Page 1 of My Redneck Baby Daddy

Chapter 1

Rue

By the time the last bell rang, I had graded twenty-two essays on The Great Gatsby. Exactly nineteen of them had informed me that the green light symbolized hope. Quietly, I capped my red pen, pushed my glasses back up my nose, and reached for the next paper in a stack that leaned against a tower of paperbacks I kept meaning to shelve. Sticky notes in three colors climbed the edge of my monitor, and my cardigan hung over the back of my chair.

I was perfectly content, which is exactly when my best friendd of a million years, Regina Beharie appeared in my doorway.

"Six o'clock," she said, tapping her bare wrist as if she owned a watch. "Don’t even think about bailing."

I didn't bother to look up from the essay in front of me. "I have essays to grade."

Regina leaned against my doorframe. "You've had essays to grade since 2017."

I shrugged, “Children keep writing them."

"And you keep using them as an excuse not to get laid."

I nearly dropped my red pen. "We are at work, Regina."

She grinned, because embarrassing me in a professional setting was her favorite hobby, and she had a guidance counselor's talent for it.

I gave up on the essay. "Who is he again?"

My friend was a coy one. “Bobby."

"Bobby who?"

Regina became suddenly fascinated by something on her phone, which should have set off every alarm in my head.

"Regina!”

"Six o'clock, Rue. And wear the green sweater, babe.”

She was gone before I could ask which green sweater, and I stared at the empty doorway with the suspicion that I had just lost a negotiation I never knew I was in.

I changed a few time, before I settled on anything. The red dress felt like a cry for help, and the blouse made me look ready to lead a faculty meeting.

When a woman has been on approximately zero successful dates, she has no idea what she is supposed to wear to one, so I ended up in dark jeans, ankle boots, small gold earrings, and the soft green sweater Regina had ordered.

I studied the woman in the mirror, five feet nothing with warm brown skin and glasses that never stayed put, and I couldn't decide whether she looked like someone going on a date or someone chaperoning one. I held a contact lens on my fingertip for a full minute before I put it back in its case, because if my best friend had set me up with a serial killer, I intended to see him clearly for the police sketch.

My phone rang while I hunted for my other earring, and my mother's face lit up the screen. "Hey, Mama."

I could hear her smiling on the other end of the phone. “Hey, baby. I just wanted to see what you were getting into tonight."

My nose twitched as I thought about my repose. “Nothing much. I'm meeting a friend for dinner."

"Well, don't stay out too late, and don't forget church on Sunday. Your daddy wants the whole family in the pew."

I promised I would be there, ended the call, and felt guilty enough to be thirty-two and sixteen at the same time.

I arrived at the Barn Yard twenty minutes early, then proceeded to sit in my car staring at my reflection in the visor. I was never one to be late to anything in my life. Once I went inside, I chose a table near the back where I could watch the door.

The place sat just outside downtown Irondale, all weathered wood and string lights, with pickup trucks packed into the gravel lot.

I ordered a glass of white wine, that had hints of apple and rehearsed my exit strategy. I was sure this was gonna go left and I wanted all the exits covered.

The man who walked in had to duck slightly beneath the beam at the entrance.