AllFreeNovel
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It’s Alex’s last day of school before the summer break, and I want it to be perfect. I’ve packed her favorite lunch, including a treat—don’t usually allow candy, but I’ll make an exception on the last day of school—and I helped her pick out her wardrobe last night.
My 11-year-old daughter loves putting on fashion shows, and last night was the “most important night of her life” when it came to choosing between the purple dress or the black one covered in purple unicorns holding up “rock on” signs with their hooves. Don’t ask me how the fuck that’s possible.
“Work, you stupid shit.” The phone is frozen on today’s organizational calendar I’ve shared with the nanny, Mrs. Crouchbottom, and I’m about ready to throw it across the room.
“Swear jar, Dad.” Alex’s voice chirps behind me.
I jolt on the spot and turn toward her. “You didn’t hear that,” I said. “It was an auditory illusion.”
She eyerolls me in her pre-teen way, and it makes my chest hurt.
Alex is growing up faster than I want her to. I don’t want to be the lame dad who gets overly protective about his daughter switching her interest from books to boys, but guess who’s got two thumbs and that exact problem?
I stare at her, tilting my head to the side.
“What?” she asks.
“Are you wearing makeup?”
“No.”
“It looks like you’re wearing makeup.” I’m no expert. I can’t tell if her eyelashes look a little longer than usual or if I’m imagining this, but I haven’t bought her any makeup. Unless my sister decided to get her some? But Hannah would never do that without asking first.
I abandon my phone and fold my arms, still examining her. “You know you’re not allowed to—”
“I’m not wearing makeup, Dad.” She fluffs her short blonde hair. She looks nothing like me, but she’s mine. My precious daughter who is most definitely wearing makeup.
“Wash it off,” I say. “You’ve got—” I check my watch— “five minutes until the nanny gets here. And you know the dress code. I’m all for sticking it to the man, but the school has rules. And what do we do with rules?”
“Break them?”
I face-palm then point toward the stairs.
Alex has the good graces to blush and apologize before darting off. She wants to express her independence, I get that, but I’m trying to establish routine.
My daughter prefers to go her own way. She reminds me of me when I was her age, except she’s more into rock music whereas I was—
There’s a knock at the front door, and I stride through the house only to find a deputy from the Sheriff’s Department on the wraparound porch.
“Hands up, scumbag,” he says, holding up his fingers in a mock gun. “You’re under arrest for being a grumpy asshole.”
“What are you doing here?”
Jesse gives me that shit-eating grin that has gotten him into more panties and trouble than his badge. “And hello to you too, brother.” He punches me on the shoulder.
I grab his hand and twist his arm. He aims a kick at my shins.
The sound of Alex at the top of the stairs stops the scuffle right quick.
“Too responsible for your own good,” Jesse says, lowering his voice. “What happened to country music star Cash who had to beat off the girls with a stick? How long has it been since you’ve left the house for a night?”
The implication Jesse’s trying to make is how long has it been since I’ve gotten my dick wet. That’s what my charmer of a brother calls it. “None of your damn business.”
And it’s been literal years.
Heatstroke is my hometown, it’s quaint, with paved streets, broad sidewalks, and folk who’ve survived the summer temperatures and the bad tempers that come with it, but I didn’t come back here to find a woman. In fact, the last thing I want is a commitment. I know where that leads.
“Uncle Jesse!” Alex cries from behind me. “It’s the last day of school.”
