have a clue what I’m doing here.”
“Look. I’m sure this is a shock for both of you and there probably aren’t any easy answers, but I’m positive you’ll figure it out.” I bump my shoulder into his, trying to lighten the mood. “He seems like a good kid. Daisy likes him, and you know how picky she is.”
A corner of his mouth pulls up in a lopsided grin.
“She does, huh?”
“Go look. He’s tossing a ball for her out back.”
He gets up and walks to the door, but then abruptly turns back and stops in front of me. He pulls me to my feet and plants a hard kiss on my lips.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call.”
“You had other things on your mind.”
He drops his forehead to mine, those deep brown eyes searching my face.
“Still, I could’ve—”
“So are you guys a thing or something?”
Both of us turn to find Bryce in the doorway, Daisy pushing her way around him to get to Sumo, who immediately goes to his knees.
“Hey, girl,” he rumbles at the dog who is happy to see him.
“So are you?” Bryce repeats staring at his father, but I answer.
“We’re still getting to know each other, Bryce. Kinda like you and your dad.”
He seems to take that in and shrugs. “Cool.” In the next breath he asks Sumo, “If we’re taking the dog, can we call her Dee?”
“Dee?”
“Yeah. She’s a badass dog, she needs a better name than Daisy.”
9
Sumo
“Cool.”
That seems to be the word of choice for Bryce, although it comes out with a little more enthusiasm this time.
It’s what he said when he saw the river, and again when we walked into the front door of the house. The hint of excitement is in response to the PlayStation 4 I point out underneath my big screen TV.
“Do you play?”
He shrugs. “Sometimes, at a friend’s house.”
I take that to mean he doesn’t own a system, and I promise myself the kid won’t leave here without a system of his own. In the meantime, I may move this one down to the rec room where I have my old couch and a second TV set up along with a home gym. It’ll give him a space to hang out and will save me from listening to gaming all day. A person can only take so much of that.
He follows me through the house to the kitchen, taking everything in with curiosity. I realize I have no idea where he’s lived or what he’s used to, but I have a sneaky suspicion if his mom was hooked on drugs, it can’t have been much.
I dive in the fridge and come up with a beer for me.
“Not sure what you like to drink, so I ended up getting a selection. Pick your own.”
I give him an encouraging nod when he hesitates a moment, but when I keep the fridge door open for him, he sticks his head in and comes up with a Diet Coke.
“I like this,” he mumbles, cracking the tab on the can.
“Perfect. Anything in the fridge or the pantry,” I point at the door, “is fair game. You eat or drink the last of something, you mark it on here.”
I show him the whiteboard I hung on the side of the fridge. It’s the same system we use at the station house; that way the list is there for whomever is going for groceries. Works there, so I figured it would work here too.
He doesn’t talk much, but I figure his head is probably spinning worse than mine. Can’t be easy to be sent off to a father you’ve never met before. He probably didn’t have a clue what to expect, and I don’t blame him for being wary of me. I’m hoping bringing Daisy home tomorrow will help him settle in.
“Are you okay if I throw some chicken on the grill?”
“I don’t mind chicken.”
“Good. Why don’t you go check out your room upstairs? It’s the second door on the left. I emptied the closet so you can put your stuff away. Tomorrow you can help me cook.”
I swallow a chuckle when I see the shock on his face when I add that in. I’m guessing he doesn’t have a lot of experience in the kitchen, but my parents would disown me if I didn’t continue the culinary family tradition. We have a lot of time to make up for, by the time I was twelve I could hold my own in the kitchen.
He puts his can down and beelines