Page 20 of A Secret Baby for Christmas
“You’re out late, old man.”
I look up as Axel slides onto the bar stool next to me. The silver flecks in his hair catch the light under the revolving disco ball.
“Didn’t know there was a high school disco tonight.”
He chuckles as he looks around at the young crowd. A group of college kids line up tequila shots on the bar next to us. One of them jostles Axel with his elbow and apologizes profusely when the tall resort owner gets up off his stool and turns his bulky frame toward him.
The bartender catches Axel’s eye, and a silent question passes between them. Axel gives the bartender a slight nod.
“It’s Christmas. Let them stay,” he mutters as he gets back on his stool.
The bartender pours the shots and the college kids knock them back, then head onto the dance floor whooping.
“I think I’m in the wrong bar,” I mumble.
I guess the oldies are in their cabins for Christmas while their children are out partying. There’ll be a few sore heads at Christmas dinner tomorrow.
Axel slaps me on the back and orders himself a drink.
“I saw you come in on the monitor.” Axel runs his resort with a steady hand and a ton of security cameras. There’s nothing that goes on here that he doesn’t know about. “You look like you swallowed a lemon.”
I take a sip of bourbon. I’ve been on friendly terms with the resort manager ever since I started coming here years ago. When I’m here we hit the slopes together or go fishing and often share a drink in the evenings.
“My daughter kicked me out.”
He winces and signals for the bartender to bring me another drink.
“Allie doesn’t seem like the type to kick her old man out on Christmas Eve. You’re not trying to make her marry someone she doesn’t want to again, are you?”
A week ago my daughter climbed out of her cabin window rather than go through with the marriage my ex-wife had arranged for her. Axel thinks it’s hilarious. He doesn’t have kids, never wanted them, and he chuckles at me now, shaking his head.
“I’m seeing her best friend.”
Axel raises his eyebrows, and the grin slides off his face.
“Dude. How old are you?”
“Yeah, yeah, old enough to be her father. I’m a dirty old man. But a dirty old man in love.”
“Ahhh.” Axel nods sagely, as if the motherfucker’s ever been in love before. He’s been single every time I’ve ever been here. “That makes it complicated.”
He doesn’t know all of it, but I don’t mind sharing. Axel’s the closet thing I’ve got to a friend up here.
“And she’s had my baby.”
Axel chokes on his drink, and some of it spurts out of his mouth.
“You got your daughter’s best friend pregnant?”
It sounds terrible when he puts it like that. “Yeah. But I didn’t know until she turned up yesterday with the baby.”
He’s staring at me with his mouth open.
“And this is why I stay single. That’s one big, complicated mess you got yourself into.”
I take a sip of my drink, because he’s not wrong. It’s a mess that I need to untangle.
“So what you gonna do?”
