Single Dad Seeks Juliet

“Holley, are you okay?” he asks, running his hands down the length of my arms and legs frenziedly.

I start to nod, but my neck is undeniably sore, so I stop that pretty quickly. “I…yeah. Sore, but I’m okay. I’m just dumb.”

“You’re not dumb,” he says, his voice laden with more guilt than is necessary. “I should have chosen something else for today.”

“Jake, it’s not your fault. I got cocky—”

“Is she okay?” Rachel asks from a few feet away, startling me violently back into the reality that I’ve done all this in the middle of their date. Shit, I really have a serious knack for timing.

“Rachel, I’m so sorry,” I try to lean around Jake to say.

Her eyes are narrowed on the way Jake is tending to me, but her voice is understanding. “It’s okay. Just as long as you’re all right.”

“I’m fine,” I try to assure them both.

“Fine? Or fine?” Jake qualifies, and I smile at the memory of our conversation at breakfast in the diner.

“Fine fine. The real kind.” Jake’s eyes study me closely, so I smile. “You guys should go on, have your picnic. I’ll just…wait here for you to come back.”

“I don’t think we should—”

“No,” Rachel interjects easily. “It’s fine. We can get Holley back to the parking lot, and then figure out what to do from there.”

“Guys—”

“Holley, Rachel is right. We—”

“Just go on!” I almost shout, the pressure of the situation and the resulting embarrassment finally building up to a breaking point. My dignity is back at the beginning of my knobby tire track somewhere. “I’ll be okay. Really.”

Jake looks at me closely as I beg him with my eyes. “Please, Jake. Just go… I’ll be okay here. I have my lunch with me. I’ll eat it and rest, and then we can deal with this thing when you’re done.”

When he still looks ready to protest, I reach up, grab his chin between my fingers, and make his head nod for him.

He scowls but, finally, complies. I have a feeling Rachel’s hand on his back has at least a little something to do with it.

They both turn and head back up the trail for their four-wheeler, Jake glancing back to look at me every few feet or so.

I smile for his benefit and climb up onto the seat of the four-wheeler I parked against a tree. It’s as fine a place to sit as I’ve ever seen, and I definitely need to sit down.

Before long, the rumble of their four-wheeler starting up shakes its way through the trees, fading slowly away as they carry on to the lake.

I don’t look up.

I can’t. All I can do is take my turkey sandwich out of the front compartment and wait for the locusts to descend.

I mean, it seems like it’s probably about time for those fuckers to make their appearance in my personal Armageddon.JakeI pull the four-wheeler to a stop at the edge of the lake and kill the engine. Rachel’s breasts pull away from my back as she looks up and takes in the view.

“Wow,” she says with a smile in her voice. “This is pretty great. I can’t believe I’ve never been here before.”

I do my best to concentrate on her as she speaks, but I have to admit, a large portion of my mind is still standing next to Holley’s four-wheeler, parked right against a tree. She looked a little shaken, but overall, no worse for the wear.

But Christ, I didn’t want to leave her there by herself like that. The only reason I did—and I do mean only—is because she looked so embarrassed, so ready to fall into a sinkhole and let it swallow her up, that another minute with Rachel and me there, staring at her, probably would have made her do it.

Not to mention, she all but shoved me away. Hell, I was a little afraid she’d use some unknown connection with the Air Force to call in a raid if I didn’t leave her be.

“That’s part of its charm,” I say, trying to focus on Rachel. “Not many people know about it, so it’s never overcrowded.” I put a finger to my lips and smile. “Don’t let the secret get out, okay?”

She laughs, and while it’s not obnoxious like Bianca’s, it doesn’t set my chest on fire with satisfaction either.

Back in the day, Wendy used to laugh at my jokes like I was the funniest person in the world. Like I alone could make or break her day with a simple joke.

We were young, obviously, and despite being pregnant with a child together, not entirely serious, but there was something about us that clicked. I was constantly chasing the high of making her laugh because I got intense satisfaction out of her happiness.

“Want to set up our picnic over there?” Rachel asks, pointing to a grassy spot under a big shade tree and bringing my wandering mind back to her once again.