“Because if he’s important to my niece, he’s important to me.”
“Fuck.” I walked through the crowd of people, ignoring the glances of appreciation cast my way, things my sister and daughter liked to tease me about being oblivious to.
“I’m nothing like Dad,” I argued but didn’t know if I believed that anymore. Was I making the same mistakes my dad had?
“Bud, I hate to tell you, but the way you’re trying to push your agenda is exactly like our dad.”
“I’m going back to my room to grab my?—“
“I swear to god, and I’m not kidding, Caleb Walker, if you leave and come here after going back on your word about trying to put yourself out there and meeting someone nice, she’s not going to forgive you. And honestly, I’m not sure I will, either.” My little sister used a stern tone I’d never heard before in my life from her.
“Court—“
“You deserve to be happy,” she interrupted. My steps faltered just as I was about to head outside. “You might have chased after a dream once and stumbled, but that doesn’t mean you’re a failure.” I breathed deeply.
I’d heard this before, but for some reason, my sister’s words started to settle, and I was actually soaking them in, chipping away at something inside of me.
“And even if we fail, bud, that’s how we learn. Isn’t that what you always tell Cassie? What you told me when I decided not to go to medical school like I had always planned?”
“That’s different.”
“Why? Because it’s not you? Failures and making mistakes help us learn not only about life but about ourselves. I mean, look at your life, for goodness sake, Caleb! You’re not somedeadbeat dad living in Mom and Dad’s basement. You’re a successful landscaper. You own your own home and a great business. I mean, your work’s been in magazines! You’ve raised a beautiful, caring, talented, seriously smart kid.”
“We have one rule—“ I started to remind her, knowing I didn’t have a leg to stand on.
“Rules shmules.” I could almost hear her eyes were rolling. “You should see how he looks at her, Caleb.”
“How a seventeen-year-old football player hopped on hormones looks at my daughter? That’s what you want me to see? So I could what? Kill him, Court?”
“No, smartass! So you could see how a kind, respectable, intelligent young man looks at my niece like she’s beautiful inside and out. Like he can’t believe his eyes. Like he knows something precious and a woman worth her weight in gold when he sees it.”
“He might look at her that way, but I know what’s going through his head.” My argument was weak at best, and I knew it.
“Maybe, but he’s not acting on it. Plus, it doesn’t mean she’s going to do anything, and even if she decided to do something like, oh, I don’t know?—“
“Court,“ I warned her.
“—kiss him.” I made a face as I leaned against the brewery’s wall outside. “You can’t stop that. She’s a good kid, Caleb. All you can do is trust that you and Carol raised her in a way that she will make safe and responsible choices.”
“When she goes to college?—“
“Wouldn’t you rather she started to make those choices now?” I frowned. “When you guys are close by in case she needs you or Carol? That way, when she goes away to college, that trust is built a little stronger.”
“Can you stop reminding me that she’s going to be leaving soon?” I muttered under my breath, knowing and hating that my little sister was right.
“Maybe someone needs to. You act like Cassie is five instead of seventeen, about to be eighteen!” I could feel Court’s frustration with me. “Especially with this stupid no-dating rule. He hasn’t even asked her out. He’s her friend.”
“Friend,” I scoffed. “He likes her. He asked her to tutor him when he’s a straight-A student.”
“He likes her, but he knows your rule and has been respectful of that. But prom is going to come up sooner than later. And honestly… maybe you both need to date!”
“Court—"
“Relationships aren’t the end of the world, Caleb. Meeting someone to grow a friendship with or, I don’t know, share your life with is not the worst idea ever. Maybe even have a couple more kids.” I blinked.
“More kids?” I repeated. I’d never had enough time to think about what I wanted from my life when I’d been a teenager chasing musical dreams.
But for a split second, when Carol had told me she was pregnant and I was ready to marry her, I might have imagined a house full of kids running around. I shook my head. No. Dreams like that weren’t meant for me. Not when I was already forty-five.
