his mouth. He’d spoken true. He did want to tell his daughter about his relationship with Etta.
Three fields later, August waved to Jess, who still had a couple of hours on his shift, and headed down the hill to his cabin. Preacher had told them to do the basics that day, as it was New Year’s Eve. The Glovers were having a party, of course, at True Blue. August had said he and Etta could attend that, but she’d said she’d rather go out if that was an option.
To August, it was definitely an option, and he’d called to get a reservation at The Cattleman’s Dairy, a newer restaurant in town that served a variety of beef-based dishes that boasted plenty of cheese. Just the pictures of the French onion soup had set his mouth to watering.
He showered and texted Etta to say he just needed about ten more minutes and then he’d be leaving to come get her. Oakley had accepted his request to watch Hailey that night, and she’d get to go to the New Year’s Eve party at the barn, just without him.
“Hay,” he called as he left his bedroom. He adjusted his tie, wondering if it was overkill. He’d not necessarily dressed up so much when he’d gone out with Etta before. Would she think he was trying too hard?
“Yeah, Daddy,” she said from inside her bedroom. “I’m almost done with my chapter.”
August stood in the doorway and smiled at his daughter. “Can you pause for a second? I wanted to talk to you about something.” He cleared his throat and tried to swallow down the suddenly-narrow passageway.
Hailey stuck her bookmark in the pages and sat up. Her room looked like she’d been living out of it exclusively for the duration of the holiday break, which admittedly, she had been. An empty bowl even sat on her nightstand. August stepped over to it and picked it up.
“I was going to get that,” she said. “It’s just from my Cheerios this morning.”
“It’s fine, sweets,” he said, sitting down on the bed. “Listen, I’m going out with Etta tonight.”
Hailey said nothing, and August looked at her to make sure she hadn’t started reading again.
“You like Etta, right?” he asked.
“Yes,” Hailey said.
“You said I should ask her to dinner,” he said. “So I did. She said yes. We’re going tonight.”
Hailey’s face expanded slowly into a smile. “Really, Daddy?”
“Really.” He chuckled. “I like her, and who knows? Maybe we’ll be…maybe it’ll be a good thing. Me and her. You and her. Her and us.” He didn’t know how to use words like wife and mother, not in this initial conversation. Hailey didn’t need such specific terms anyway.
“Miss Grimes would be so proud of you,” Hailey said, leaning forward and hugging August with her skinny arms. “Where do I get to go?”
“Oakley and Ranger said you could stay at the homestead with them until the party.”
Hailey’s eyes lit up like the ball that would drop in New York City in a few hours. “The New Year’s Eve party? You said we couldn’t go to that.”
“Well, that’s because I wasn’t going to go,” he said. “Because Etta wanted to go out to dinner and not to the barn with her whole family.”
“Yeah, the barn with her whole family isn’t a date, Daddy.”
He chuckled at the supposed wisdom of his nine-year-old. “You don’t think so?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Are you going somewhere nice? Etta seems like she’d like nice places.”
“We’re going to a nice place,” August said, though he wasn’t sure if that was true or not. He didn’t have the opportunity to eat at a lot of restaurants, as he didn’t exactly have a lot of spare time. “Now, listen. I don’t know if Oakley is going to let you sleep over or anything. We’ll talk to her when we get there, okay? I’ll talk to her.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Okay, get up and get dressed. We’re goin’ now.”
“Right now?” Hailey got out of bed, and she was wearing a pair of fuzzy white pants with brightly colored kittens splashed across them. “I need to get dressed and at least brush my hair. It’s a party.”
August headed for the door. “You get dressed. I’ll help you with your hair.” He smiled to himself as he went into the kitchen. He’d had to learn how to do his daughter’s hair after Josie’s death. In some ways, he’d risen to the occasion and been able to be both Mom and Dad for Hailey. In other ways,