"Dunno, cupcake," I told her. "We'd have to ask Violet and Ash."
"Dad!" Faith groaned as soon as the nickname fell from my lips.
But Zeke was grinning. "Cupcake? Fits you, Faith."
"No, only he can call me that. Dad, you aren't supposed to do that in front of my friends!"
"Dad rules, kiddo," I teased. "My job's to embarrass you somehow. Just be glad I'm not pulling out the baby pictures."
"Do not," she warned.
"Not until I meet your first boyfriend," I assured her. Then I glanced over at Zeke. "Just be glad I don't have any of you, although your mom might share. I'll show your boyfriends too."
Zeke's eyes got huge. "You..."
"Told you my dad doesn't care," Faith said smugly.
"I had a real good friend," I explained, "who told me that love is love. Doesn't matter if that's gay, straight, something in the middle, friends, or just family. It's still love, and it's what makes us stronger. I kinda like that."
"Who said that?" Faith asked.
"Vera Dawson," I told her. "She raised all of us up there at Southwind."
"How come you didn't know Violet back then?" Faith asked.
"Well, we bumped into each other," I admitted, slowing down for the turn into the trailer park. "No, that's stretching the truth, Faith. Violet got bullied, and I picked her up and carried her to the nurse. I was a little distracted that day, though, because I'd just found out about you. Then Violet had problems, so she went away. I ended up moving in right after she and Ash went to start modeling. Brushed shoulders with Cy a few times, but I had a little girl on my mind."
"Me," Faith explained to Zeke. "My dad was a mess."
"I was doing pretty good," I assured her. "I made the most of being a mess." Then I looked at Zeke. "Ok, which one?"
"All the way at the back," he said, pointing to show me which way to go.
But when we pulled up, I noticed the door had been boarded over. "What's up with that?" I asked.
Zeke tensed beside me. "Door's broke."
"Broke how?" I asked.
"Handle came off the doorknob," he mumbled, sounding embarrassed about it.
I just nodded. "Got another? Maybe a door that you don't use too much, like for the laundry or a bedroom?"
"Yeah?"
So I parked the truck and turned it off. "Faith? Hop in the back and get my toolbox, would ya? We're going to fix the Harding's door."
"Ok, Dad," she agreed.
Zeke was just staring at me. "Just like that?"
"Sure, it's easy," I promised. "Kinda what I do for a living. I fix things. Figure I can show you how. I mean, unless you're not the kind of guy to care about that, then I'll just fix it."
"Why?" he asked. "No one does shit for us." Then he realized what he'd said. "Stuff, I mean."
"Because I can," I told him, climbing out.
Zeke did the same on his side. Faith handed me my toolbox over the edge of the bed, then climbed back down, and the group of us followed Zeke around to the back. The boy's hands were shaking as he pulled out his keys and unlocked it. Nervous, I realized, but he was faking it pretty well.
