All right.We were doing this. We were having another conversation without the buffer of my niece and I was more than likely to fuck things up. Here we go.
Gennie ran down the hill toward the dog run, yelling every step of the way, “Doggies! I’m coming for you!”
Shay watched from the edge of the gravel drive, one hand shading her eyes from the last of the day’s sun.
The extremely annoying fact of the matter was that Shay was gorgeous. Just drop-dead gorgeous. The more I tried to ignore this, the more aware of it I grew. That awareness chewed at me day and night, accompanied by the lurking whisper ofyou could marry her.
I walked toward Shay, my gaze fixed on Gennie and my hat pulled low. I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Have you given any thought to our partnership?”
Shay turned to face me. “Have I—what?”
“The partnership I proposed last week. For your inheritance.”
“Yeah. That.” She shifted back to watch Gennie and the dogs. “To be honest, I don’t—”
“I need to clear up a few things,” I interrupted. “We’ll draft a prenup, of course. You’ll keep as much of your property as you want, we’ll share ownership in the event space, and I’ll keep my property. It’ll be a clean agreement.”
She shifted the tote bag filled with books to her other shoulder, saying, “I’m going to need a bit more time to consider all of that. Like, a lot more time. It’s not just about the land for me.”
“It’s not just about the land for me either,” I said. “I have a kid and I should’ve been explicit about her involvement in this from the start. I’m not letting anything hurt her. Not a single fucking thing. Gennie cannot—will not—get caught in the middle if we do this.”
“I would never want that,” she replied, her words sharp around the edges.
“If we do this—and I think you should know this is one of your better options if you’re dead set against taking the estate to court—we have to make it safe and stable for Gennie. That means keeping it under wraps for the year, living our separate lives, and quietly dissolving the marriage once the estate is cleared. She knows nothing, not a single word. I’ll negotiate anything except for Gennie.” I shot a glance at her but that was a mistake. It was nearly impossible to enforce limits when instinct told me to give this woman everything in the world she wanted. “Take that with you while you’re considering the matter.”
“I would never do anything to hurt her,” Shay said.
“Not intentionally, no. The problem is that Gen already adores you and she’s going to be heartbroken when you leave.”
Shay set her bag down and turned to face me. “You say that as if I’d just walk away from her without a second thought.”
That’s exactly what I’m saying because it’s exactly what you did to me.
“No,” I replied. “You’re—you’re good with kids. Obviously. You know what to do with kids and you know how to talk to them. I’m sure you’re really great as a teacher too, even if I can’t wrap my head around that career choice for you. But Gennie doesn’t have room in her life for more disappointment. She can’t fall in love with you over the next year and then you drop out of her life. If we do this, we protect her.”
“Actually, that’s a topic I’ve been meaning to discuss with you,” she said. “It’s what I wanted to talk about tonight.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t like the sound of this. I didn’t want to continue this conversation at all. I’d said everything I needed to say and didn’t dig myself into any new holes, and now I wanted to be alone so I could properly exhale for the first time since the afternoon. “Yeah. Sure. What’s up?”
“Gennie has mentioned a few things to me that I think you should hear about,” she said. “There have been a bunch of comments about not having friends at school, or having a tough time with the other kids. I think her pirate persona is a defense mechanism. She uses it to manage the discomfort of these social issues.”
Shit. Just…shit.
I met Shay’s eyes and waited a long beat before asking, “Is there anything else?”
“She’s embarrassed about her hair,” Shay said. “She says it never looks nice or pretty, and my guess is that also feeds into the pirate thing.”
“Why didn’t she tell me? I would’ve—I don’t know, I would’ve done something.”
Shay shrugged. “I’m not sure but she did mention that she’s worried you don’t know how to do girl hair.”
I ripped my hat off and rubbed my forehead. “Every time I think I’m getting a handle on this parenting thing, ear piercing and girl hair pop up and I’m right back at the start again.”
“You’re wrong about that. You’re so far from the start, you can’t even see the start.”
“The start is a goalpost that moves every day,” I replied. “And it’s going to keep moving. Today it’s girl hair. In a few years, it’s going to be—I don’t know—training bras and periods and Jesus Christ, I’m not equipped for this.”
“I think you are,” she said. “You’re doing a great job with her, Noah. You’ll figure it out as you go, and that’s the best you can do. I mean, she eats vegetables and does chores, and—”
