Curves for the Single Dad

“We want different things, so it can’t work.”

“But still, they can’t keep their eyes off each other. Probably their hands either.” Mara wiggled her eyebrows and grinned again.

“But a matchmaker, so that must mean you have a good shot at success, right?”

I groaned and dropped my head. “Not you too! Who got to you, Penny? Eva? Sophie?”

Penny frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter what the numbers say. Chris doesn’t want a commitment, and he hates my job.” There, I said it. The truth was out there now, impossible for me to ignore.

“He what?” Mara’s outrage made me smile and I appreciated her brand of friendship even more.

“He’s scared. For himself and for Lila. His ex up and left for Europe with her new husband, and she mostly forgets that she has a sweet little girl.” And I respected Chris for putting her needs above his own.

Penny snorted and shook her head. “I have one of those too. It’s why I was so reluctant to give Ry a chance, but he’s the best thing that ever happened to Mikey. Indulges his intellectual, nerdy side while fostering his silly little boy, macho side.”

That was sweet, and I was beyond happy for Ry that he’d found love and a great little family. “It doesn’t matter. We’re done.”

“Since when?” Mara picked up her spiked lemonade and leaned forward with a gleam in her eyes. “Last I heard, he snuck over in the middle of the day.”

“Small town gossip,” I groaned and shook my head. “That afternoon visit would be the day he stopped by to tell me my job was too dangerous, so we should stop seeing each other. Just weeks after I told him the same thing. Men!” That part still made me mad, that he’d gotten me to let my guard down and trust in a man again, only to spring that crap on me. “I like Penny’s men, they’re out getting me a tree. Mikey thinks decorating it will make me feel better about my injuries.”

“Mikey is the best,” Mara agreed with a smile. “But honestly, Chris sounds like a coward.”

I didn’t disagree, but I’d learned my lesson about letting go with my ex. “He is. But that’s his perogative, and it doesn’t matter anyway. I agreed with him, and we’re done. So that’s that.” I turned to Penny and smiled. “That’s why he was angry that Lila tricked her friend’s stepdad into bringing her to see me.”

“What a jerk,” Mara grumbled. “Too bad he’s your perfect match,” she teased.

“He’s not a jerk Mara. He’s a single parent looking out for his kid. And after drying Lila’s tears, I understand where he’s coming from. She was so devastated when she saw me lying in that bed. What if my injuries had been worse? It might have broken her forever.”

“Kids are stronger than we give them credit for,” Mara said. “Instead of worrying about the injuries you might get or the danger you might be in, you both should be focusing on the fact that she has a strong female role model in her life. Someone who’s tough and kind and independent and smart. Those are important too. More important.”

“Maybe,” I began, but Mara cut me off.

“Not maybe Tara. Definitely. People are going to leave and they will die, it’s inevitable. Do you want her to learn how to react by running like her mom? Avoiding like her dad? Or facing them head on like her favorite policewoman?”

Penny smiled. “Wow,” she whispered and raised her glass in the air. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“See? She’s a mom and she agrees with me.”

I nodded. “You make a good argument Mara, but Lila is his daughter and he gets to decide. And Chris has already decided that I’m not what he wants, so please catch me up on gossip that has nothing to do with me.”

Chris

“Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were buying pumpkins?”

It felt like only a few days ago we were inside Tara’s kitchen, baking cookies. Yet somehow Lila had convinced me to take her Christmas tree shopping, even though she should—technically—be grounded for her stunt at the hospital.

“Christmas shopping is the same time every year Daddy.” Lila tugged on my arm and pulled me towards the big trees in the back of the lot. “Oh look!” She took off at the speed of light, long legs running towards the twenty foot trees.

“Good talk,” I muttered to myself and took a stroll through the rows of trees, lost in thought. I couldn’t stop thinking about Tara, looking so small and so injured in that damn bed. She could have been killed, and she probably spent most of her time reassuring the people who cared about her, instead of herself.

She was incredible. It really was too bad she wasn’t for me, because my god she was incredible. Strong and tough but also sweet and kind. It was an odd mix that most people worked a lifetime to perfect, but for Tara, it came easily. Almost effortlessly.