“But what if I don’t want to go to Natalie’s, Daddy? Maude said that Emily and Ava and Rose are coming over and she wants me to come over. She said it would be fine with Uncle C and Auntie Bailey.”
Buddy spooned the scrambled eggs onto Lucy’s plate while he considered a diplomatic way to answer his daughter. He knew full well she didn’t want to go over to her mother’s and in fact had been more and more resistant to spending time with her. She seemed to be fine once she got there, and of course, if Buddy thought that his beloved daughter was ever going to be in a dangerous situation, he’d immediately cancel any and all visitation. But Natalie seemed to be really trying to cultivate a relationship with Lucy, and he couldn’t interfere with that.
“Sweet pea, your mother hasn’t seen you all week. She misses you,” he said, hoping that was truly the case.
He suppressed the nagging voice in his head that reminded him that Natalie missed the parent-teacher conference the day before and hadn’t offered an explanation. In fact, he hadn’t heard from his ex in a few days, which was actually odd. Usually Natalie had touched base about drop-off plans by this point in the week.
Lucy pushed her eggs around on her plate. “I don’t like going over there.”
Buddy sat down at the kitchen table with his own plate of eggs and toast but didn’t eat. “Why don’t you like going over there? What happens?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “She doesn’t have any books at all, so if I run out of things to read, I’m stuck with the same ol’ stuff I just finished, and that’s no fun. There’re only so many times I can read the same thing.”
Buddy grinned at his daughter’s complaint but could understand her frustration. He made a mental note to suggest that Natalie take Lucy to the library. That would be a perfect outing for the two of them.
“And none of her friends seem to want me around except for Skip. And Skip really doesn’t talk to me, he just doesn’t ignore me.”
“Who’s Skip? Is he the guy who was over there when I picked you up a few weeks ago?”
“He’s got big white teeth and shiny, shiny hair.” She finally ate a bite of eggs. “He’s nice. He has a boat that he took me and Natalie on.”
Buddy paused. A boat ride? Lucy was not a strong swimmer. Yet another something to talk to Natalie about. He was beginning to think that a lunch to discuss things needed to be scheduled. Natalie’s ringtone interrupted further questioning, and Lucy rolled her eyes.
“Speak of the devil,” Buddy said and immediately regretted his words when Lucy’s eyes got huge. “No, sweet pea, Natalie’s not the devil. It’s just an expression. Hey, Nat.”
Buddy rubbed his hands over his face as he listened to Natalie blather on about weekend on-location shooting and long hours.
“So you’re saying it would be better if Lucy didn’t come this weekend.” Buddy moved out of the kitchen and into the living room, but he could see Lucy looking suspiciously at him, egg-laden fork paused in the air. He mimed for her to continue eating, and she huffed but went back to eating. “Yeah, I’m listening.”
He finished talking to Natalie and made another phone call, then rejoined Lucy at the kitchen table.
“Well, good news, Lucy. Your mother has to work out of town this weekend, so—”
Lucy squealed and launched herself out of the chair. “I get to go to Maude’s! I better get my stuff ready.”
Buddy caught the back of her pajama top and deposited her back in her chair. “Finish eating, and then you can get stuff together. Remember, you’re not in school today, so—”
“I get to go over to Móraí and Daideo’s!” And she was off. Buddy had no hope of her finishing breakfast now that she learned she was going over to Sheila and Paddy’s. He quickly finished his own breakfast and the rest of hers, cleaned up the plates, and headed into the bedroom to start his own day.
*****
After a smooth drop-off at Sheila and Paddy’s, where Lucy raced to join the loving chaos that was the Doyles’ house on a teacher workday, Buddy sat looking at the matchmaker board and thinking about Molly. He’d wanted so much to slam that classroom door shut and kiss her until she couldn’t see straight, but he didn’t think she would appreciate it. He already felt guilty about not really seeing her after they’d essentially had sex. And of course, having that afternoon in his mind made him think about her coming apart in his hands.
“Buddy, we need to talk.” Colin strode into the office and sprawled out on one of the chairs across from Buddy’s desk.
“Uh, sure. What’s going on?”
Colin frowned. “You okay, dude? You look . . . funny.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s been an interesting morning.” And I have a raging hard-on because I’ve been thinking about feeling up my daughter’s teacher on her couch. “What’s up?”
“Well, you know we’ve been tapped as a finalist for this competition show, right?”
Buddy nodded. “Yeah, though they’re sure taking their time in announcing shit.”
“Well, a decision has been made, and we’re in.”
“But?”
“But the team we’ll be facing is Raptor. I’m talking to all the guys individually about this, because you know how shit goes down with these fucks.”
Buddy nodded again. He sure as shit knew how things went down with Raptor, especially where DS Fight Club was involved. There was a lot of bad blood between the two clubs, especially since half of Raptor’s championship roster and his best trainer had absconded to Colin’s gym.
“If we do decide to do this—and I do mean we—it’ll be a group decision. I’m going to make sure the personal drama is kept to a minimum. Limited spousal coverage and absolutely no kids.”
“Good. That’s a hard limit for me. Natalie tried to pull a fast one with Lucy, and I about lost my shit.” Buddy cracked his neck. “How hypocritical would it be of me to be okay with Lucy being on a show I was involved with?”
“How’s that going? Things all right?”
Buddy decided his brother-in-law deserved his candor. “It’s . . . okay. Lucy doesn’t like to go over there. We actually had a discussion about it this morning. I know Lucy sometimes seems like a little old lady in a five-year-old’s body, but she is still just a kid. And Natalie doesn’t really get kids, I don’t think.”
“You still seeing her teacher?”
“What?”
Colin looked confused. “Am I totally off base? For some reason, I thought you’d gone out or were going out or something?”
“Or something. Yeah, I think I kind of blew that whole thing. We had a date, and then Natalie insisted on being very Natalie, and Lucy was really upset. I’ve spent the past month wrangling their relationship.” Buddy snorted. “Okay, what’s that look about?”
“I know I’m not the most relationship-savvy guy—no laughing, Thomas—but it seems to me that you showing Lucy you have other adult relationships that are healthy wouldn’t be a bad thing. I mean, my dad didn’t date at all—I never saw him with a woman. Yet I find out after he died that he’d had a long-term relationship with a . . . professional lady. But as far as I know, he was her only client. Anyway, it was some sort of weird, long-term thing, but it would have done me a hell of a lot of good to see him interact with someone on a personal level. Hell, maybe that’s why I am the way I am, right?”
“And what are you, C?” Buddy asked with a laugh.
“A socially clueless behemoth who luckily moved next door to a woman who happens to like socially clueless behemoths.” He grinned. “I’m just saying, I think you need to consider that your self-care might be what’s best for Lucy, too.” Colin paused. “I can’t believe I just used the term ‘self-care.’ What the hell?”
Buddy cackled. “Never change, man. Never change.”
“Okay, bud, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Most likely there’ll be a meeting early next week, and we’ll have a full discussion.” Colin clapped his hands once. “By the way, you need to ask that teacher out again,” he said before he left the office. “Don’t be a chickenshit.”
Buddy chuckled. “Yeah, I get you, C. Now leave.”
Buddy could hear Colin laughing as he went down the hall. Crazy asshole. But he probably had a point about the whole “healthy adult relationship” thing. And the “self-care” thing. And probably a whole lot of other things. Maybe he’d approach Molly next time he ran into her at the gym. Just something casual. Yeah.