He struts to the cashier, body gel in one hand and deodorant in the other. It’s such a small thing, but to him, this is a big moment. A rite of passage.
The cashier takes a step back, and I can’t help but laugh.
“That it for you today?” she asks.
“It is. Thanks,” I tell her, pulling some cash from my wallet.
“Um, Miles?” Jake bounces to his left and reaches out toward the display of sunglasses. “Can I get some of these?”
I nod, fully expecting him to grab the shiny, mirrored wraparounds but when he selects a pair of classic aviators likemine, my heart squeezes. This is how things are supposed to be—but with his dad. And with my kid.
She rings us up and hands the bag to Jake and the change to me. I pull a ten from the stack and hand it to Jake before pocketing the rest.
“Here you go. Now, you’re a man with a job and a classic scent. The girls are going to be all over you at school.”
Jake hasn’t said anything to me about liking girls, but I figure his first crush can’t be too far off, if he hasn’t already hit that stage. His face flames red, and his eyes go wide.
“Miles,” he grits out through his teeth.
I dig my fingers into my beard, scratching a bit and then straightening out the whiskers. And there we go. It’s for sure time someone has a chat with him about girls.
The drive back to the house is silent. Not a word. I half-expect Chloe to be back by the time we get here, but there’s no sign of her.
“Why don’t you run up and take a shower?” My suggestion is met with more silence.
I thought the silent treatment was reserved for women when everything wasfine. Guess I was wrong.
I fill Bronson’s bowl with fresh water and let him out to do his thing. He trots back in as Chloe pushes into the kitchen, arms laden down with grocery bags.
“Thank you for mowing the lawn. You didn’t need to do that, Miles.” She drops the bags in a pile and starts unpacking things.
“I didn’t. There more in the car?” I ask, already ducking out to scope out her car. I grab the rest of the bags in one hand and the pretty bouquet of flowers tucked off to the side in the other. Chuckling, I hand them to Chloe along with a chaste kiss to her cheek. Closer to her temple really, but it affords me the luxury of burying my nose in her silky black curls.
“These are for you. Hope you like them.”
Here I am, thinking I need to volunteer to talk to Jake about the facts of life and what it means to be a man, and I can’t even get my ass out to buy flowers for the woman I care about, instead putting it on her grocery list. I deserve a kick in the ass.
“They’re my favorites. How did you know?”
I love that she’s finally comfortable with giving me shit.
“Is Jake showering? How’d you swing that?”
We work side by side, me putting her purchases away while Chloe pulls a hunk of meat, potatoes, and some other veggies aside.
“Told him he stunk after he was done mowing. Look, I don’t know if I overstepped, but, uh… I took him to the drugstore and got him some deodorant and body wash. He needs it; it’s absolutely time.”
Chloe stiffens for a second and then cringes adorably. “I’ve been meaning to do that, but…”
She works some culinary magic, filling the air with the rich smell of meat cooking. It’s a tease. One that promises an amazing experience later, but for now, my stomach growls loudly. Chloe hands me a piled-high turkey sandwich from the store’s deli department and then turns back to prepping the vegetables.
“But what?”
Her head tilts one way and then the other as she works. “I didn’t know how to go about it, if you can believe that. I always figured Dallas would take care of that kind of thing, you know?” She talks about him so easily. I envy that ease. “Did he ask any questions? About, uh…sex?”
Much as I want to give her shit about whispering the wordsex, I’m kind of glad she did. Because Jake comes flying into the kitchen, clad only in athletic shorts, water droplets beading on his bony shoulders.
“Mom, Miles got me deodorant to tame my man smell, and look!” He hoists his arm in the air. “Do you see it? I have pit hair, Mom. Pit. Hair. You gotta look close. See it?” He proudly sidles closer to Chloe.
