Page 7 of Starting Over with You
Me
True, but he’s a good deputy and scored two goals last night.
Skyye
Duh, all the character traits of a great guy.
Me
Exactly.
God, I love my kid. While I’m her dad, I’m also her best friend. Or maybe she’s my best friend? I don’t know; I just like her a lot. Of course I love her, but I like her too. She’s fun to hang out with, she still laughs at my jokes, and she doesn’t give me a lick of the heartache her mother and aunts did when I was younger.
I wince at the chaos that ensued as we head toward the library. The shops on Main Street are bustling with tourists here for the summer. The trails are open, and we have the best ones, which brings everyone to our small town. Some like to say it’s our hockey rink that drives people to our town, but that’s only in the travel hockey season. The summer is for the mountains and trails.
I glance out at the Smoky Mountains, and my smile grows. Everything is so bright green, lush, and beautiful. I’ve been here my whole life, but the sight still leaves me breathless. As I surf my hand through the air while Wagner drives, I lean back and watch my hometown pass by.
I thought I was bigger than this town, and I loved it when I got out, but nothing can beat these views. Our town is small, only two thousand full-time folks. Everyone knows everyone, and for the most part, we all get along. Of course, there are some squabbles here and there, but small-town living is good for me. I never thought I’d move back to Thistlebrook when I left, but when my grandma got sick, I came home to help out.
I had no intention of staying, but then Skyye was conceived. I grew up with my daughter’s mother, Missy Colburn. She’s a year older than me, and we were cool, but I never lusted after her. She has always been my sister’s best friend. Apparently, we both forgot that the night of my sister’s bachelorette party.
I was in my feelings that Sadie was getting married. I don’t know why. Maybe because we’d lost Granny six months before, or maybe because I couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to marry Sadie. But Matt did, bless his heart. Meanwhile, I had no one, I hadn’t been dating, and I didn’t know what I was going to do next.
Instead of staying home, I figured I’d watch the girls as they had fun at the Thirsty Pine. I was feeling really low and lonely when Missy decided I was the perfect person to take a shot with. She put a buttery nipple shot between her boobs, wiggled them at me, and I did what any stupid, sad, drunk fuck would do.
I grabbed her titties and buried my face in her flesh before taking the shot with a flair she obviously enjoyed.
And my sweet, amazing, perfect daughter was conceived after I busted through a condom when we had sex against the side wall of our local dive.
I may regret a lot of things about that night, but not Skyye. She is all the stars in my galaxy, and I will forever have a special place in my heart for Missy. She gave me Skyye, whom we named after my granny. Missy and I knew from the moment she showed me the pregnancy test that we wouldn’t be raising Skyye as husband and wife. We were too good of friends, and there was nothing romantic between us. That night was us being drunk and horny. In the daylight, Missy was…not the girl I wanted.
Being in a small town, everyone expected—and hell, our parents demanded—we’d get married. That wasn’t happening. It wasn’t fair to either of us to try to force each other into a relationship when neither of us wanted the other. So, despite everyone else, we did what was best for us. We decided to raise Skyye as a team. We had a parental plan made before she came, mostly because Missy is so damn organized, and because I needed to see it written out. Being a visual learner, I needed to know that, no matter what, we would put Skyye before anything else. Neither of us misses an appointment, a parent/teacher meeting, or anything else that involves Skyye. If she’s there, we are, and for the last sixteen years, it’s been easy.
Probably because Skyye is such a great kid.
As Wagner pulls into the library parking lot, I track that everyone has already been evacuated and that I don’t see any smoke yet.
“Back of the building.” Wagner motions as if he can read my mind.
I nod as I take it in, the truck lurching to a stop, and my phone goes off once more. I go to throw it into the cupholder as I rush to get out, but I can’t help but check to make sure Skyye is okay.
Skyye
I know you’re on a call, so ignore this until you save the romance section, but Nyle is telling me he can’t pick me up from the rink after my session with Fable. Mom is with Aunt Sadie. They’re doing something, I don’t know, and I need a ride. Be my knight in firefighting gear?
I don’t answer, but I do roll my eyes.
Nyle Farnsworth, our town’s local social media newscaster. He was three years ahead of me in school, but I still kicked his ass my freshman year because he touched my sister’s butt. While Sadie kicked him squarely in the dick when it happened, and she told me that her younger brother couldn’t protect her, I proved her wrong and took care of him in the parking lot. I broke my hand in three places and lost my hockey season, but it was worth it to see him a bloody mess beside his truck.
And now, he’s my daughter’s stepdad.
When he went to college after that in Knoxville, I thought I’d never see his smug fucking face again, but that thought didn’t age well for me. Missy married him last year behind Skyye’s and my back, and neither of us is really happy about it. I shouldn’t be surprised, really; Missy didn’t think this thing through, but I get it. She was tired of being alone. Hell, I am too, but that doesn’t mean I’m marrying just anyone.
I’d never talk shit about her choices; Missy is my daughter’s mother and I respect her, but damn, she couldn’t have married someone else? Or hell, at least let us know she was considering tying herself to the sister-butt-toucher? I knew she was dating him,but I thought it was just sex. She was doing the accounting for the company he worked for. The job was supposed to be remote. I should have known something was up when she was up there on the weeks Skyye was with me.
It’s always been Missy and me doing everything for Skyye, but when Missy expressed that Nyle wanted to be involved, I hated that I didn’t want to let him. I realized quickly that made me selfish, that I only wanted Missy or myself with Skyye, but now I know it’s because I can’t trust anyone with our daughter but Missy. This is the third time this month Nyle can’t pick up Skyye on their week. Not that it matters. I’d move mountains to get to my girl, but it annoys me all to hell that he doesn’t prioritize Skyye.
When I see Garrett Bixby, the animal control guy, I leave my family issues in the truck and focus on the job. We quickly get to work, putting on gear, and then head inside since the fire isn’t even that big. Not that we ever have huge fires here. The only really large one we’ve had since I’ve been with the department was the great Gatlinburg fire of 2016. It was wild and the highlight of my career.
