Page 21 of Never Really Over

“Bridget. We’re planning to move back here, actually.”

“No shit? Sick of the big city, huh?”

“Well, she came back with me when… well, she came back and met my parents and fell in love with the Grove. Go figure, right? I fall in love with the one girl who could bring me to my knees and she fell in love with the town I wanted in my rearview mirror my entire life.”

“Funny how life works out.”

“Yeah. Sometimes it’s not fucking funny at all, huh?”

I clink my bottle against his and agree. “Couldn’t have said it better.”

“You doing okay, man? I know you and your sister were close.”

Everyone who’s asked me, I’ve said I’m doing fine but for some reason, I’m feeling the need to spill my guts. “Honestly? Not a single bit. I mean, I’m doing okay for Poppy. They left her to me, not sure if you knew that, so I pull my shit together because I have to but I’m exhausted. I’m trying to hold in my sadness so she doesn’t see it but yeah, it’s not working out so well.”

“Sleeping at all?”

I turn my head side to side. “Little here and there but not much. Got too much to do, you know? Single dad and full-time farmer. She’s with me everywhere I go.”

He smiles a little at that. “You strap her to your chest while you’re feeding cows?”

“And chickens and goats and getting shit from the garden that Natalie insisted she’d help me with and begged me to plant a few months ago.”

“Shit, man. How the he… never mind. You probably don’t even know how you’re going to keep it up.”

“I’m looking at nannies to help during the day when I need to be working in the field all day because that’s not a life for her. I’ll figure it out. My friends are around and their wives are all willing to help out. I just don’t want to depend on anyone else. Never have before and I’m not going to start now.”

“Might need to change that line of thinking,” he tells me. Not helpful at all since I already knew that. “Seen Maureen yet?”

“Nope. You?”

He nods. “Yeah. Actually, uh, I was the one who brought Layla back here the day of the accident.”

“Oh. That was good of you.”

“Least I could do,” he murmurs.

“Glad she could be here for her mom. She was probably freaking out.”

“Little bit, yeah. Didn’t help everything else that was going on. She was actually a complete wreck after she found out about Natalie.”

I look at him funny. “I mean, yeah, she was probably upset but why would she be a wreck? She hasn’t even seen any of us in over twelve years. Hasn’t talked to us, either.”

“Some things are never really over, you know?”

“Whatever Layla and I had has been over for a long time.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.”

“Okay. Next topic. What can I do for you? I obviously can’t work on the farm but I’m transitioning to work from here and we’re moving here in about a month. I’ll be around so I can lend a hand if you need it. Bridget can, too. She told me to tell you that. She’s a terrible cook,” he says and I let out a laugh, “but she can boil noodles and throw a jar of sauce on them like a pro.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’m just looking for a nanny right now. Once I get that figured out, I’ll be in a better place to keep moving forward. We have a lot to do with Natalie’s house, selling it and moving their stuff, but those are things we can take care of later.”

“Where’s their house located?”

I explain it to him and he takes on a thoughtful gaze, pulling out his phone and typing something in. “This the one?” he asks, showing me his phone.

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