“No,” I said dryly. “I’ll recover. It’s your turn, by the way. Everyone popped a balloon. You’re up to bat.”
“Is that right? So this is a challenge?” But he did grab a balloon string and tug it down. “No filming this.”
“Wait a minute.” I turned to Willow. “Did you take a video of me doing that? No. Please tell me no.” Maybe it was a sign that I was maturing that the thought of that did embarrass me just slightly. Then I thought about it. Nah. I didn’t actually care.
“Yes, but it’s just for us.”
“Honestly, I don’t really care.” Then I turned to Brandon. “What’s your big plan here, tough guy?”
He didn’t answer. He just put the balloon under his armpit and dropped his arm hard. It popped with a spectacular sound. I clapped while the girls laughed.
“Dakota still wins,” Willow said. “It was the most acrobatic.”
“I can live with that,” Brandon said. “You ready to go, Willow?”
“Hold on, I want to show her something first.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and found the video from Lil’ Sneak. “Watch this.”
Sneak appeared on the screen and said a few rambling things that may or may not have made sense. Then he said, “Happy thirteenth birthday, Willow. You’re going to kill this year, you hear what I’m saying? You got this, girl.”
Willow screamed at the top of her lungs. “That is so cool! Oh my God, I’m dead.”
“Jesus.” Brandon looked amused, but pleased for his daughter. “How did you manage that?” he asked me.
“Oh, he’s my ex-boyfriend. I just asked and he was happy to do it.”
I wasn’t trying to make Brandon jealous. I was trying to make Willow happy. I didn’t even think about my words until they were out of my mouth.
“I see.” Brandon sounded grumpy again. Insta-grump.
“You dated him?” Willow threw herself across the kitchen island. “I would die. Just die.”
“He’s a nice guy. A little out there. But we had fun.”
“Why did you break up?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It fizzled.”
Without saying a word to us, Brandon disappeared down the hallway. “Where is he going?” I asked.
Poppy had a balloon in her hand and was treating it like a punching bag. “Probably the bathroom.”
Willow didn’t look like she cared one way or the other. “Yeah, but don’t you wish it would have worked out? Don’t you wish you had a boyfriend?”
Generally, no. Specifically, in the case of Brandon, yes. “No. I take it you want a boyfriend?”
“OMG, yes. I would die to have a boyfriend. That would change everything. Don’t you hate being alone?”
Okay, this was taking a turn. I felt a “teachable moment” coming over me. I couldn’t let her think that the only path to happiness was a dude.
“No, of course not. There’s nothing wrong with being alone. I have a lot of friends and I’m happy with myself, you know what I mean? Sure, a lot of people want to be with a partner. I would be with someone if the right person came along. But I like myself enough to be alone instead of being with the wrong person. Some people are alone by choice. They’re the love of their own life and that’s cool, too.”
“I think my dad is like that. He’s alone by choice.” Willow peeled herself off the marble countertop.
Ouch. That kind of hurt to hear. “Oh, yeah? Why do you say that?”
“Because he doesn’t date at all.”
Well. That was true, but maybe not the whole story. “Ever?” I asked, curious. I had never thought to wonder if he had dated in the past after his divorce.