Page 59 of Love Is Ale You Need

She answers the phone. All I hear is “yeah” and “okay”. There’s a moment of silence before she ends the call and tucks her phone in her pocket. “That was Dessa. Chad didn’t show up to work, and she’s swamped. Jake is on his way, but it will be a couple of hours before he can get there. I have to go help her. I hate to ask this, but can you watch Abby?”

“Oh. Um. Yeah. Sure.” Sweat dampens my palms. Sure, I’ve hung out with my friends’ kids, but there were always other adults around to supervise me. I’ve never had to be responsible for keeping one alive by myself. Growing up, I had a younger brother and sister, but by the time they were six, I was sixteen and I never had to watch them.

“Thank you so much. It should just be a couple of hours. You have both my cell and the bar number if there’s a problem. Marcie is next door as well.” She scrambles to collect her wallet and keys. “Abby! Come here, please!”

Abby races into the kitchen at the only speed she knows, fast.

“I have to go to work for a little bit. So, Trey is going to stay here with you, Okay?”

“Okay,” Abby says.

“There’s dinner on the counter.” Rylee points to the bag of food. “All the emergency phone numbers are on the fridge if anything were to happen. Okay?”

I nod along even though she’s speaking to Abby.

“Got it,” Abby and I say at the same time.

“I have to go.” Rylee leans over, pressing a kiss on Abby’s forehead. “I love you.”

She straightens to her full height and blurts out, “I love you.” before her lips land on mine. We both freeze. Slowly, she pulls away. Her eyes are frantic as they shift over my face, wanting to read my reaction. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.

I clear my throat. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone drops a casual ‘I love you’ to me. The other day, the security guard at The Blue Stone Group held the door open for me. I thanked him and he told me he loved me. Another time I was ordering coffee at Roasters, the barista handed me my coffee and told me they loved me. I’m just a loveable guy.” I shrug and give her a half-smile. As much as I want to believe that she meant those words, the horror on her face tells me otherwise.

The sharp lines on her face soften. “I’ll be back later.”

“Mommy?”

Rylee glances down and Abby’s holding out her hand in the shape of a half heart. “Right. Sorry.” She bends down and completes the heart with her hand. “I love you always.”

“I love you forever.” Abby beams at her.

A wave of warmth washes over me from their goodbye. It’s like the video I watched where a couple took in a stray cat and then, a week later, the cat carried her kittens into the house one by one. That’s the kind of shit that would make anyone’s eyes leak.

“Now I have to go. See you two later.” The front door closes with a click.

“Alright kid, it’s just you and me.” We silently stare at each other, sizing each other up. She’s six and could probably sit like this for hours. I, on the other hand, can’t. I shift my gaze, losing the stare off. “Are you hungry?” I pull open a cupboard on the left, then the right, searching for plates.

Abby pulls out a stool next to the fridge and unfolds it until it clicks into place. She places it next to me and climbs up, pulling open a door and revealing a stack of plates.

“I was going to get there. Eventually.”

She passes me two plates, and I set them on the counter.

“For your next magic trick, you pull out two forks.” I wave my finger in a figure eight as if it’s a magician’s wand.

Abby throws her head back, cackling with laughter. “No! They’re in the drawer.” She pulls it open and holds up two forks.

“I’m telling you. It’s magic.”

I dish up two plates and set them side by side on the small kitchen counter. Abby climbs up on the stool next to me and plops down.

“You know, I’ve never known a six-year-old who likes Indian food.” I take a bite of the Tandoori Chicken.

“Mommy says I’m a food con dinosaur.” She shoves a fork full of Chicken Tikka Masala and rice into her mouth.

My eyebrows knit together, trying to puzzle together what a food dinosaur could be. “Do you mean food connoisseur?”

She nods.

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