"And that's my cue to go back to my office," Berto said. "Nice to meet you, Meredith."
She scoffed at him, then looked at me again. "You act like you moved into this fancy-ass house and became a whole new man."
"Kinda did," I admitted. "I stopped thinking I was a piece of shit who was only good enough to feed the cows and started thinking that I need to start acting like a role model for my daughter."
"By fucking some guy?" she rolled her eyes.
Which was when Faith decided she was finally ready to come downstairs, with both dogs following her. "You're just jealous, Mom. I've seen Dad hold Ash's hand more than you ever have with your boyfriends. He and Cy are cute too. They think they're being all subtle, but I notice when they go to the barn to make out." She grabbed her backpack off the ground and slung it over her shoulder, a smaller bag in the other hand. "Never mind that Violet's prettier than you."
"Faith!" I huffed.
"She is," Faith said. "I mean, if Mom wants to look like her, she needs to go on a diet, do some sit-ups or something so she doesn't look like a whale and embarrass me, right?"
"And now you sound like your bullies," I reminded her. "Just because someone hurts your feelings doesn't mean it's right to hurt them back."
My daughter's shoulders slumped. "Empathy. Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, Mom."
Meredith forced a smile to her lips then looked at the dogs, reaching down for little Lucy. "Is this your puppy?" she asked, all but ignoring the leggy and gangly Sissy wagging desperately for attention.
"No!" Faith huffed, grabbing Sissy to pick her up in a hug. "This is my dog. Her name's Sissy and she's a pig dog. Means she'll be big enough and fast enough to keep up with me when I ride Onyx."
"The horse," I reminded Meredith.
Then my daughter's face turned smug. "That's Cy's dog. He sleeps with her in the bed too."
"And she shoves me out of it," I grumbled under my breath, which made Faith giggle.
Meredith put Lucy down quickly. "I can't believe you let her know about that."
"Like you and Brody?" Faith asked. "Yeah, because... shocking, right?" And she rolled her eyes, making a point of it so Meredith would see.
"Go put your things in the car," I told Faith. "And leave Sissy here."
"Dad!" she whined.
"The dog lives in this house, cupcake. I promise I will play with her while you're gone, ok?"
"And sleep with her?" Faith asked. "Dad, she gets cold at night."
"And sleep with her," I relented. "I will even ask Ash to make her some pajamas, ok? But only if you're good this weekend."
"Ok!"
But she didn't put Sissy down. Instead, she pressed her into my arms and then headed for the front door. Meredith didn't follow. The woman stood there, shaking her head at me like she was disappointed.
"You are teaching her that there's nothing wrong with...this!Your girlfriend is bragging about being with another man, you're screwing around, and you'll probably be surprised when Faith's pregnant at sixteen the same way I was."
"I also know how birth control works," I pointed out. "My goal is to teach her that she is in charge of her sexuality, not a man, and certainly not her parents."
"Yeah, whatever." Meredith turned, making it two whole steps before she stopped and spun back around. "And you can tell your fuck buddies that their little lingerie party was a joke. People took the freebies and laughed all the way to the bank. No one gives a shit about you. No one likes Southwind, Luke. Free panties or not, they won't be your friends."
"Is that like how you said that Paul Simmons was the man to know because he has money?" I asked. "Or are you just pissed because myboyfriendhas even more? Give up, Meredith. You lost. These people aren't evil just because you hate them. I'm also not about to change my mind because you're acting like a bitch." I pointed to the door. "And I'll pick up Faith at church, like always."
"Asshole," she grumbled as she wrenched open the door.
I waited until she slammed it closed, then let out a heavy breath. "Bitch."
And then I decided that I'd have that drink and join Berto in his office. I needed something better to think about, and even a problem was better than my ex - or thinking about how much I'd miss that hormonal teenage daughter of mine.
