Page 20 of Sunshine
I frown. “It’s sound like a fun book, gumdrop, but is Mrs. Olden aware of your reading level? Or is she judging you solely on your age?”
“Probably. She’s ageist.” I hear my little angel sigh, and I suppress a laugh. At first Jeff’s mom was responsible for her incredible vocabulary and reading level but now that she’s traveling in Europe with Reece’s grandfather, my little girl keeps building it with Lulah and Jeff’s help and on her own. Hell, she asked for a word-a-day calendar last Christmas.
“Maybe you should explain to her what ageist means and she’ll see your point.”
“You have great ideas, Daddy, but adults don’t like being told things by little kids.”
“That’s often true. But she probably knows what it means, just doesn’t realize she’s doing it.And you teach me things all the time and I’m good with it.”
“That’s one of the many reasons I adore you, Daddy. Mrs. Olden probably only thinks about it in the old age way. Old people are sometimes treated like little kids. Grandma told me that. And Bea at school says her grandpa wears diapers, but he’s an octo…gen..ar…ian. Grandma taught me that word last week when we had our video call. I gotta practice it more, but it means a person in their eighties. Octo is for eight. Bea says he’s a good grandpa anyway.
I let my little girl talk on about her best friend and their plans for as long as she wants, well, until Lulah forces her to go get ready for bed. I hear Jeff in the background making plane noises as he carries my little girl to her room before Lulah speaks in a whisper.
“Did you ask Janet if you could take Reece to visit the island with you?”
“Yeah, she says if the site is still unfinished it’s a construction zone and she will not allow a child near it. And she said a trailer in a field isn’t appropriate either. I think she’s just being difficult. It’s fully insulated, equipped for all normal weather conditions, and has hookups.”
“And for heaven’s sake, what do they think camping is? And does she think you’ll let Reece drive the excavator?”
“Right?”I shrug as if Lulah can see me. “Who knows?”
Lulah laughs, and says, “Reece has you so wrapped around her finger you’d likely let her if she asked. Maybe this woman is right.”
I laugh then too. “Damn right I would. She’s probably a better driver than the guy who gets paid to do it. And she’d likely read the manual from cover to cover first.” I listen to Lulah bark a laugh and it makes me grin. She’s happy now and it hits me right in the feels. When I first met her, she wouldn’t have laughed even if she were at the dentist’s, under the gas. Life hadn’t been kind to Lulah, but it’s making up for it now.
“I’m also not supposed to take her out of Ontario anyway. Not until I’m awarded full custody.”
Or ratherifI’m awarded full custody.But I don’t say that. Jeff and Lulah don’t need the stress of hearing that, especially when it seems my parents have backed off. At least I think they have since they haven’t tried to contact me again and I haven’t heard anything from my lawyer or Jeff and Lulah about them setting up visitations.
Lulah’s voice turns serious. “All you want to do is show her the progress of her home. Reassure her that she’ll eventually be there with you and maybe play a game of snakes and ladders in her new playhouse.”
“Yeah, well apparently we can do that over video chat.”
“Well, fu—screw her!” she says. I picture her flashing eyes. Lulah has always been a force to be reckoned with and I’ve always admired her for it, especially when I was the one in control of her as an enforcer for the Satan’s Ransom. That fire in her now hasn’t been doused, it’s just more of a controlled burn now thanks to her husband, Jeff. Although sometimes I think even he’s in over his head. And that thought takes me straight toTessa again. I side-eye the porch from my spot under the maple tree not too far away.
“What if I bring her?” Lulah says, forcing my mind back on task. “We have custody so they can’t stop me from bringing her.”
“Uh, you do remember you’re in your billionth month of pregnancy, right? Can you honestly imagine yourself sleeping in a trailer now?”
“Case…” She sighs. “I am not a billion months pregnant. I’m not even in my third trimester. He still has lots of time to be cozy in there.”
“He?”
She groans. “You sound like Jeff.”
I smile. “He wants a girl?”
“I think so.”
“And you don’t?”
“Well, I can teach my boy to treat women right, respect and all that, but a little girl? She’ll have a lifetime of dealing with misogynistic bullshit.”
I swallow hard at that. “Thanks, Aunty Lulah. Now I’ve gotta up my gym routine so I’m in shape to beat the hell out of every boy that looks at Reece funny.”
“First of all, we both know you’re already in shape and ready for that, and second, I don’t think any boy will look at Reece without absolute respect with you and Jeff around. But really, we’re both being silly because with a dad like you, she’ll know exactly how she should be treated and won’t take anything that falls below par.” Lulah pauses and blows out. “So, I guess I don’t need to worry then either.”
“That’s right. And actually, I think the boyfriends might be more afraid of you than Jeff.”
