Page 25 of Pick Me
“Absolutely. Thrill of my day,” I agreed. I stole Em’s seat next to Hawk at the table. “Someone eloquently instructed me at lunch yesterday to stop being a d—” I stole a glance at Aiden and cleared my throat. “Doofus. And I value my life too much to disobey. So yes, we’re getting along.”
“You were gonna saydick,” Aiden said matter-of-factly. “Dad would’ve middle-named you for sure.”
Goodman made a startled, snort-laugh sound that had Hawk and Drew laughing in response.
Webb looked up from his phone. “Oh, would I, Aiden Andrew?”
“Oops.” Aiden blinked innocently down at his oatmeal.
I snorted softly, and Webb’s eyes swung to me. “Proud of yourself, Edwin Knox?”
“Don’t try it.” I shook my head, closer to laughter than I’d been in a while. “You’ve got the Dad-voice, and I respect that, but I’m two years older than you. You can’t middle-name me. It subverts the natural order of things.”
Webb rolled his eyes.
“Let’s back up,” Goodman demanded. “Edwin?”
I lifted an eyebrow at his teasing, trying hard to pretend that his smile aimed in my direction wasn’t warming me inside more than the oatmeal. “I was named after philosophers, okay? What’syourmiddle name?”
“Spence.” He shrugged sheepishly. “I was named after treasure hunters.”
“The Spence is the name of our grocery store in town,” Aiden informed him excitedly. “You were named after a place that sells Genessaro’s Frozen Custard. That’s way cooler than a philosopher.”
Goodman held out a fist, and Aiden bumped it.
“Do you even know what a philosopher is?” I asked him.
“Nope. Which is why it’s gotta be uncool,” Aiden retorted smugly. “Sorry, Uncle Knox.”
I had no comeback for that.
“Gage, I know what you should name the calf,” Aiden continued. He paused dramatically. “Diana.”
Goodman turned to face him, his forehead pinched for a second like he was thinking about it. “Like the Roman goddess?”
“No, like Wonder Woman, because she’s the best superhero except Captain America, and Steve’s not a good name for a heifer.”
“Ohhhh.” Goodman nodded. “Yup, perfect. Write that down, people. She’s Diana.”
He slapped the table like a judge with a gavel, and Iwilledmyself not to smile at the way Aiden puffed up importantly under Goodman’s approving smile.
I wasn’t a kid-oriented person. They were very cute, and Whitney Houston was right when she’d said they were our future, but I’d never understood how people would steal and cheat and die for them until the first time I’d held Aiden.
If I hadn’t already let myself start to like Goodman as a person, watching the way he gave Aiden a hundred percent of his attention would have done it. The sunshine in Goodman’s grin could have powered cities, and Aiden blossomed beneath it.
Aiden pushed up from the table and put his bowl in the sink. “I’m gonna go see the calf again!”
I looked at Webb, expecting him to shut that down since Aiden didn’t have the day off like Em did, but he was frowning down at his phone and not paying attention.
“Didn’t you tell me yesterday that you’d be doing soccer sprints in gym today, Aiden?” Goodman asked. “You need your gym clothes, right?”
“Oh, shoot.” Aiden winced. “I forgot. Thanks, Gage.” He ran off toward his room.
“Yeah, thanks, Gage,” Webb said, belatedly glancing up from his phone.
Goodman shrugged. “Sure. Hey, Webb, remember I was saying that I might need to borrow a truck this week? I ordered tensiometers and some other parts for the new irrigation system—you know, to measure the soil wetness?—and they arrived at the warehouse in Boston, but they’re having a huge issue getting them packed and shipped up here, so I told them I’d try to arrange to pick them up. I could take my car, but my car’s tiny, and I’m honestly not sure how big they are.”
“Oh, sure,” Webb agreed. “No problem. You can drive a standard, right?”
