“You said you have a daughter?”
“Yeah, Isla.”
“Where’s she this afternoon?” Charlotte asked, sipping her beer.
“She’s at the zoo trying to track down a hippo.”
“She’s at the zoo? Why didn’t we go there? I love the zoo. I’m a huge fan of the giraffes, with their long necks and wobbly legs. They’re gorgeous,” Charlotte bubbled.
It was on the tip of my tongue to reply with ‘you’re gorgeous’ but I knew how cheesy it sounded so forced myself to swallow the words back down. “Maybe next time we go there then.”
“Next time? You assuming there’ll be a next time?”
“We both know there will be,” I replied cockily. Two could play at this game, and if Charlotte was having even half as much fun as I was sparring with her, then there’d definitely be a next time.
“So, what’s Isla like?” Charlotte asked casually.
“She’s amazing. She’s the best thing I’ve ever done. She’s a lot like you actually,” I commented, fishing for a reaction.
Dropping her feet from the back of the chair, she spun to face me directly. “How’s she like me?” Charlotte took the bait. Hook, line, and sinker.
“She’s smart. Sassy. Beautiful. Kind. And keeps me on my toes.” And wasn’t that the truth.
When I’d reminded her last night that she was going with Mrs. Neal to the zoo today she’d asked why I wasn’t going with them. She knew it was my day off and I tried not to hide anything from her, but I wasn’t ready to tell her about Charlotte yet. With all the mom questions lately, the last thing I wanted to do was to get her hopes up. Then this morning, a meltdown come guilt trip had me considering canceling my plans with Charlotte and going along with whatever Isla wanted. The tears, the tantrums, the hurtful comments about how I didn’t love her got to me. By the time Mrs. Neal arrived, I explained I was going to go with them to the zoo.
“No,” she’d replied stubbornly, which, in that moment, was exactly just what I needed in my life—another stubborn woman telling me what to do.
“Isla …”
“Will get over it, Luke. You are going on your date. Charlotte sounds like a lovely girl, and I know you like her. I will not let you let that girl down.”
I don’t know why I was surprised by her ‘take no prisoners’ attitude.
“She’s upset,” I tried to explain, hating that it was my fault I could hear Isla crying in her room.
“She’s six. She’ll get over it,” Mrs. Neal replied. I’d never seen this side of her before. Normally she was the nice lady who knitted sweaters and made the best mac and cheese I’d ever had. This was completely new to me. “Now, go and get yourself ready and leave Isla to me.”
“I’m not sure …”
“I am. Now scoot.”
Now I was here, I’m glad I was. It hadn’t been easy leaving Isla mid-tantrum where she screeched that she hated me, but sitting here in the sun I was starting to feel better. Especially since Mrs. Neal kept sending me photos of Isla smiling with the animals in the background.
“Sounds like most father-daughter relationships,” Charlotte offered.
“Like yours?”
A sad smile crossed Charlotte’s face before she said, “I wish.” I don't know if it was the way she curled into herself or the sadness in her words, but I wanted to wrap my arms around her and take away her hurt. And the scariest thing was, it wasn’t the first time. “My parents died.”
“Both of them?”
“Mom had breast cancer when I was a kid.”
“I’m sorry,” I replied automatically.
“After she died, Dad was pretty much a broken shell of a man. He never got over her. He was a great Dad, and he did what he could, but I think I always knew he was sad. He died a week after I turned eighteen.”
I couldn’t help myself. Reaching out, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and hugged her. For a moment, we just sat there, surrounded by people enjoying their afternoon in the sun, watching the game completely absorbed in our own little bubble.
