Page 7 of Single Dad Dilemma

I stand off to the side, trying to give him privacy but also taking in this room. The floors and the ceiling are the same as the entry way, but this room is much more comfortable. There are soft leather couches, oversized chairs, and a big coffee table in the middle of them all. There’s a dark fluffy rug in the center that I’m sure would feel like walking on clouds. A big TV is in the corner of the room, next to the stone fireplace, and there is a big set of double glass doors that lead out to the back property andthe lake behind the house. I can see into the kitchen from here, and the same oak walls and floor follow the entire layout of the house, with floor to ceiling windows all along the back wall. It’s beautiful here.

I hear him drop the phone onto the table. “I’m sorry about that,” he says, pulling my attention back to him.

“Oh, that’s okay. It’s not you knew I was coming.”

He stands up and closes the distance.

“Anyway, I had some overstock on cupcakes today that hadn’t been iced yet. So I thought that Margo might enjoy icing them. Here’s a dozen of them and piping bags full of icing.” I hold them out.

He looks from me, to the bag, and back. “Oh, okay. Thanks,” he finally says, taking them from my hands. “She’s taking a nap right now, but I’ll let her know as soon as she wakes up.”

I smile and nod. “Okay. The place is beautiful, by the way.” I motion around the house and property.

“Thanks. I really do like it. It’s a lot different from Chicago.”

“Is that where you’re from?” I ask, pretending like I have no idea.

He nods. “Yeah. As you can imagine, living in a penthouse apartment is very different from here. I almost can’t sleep, it’s so quiet.”

I smile. “I remember those days,” I agree.

“Where are you from?”

“Oh, here and there. Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City. We moved around a lot.”

“What made you want the country life?” he asks, setting the box down on the table.

I shrug. “My life was kind of hectic growing up. My mom passed when I was young, and my dad was a drug addict. Nothing was ever stable. So when he passed, I thought about how my life was and how I wanted it to be. More than anything,I just wanted a home, something stable, and warm. So I moved here and worked at the bar until I saved up enough money to buy a place. Then I opened the bakery a little while later.”

“Wow, I never would have expected that,” he says, falling back onto the couch.

“Why not?” I ask around a smile. I almost feel like I’m standing in front of the class, giving a speech I’m not prepared for. I feel nervous under his gaze.

He shrugs. “I don’t know, you just seem so…normal. You seem to fit in here like you were born and raised here. You don’t seem like an outsider like me.”

I offer him a smile. “It’ll come. Just be patient. I was like you for a long time. People were so curious about me, where I came from, why I was here, what my life story was. But it goes away… eventually.” I laugh and he lets out a chuckle himself.

I don’t sit down because he doesn’t ask me to, so I stand, just hovering and feeling awkward. “Well, I guess I’ll take off.” I pull my eyes from his and look toward the door.

“Would you like a drink?”

I turn back to face him, surprised. “Oh, I…”

“If you need to go, please don’t let me keep you. I’m just”—he shrugs—“really bored and in need of adult interaction.”

I smile. “Of course. I can stay for one.”

I follow him into the kitchen, and he takes two beers out of the fridge. He turns to look at me. “Beer okay?”

“Sure,” I agree.

He uses the bottle opener to remove the cap, then hands it over. I take a sip, following along behind him out onto the back patio that overlooks the lake. We each sit in a wooden patio chair, and I have another nervous drink as I take in the sight of the lake before me.

“It’s beautiful out here,” I say, mostly to myself.

“It really is. I saw this place online and bought it instantly. I figured that even if the house was shit, I could tear it down and build something better. But there was nothing that compared to this lake.”

“So, what did you do in Chicago?” I ask, wanting to confirm the rumors.

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