“Fine.” She starts to walk toward the garage with her helmet in her hand, but I stop her.
“Ellis?”
“What, Daddy?”
“You forgot your bike. We don’t leave it in the middle of the driveway.”
Stomping back to where she left her bike, Vienna and I both watch her pick it up and roll it inside the garage. She hangs her helmet on the hook on the wall and then she’s going inside to change her shoes because I always make her wear sandals when we wash the truck so her tennis shoes don’t get wet.
I glance back over at Vienna. “You were saying my daughter is so well-behaved, right?”
Vienna laughs. “She’s just headstrong, Rhonan. Trust me. There are worse things for her to be.”
I push a hand through my hair. “Somedays, I’m not so sure.”
“Don’t worry. She’ll be better off for it. She won’t let people take advantage of her. She won’t stay in a situation that feels wrong, or worse, change who she is for anyone.”
Vienna is staring off in the distance, but my gaze is locked on her. The tone of her words right now doesn’t sound like she’s just spouting something to appease my concerns.
No, she sounds as if she’s speaking from experience.
Shrugging, she readjusts her bag and takes a step back, forcing a smile. “Anyway, I’ll let you get back to washing your truck.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
She gives me a soft wave and then heads back to her house. “Have a good night, Rhonan.”
“You too.”
I stand there watching her walk away for so long that Ellis’s voice startles me from behind. “Daddy?”
“Yeah, Ellis?” I turn to face her, expecting to find her waiting for instructions. But to my surprise, she’s holding the hose and thenunleashes the water on me, spraying every inch of my body until there’s not a single dry spot left on me.
“Ellis Seraphina!” I shout at her as her laughter rings out. A dog bark breaks through the noise, and that’s when I glance back to see Roscoe poking his nose between two slats of the fence. When I turn back to my daughter, she sprays me again.
“Got you, Daddy!” Her screams filter through her laughter as I lunge for her. She drops the hose and takes off, but instead of racing after her and risking me slipping and breaking something, I pick up the hose and return the favor.
“What are you two doing?” Joanne calls out from the front porch.
I lift my soaking wet shirt from my body and toss it toward her. “My daughter has forgotten who’s the adult around here.”
Joanne picks up my shirt and starts ringing it out as I blast the water at my little girl.
“Daddy! No!” Ellis is laughing so hard that it’s triggering my own laughter, but she keeps running away from me, yet not far enough where the water can’t reach her.
“Looks like you both won’t need a shower after all tonight.”
“Can I take a bath outside?” Ellis calls out to Joanne.
“We’re supposed to be washing my truck, Ellis,” I tell her. “You started this. Are you ready to surrender?”
She holds up her hands. “Yes, Daddy. I give up.”
“Good.” Dropping the hose to the ground, we both stand there catching our breath.
“You’re running out of daylight,” Joanne says from the front porch, reaching for the door handle. “And you have an audience, so you might want to put another shirt on.” She motions to the house next door, and that’s when my eyes land on Vienna, still standing on her front doorstep, watching my water fight with my daughter unfold.
But her eyes are locked on me, and even though she’s fairly far away, I can still make out the movement of her tongue darting out to lick her lips.
