Page 52 of The Single Dad Dilemma

She flops down next to me, sliding back so her feet don’t touch the ground anymore.

“What’s up, Dad?” She folds her hands in her lap.

“You like Darcy, right? Has she been a good nanny to you?”

“Yes,” she says, nodding vigorously. “She’s the best. I like having her around.”

“Would you like to have her around more?”

Lou tilts her head at me, clearly not sure what I mean.

“Do you have to work more?” she asks.

“No, I would be here, too,” I say. “We would all be hanging out.”

“I would love that,” she says, bouncing up and down. “Just like tonight at dinner. It was so nice having another girl here. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love uncle Waylon and the rest of them, but they’re all boys.”

“What about Grandma?”

“Grandma is a girl but she’s an old girl,” she says. “I’m not trying to be mean. You know what I mean.”

“I think so.” I laugh. “So we can hang out with Darcy more?”

“Yeah, I wish she didn’t even have to leave tonight. She could stay the night. Your bed is big enough.”

“My bed?” I repeat, surprised.

“Don’t you want her to be your girlfriend?” she asks, looking up at me expectantly.

“Ummm…” It’s all I can say. “Well…” I try again. “Ummm…” I fail again.

“Dad, I know you like her,” she says. “The way boyfriends and girlfriends do.”

“You know that?”

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure she likes you, too,” she says confidently.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because when she looks at you, her eyes get extra sparkly,” she says, her tone suggesting that she thinks it’s very obvious.

“And extra sparkly means she likes me?” I ask for clarification.

“Of course. It might even mean she loves you.”

I really don’t have a rebuttal to that, nor do I want to think of one. My first instinct is to say that I think it’s too early for love, and then my gut sort of checks itself, and now, maybe she could? Maybe she doesn’t right now, but maybe she’s on her way. I certainly feel like I’m on my way.

“So you’d be okay if she spent time here with us and spent the night sometimes?” I just want to ask one more time to really drive home my point.

“That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time. Weren’t you listening to me?” She huffs.

I laugh, holding my hands up. “Okay, okay. I’ll invite her over to spend the night this week some time.”

“Good,” she says. “It’s settled.”

TWENTY-THREE

DARCY

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