for, and she secretly applied for jobs while Noelle napped. She wanted a life I couldn’t give, one filled with money and excitement. Roxy was gone by the time Noelle was six months old. She got her dream job working on Wall Street and popped in once a year.
The bell rang, breaking me out of my thoughts. Ms. Kenzie entered the bar, carrying a tray covered in foil. “Anne, I’ve called you all morning. Where the hell have you been?”
My mother rolled her eyes. “We spoke this morning,Kenzie.”
“I’ll have an Arnold Palmer, CJ,” Ms. Kenzie said over her shoulder as she bickered with my mother about old age and forgetfulness.
Once my mother left to help one of the artists at her gallery, I asked Ms. Kenzie, “What’s in the tray?”
She set it on the counter with a satisfied sigh. “Berry cobbler. Figured you might want some.”
I shook my head, amused. “You do realize this is a bar, right? Not your bakery?”
Ms. Kenzie gave me a pointed look. “Funny. I already brought the extras from the bakery to the shelter, but we had a lot left over. Why let it go to waste?”
She ran a homeless shelter with an iron fist one town over. Seeing people struggling to survive wasn’t an easy feat, after all.
Volunteering was something my mother instilled in me. She’d taught me that even at our lowest moments, somebody always had it worse, so we had to do whatever we could to help those in need. Over the years, I’d made it a habit to take Noelle at least twice a month to the shelter. I wanted to show her the value of hard work and how to treat others with kindness and not judgment or entitlement because of their circumstances. It wasn’t all work, though. She’d also socialize with some of the children, bringing toys or art supplies to share. I didn’t want her to take anything for granted.
Noelle perked up when she heard Ms. Kenzie’s voice. “Can I have a piece?”
“Of course, sugar. You’re my official taste-tester.” She scooped some cobbler onto a paper plate and handed it to her.
Noelle grinned and dug in, making a satisfied hum after the first bite. “So good. Nicky, come taste a piece.” My daughter ran off to give Nick some cobbler.
Ms. Kenzie patted my arm. “CJ, when are you gonna let me set you up with someone?”
I groaned.Here we go again.“Come on.”
“Oh, please. A man like you shouldn’t be alone.” She winked. “And don’t argue with me. I have a list!”
“A list?”
Ms. Kenzie smirked. “A whole list of eligible women in this town who’d be lucky to have you.”
Noelle ran up to us with a mischievous look on her face. “Nicky said he doesn’t like berry cobbler.”
“Nicholas!” Ms. Kenzie went to give poor Nick a piece of her mind, and cobbler.
Jena popped into the bar a little while later and gave her mother house keys she apparently forgot at the bakery. She spotted me and marched right over.
“Well, if it isn’t the town’s most eligible bachelor,” she teased, stopping in front of me.
I sighed. “Not you too. I thought you were on my side.”
“Semantics. You’re going to get set up whether you like it or not.”
I crossed my arms. “Pretty sure that’s not how dating works.”
“Have you met my mother?”
Before I could respond and warn her that Ms. Kenzie had an inkling about her and Keith, Noelle ran over to give me a hug. “Bye, Daddy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
