Page 120 of Duke
Baby Steps
Duke
Tonight’s plan: hang with Ella and Junie for a bit, buy some cute art, and then get the hell out of here so I can take my girl to dinner.
However.
I had not accounted for the approximately seven hundred and eighty-five people I’d run into trying to squeeze out of the preschool. There’s Colt, who has a five-year-old little boy in the junior kindergarten class here. I stop to chat with him and introduce him to Wheeler.
“Great to meet you.” Colt cuts me a look after shaking her hand. “Y’all just about gave me a heart attack with all your bids.”
Wheeler shrugs. “We’re overachievers. We can’t help ourselves.”
“Duke’s been making the rest of us look bad for about as long as I can remember.” Colt grins. “Hope we’ll be seeing more of you around, Wheeler.”
It’s his way of asking if we’re dating. My gut clenches.
But my girl doesn’t miss a beat. “Hard not to fall in love with Hartsville. Tonight’s been—”
“Total chaos?” He chuckles.
“A lot of fun,” she replies with a smile. “The love y’all have for each other is…something I’ve never witnessed before.”
Stay, then.
Wheeler also runs into some new friends she’s made. I meet Paige and her husband, Crosby, who are really cool. So aretheir kids, who wrap Ella in a series of tight hugs that have her giggling.
I don’t miss the way Ava and Sawyer greet nearly everyone who attends. They’re both super involved in the preschool—Sawyer’s on the parent council, and Ava helped organize this event—and they seem to have a genuinely good time visiting with other parents, teachers, and the zillion kids who are here.
They’re still in the hall when Wheeler and I manage to slip out the front doors. I feel dizzy as the warm evening air hits me.
Did Wheeler enjoy that as much as me?
Did she start to understand that becoming a parent is an end to some things but the beginning of others, the way I just did?
Mom homeschooled us, bless her. Dad had a ranch to run. We rarely ventured into town.
Really, we didn’t leave our property much at all. Mom and Dad didn’t seem to mind that. I think they were too exhausted to be social or make plans to get out.
The parents I saw tonight, though? They definitely get out, as evidenced by the way everyone seemed to know everyone. I knew Ava and Sawyer did weekly date nights, but I hadn’t realized that they might invite other couples to join them.
What if parenthood doesn’t make your world smaller?
What if being a father leads me to meet new people? Experience new things?
Granted, that’s not always the case. But it could be for me.
For us.
I only realize my hands are shaking when I let go of Wheeler’s to open the passenger side door for her.
Starting the truck, I wonder what the hell to say.
Do I keep it casual?How great was that? I’m glad we won the papier-mâché heart. Great running into Colt too.
Or do I tell her the truth?I think we keep the baby. I think we make that official, and I think we make us official too. Thethought of you being with anyone else kills me. I don’t want you sleeping in any bed but mine, sweetheart. I want you with me, always.
She’s quiet on the ride to Main Street, rolling down her window and resting her elbow on the ledge of the door. We’re going to a restaurant that just opened next to the Rattler. One of Colt’s brothers is a big foodie, and he invested a chunk of change in a farm-to-table spot some fancy chef from Austin wanted to open in the country.
