“He loves you.”
“I love him, too. He’s my best friend. He’s pretty much the only family I have left, because I consider him family. I wish I hadn’t gone so long without talking to him. I missed him like hell.”
“Then why don’t you let him do this for you without feeling guilty about it? He obviously wants to do it. He’s a big boy. He can make his own decisions, you know. Enjoy being together. Doesn’t JJ love him?”
He nodded. “Yeah. They’re crazy about each other. He’ll be a great dad one day.”
The class took a break. He watched as JJ ran over to the water cooler to get a drink of water, then she darted through the doorway toward the back, where the bathrooms were.
“You’ve had to be strong alone long enough,” Eliza counseled. “Maybe he’s seeing this as a chance to make it up to you for not getting in touch with you over the years.Lethim. Listen, I’d be thefirstto call you out if I thought you were screwing up.”
“I don’t want to overstay our welcome.”
“Again, lethimtell you that.”
“I thought moving back to Florida was going to be our chance to get ahead,” he said. “I thought finally, our luck was changing.”
“I’m going to give you some advice, hon. Just because you don’t think your luck is changing for the better doesn’t mean it isn’t. Sometimes, the biggest blessings look like curses at first blush. Just look at history for proof of that lesson.”
“I know you’re trying to cheer me up, ma’am, but I think I’m beyond that right now. I’m…exhausted.”
“Stay strong, hon. You can do this. Let Maddox help you. Hey, think of it this way—it’s making him happy.”
“That’s the only reason I’m not totally selling all my plasma or something right now for extra money. He’s acting like we’re doing him a favor by living with him. He sounds like he really means it when he says he doesn’t want us moving out.”
“Then believe him.”
JJ returned from the bathroom and waved at him as she headed back to resume her place in the class.
“Is she having fun?” he asked Eliza.
“Oh, absolutely. You know the benefit of her learning all this?”
“What?”
“Between this, and June, and Rusty chomping at the bit to get her to our reenactment group and start teaching her how to use weapons, you aren’t going to have any worries about boys giving her shit. She’s going to be fricking lethal, just like our daughter.”
“I guess that’s something.”
Twenty minutes later class ended. JJ ran over to him, throwing herself at him for a hug. “Did you watch me, Daddy?”
He scooped her up into his arms. “I sure did. Are you a black belt yet?” he teased. “Taking out ninjas left and right? Ready to join the samurais?”
She giggled. “No, Daddy.”
“Well, let’s get your stuff and get home. I want to start dinner so it’s ready when Uncle Dox gets home. Go say good-bye to Miss Eliza.”
She put her shoes on and ran to do that, then grabbed herself another drink of water. Before he could stop her, she darted back to the bathroom again.
At least she was now at the age where, unless they were at some sort of venue where he didn’t feel comfortable letting her out of his sight, she could use the bathroom on her own.
While she did that he grabbed her gym bag and backpack. Once they were in the truck and on the way home, she started talking his ear off about school that day, and her friends, andevvverything.
He nodded where appropriate, he hoped. At least with her in the backseat she couldn’t tell when he wasn’t paying close attention to her like she used to could.
Right now he was trying to decide what to make for dinner. If Dox wouldn’t let him pay rent, and wouldn’t let him give him grocery money, the least he could do was take up the slack and do chores and cook for the man.
Maybe Eliza’s right. Maybe I should take him at his word.
