Joel chuckled. “That fucking kid was a pain in my ass. They all were to tell you the truth. Every single one of them. In their own way. Micah challenged me the most on my beliefs as a father.”
“How so?”
Joel wiped his mouth and beard with the napkin before answering. “I didn’t come from the best beginnings, and I sure as hell didn’t know shit about being anyone’s father. I tried to make Micah the spitting image of me, and he fought me every step of the way.”
I wrinkled my brows. “That’s funny because he’s so much like you.”
“That, doll, is what we call irony.” We both laughed.
Joel and I finished our dinner before moving into the living room.
“How long did he ask you to stay here and babysit me?” I asked, stooping low, taking a seat on the floor across from the couch to open the game of Monopoly I pulled out of the closet.
“Babysit? Is that what I’m doing?” Joel leaned his head to the side, staring down at me.
“You know I know self-defense, right? I can protect myself.”
Joel waved his hand. “Bullshit,” he said with a disgusted face. “But you don’t know how to shoot. Any self-respecting self-defense enthusiast should know how to clean someone’s clock with the business end of a glock.”
I shook my head but didn’t say anything. “Anyway, I’m the banker,” I declared.
“How the hell are you the banker?”
“Because I’m always the banker.” I batted my eyelashes at him, smiling.
He let out a guffaw. “You remind me of my Jolene.”
I looked up to see a smile on his face but a deep sadness in his eyes. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You damn well better. I don’t say shit if I don’t mean it.”
I smiled.
We went on with our game of Monopoly for some time. I have to admit, Joel whooped my tail in the game, too. When I thought I had the perfect plan or strategy to get ahead, he was already two steps ahead of me.
“You didn’t complain too much when I beat you. I like that. My boys all complain like little sissies when I take all their money.”
“I try to be a fair sport.”
He nodded. “That’s probably one of the things my son sees in you.”
I didn’t respond because of the sincerity in his voice. It caused a lodging in my own throat. And again, that prickling pain that’d been coming and going over the past few days came back. The knowledge of knowing I would be returning to New York soon.
“You two will figure your shit out. His mama and I did.”
I looked at Joel.
“That’s what his hesitation is about, you know. His mama. The light went out in his eyes, in all of our eyes, when she died. I wasn’t in a place to help him much. Gabe was still young and getting the shit kicked out of him at school. Ace was causing trouble. It was chaotic.”
I released the breath I’d been holding. I wanted to ask more, but it felt rude to ask for more than Joel was comfortable sharing. Instead, I reached across the table and covered his hand with my own. Why this man felt like family already was so beyond any logical comprehension I could come up with. But that’s how it felt. The comfort that comes with being near family.
My phone rang, breaking up the moment.
“Speaking of.”
“Go,” Joel urged, jutting his head toward the hallway. “I’ll clean up the game.”
“You know, you didn’t have to get your father over here to watch over me. The man has a life of his own.”
