I tilt my head to the side.
“Without her, I’d probably be ten feet in the ground and that fuckin’ leg of yours would be a useless stump of flesh.”
I smile. “Nah, I’d find somethin’ to do with the leg. Use it to hammer nails or some shit.”
Tex guffaws, reaching out to grab me by the shoulder and give me a playful shake, and then, suddenly, turns serious. “Okay, then. So, you’d find a use for the leg. But if not for her, me and you wouldn’t have gotten a second chance at being the real father and son we both deserve.”
His words nearly take me back a step.
“I’m proud of you, boy,” he continues and squeezes my shoulder. “Hell, I’ve always been proud of ya. I know there’s a lot of times we haven’t seen eye to eye, but I want you to know I’ve always been proud of ya. And sometimes it might’ve felt like I was too hard on ya, but it was only because I knew what you were capable of. Knew the man you were. Knew the things you could achieve. And all I really wanted to do was be the father you deserved. The man you could look up to and be proud of as well.”
“You are that man,” I respond, meeting my father’s soft gaze. “You’ve always been that man to me. Even when we weren’t seein’ eye to eye.”
Tex Jameson might be a stubborn son of a bitch, and more than a few times, I’ve felt like strangling him with my bare hands, but he’s always been a man who’s lived his life to love, support, and provide for his family.
Sure, I might not always agree with him, but that doesn’t mean that his intentions are wrong.
Deep down, I’m pretty sure I’ve always known that.
He pulls me into a gruff hug and smacks a hand to my back a few times. “Love ya, Rhett.”
“Love you too.”
Once he releases me, he glances around the room, probably to make sure my mama is nowhere to be found, and takes a hearty drink of his beer. “All right, now that we got all that emotional shit out of the way, how about you go get the girls so we can really start celebratin’?”
I grin. “Yes, sir.”
Tex finishes off his beer, discreetly tosses it into a nearby recycling bin and hollers toward Tiny, “You got the fire pit started out back yet?”
Tiny’s eyes go wide, and my dad sighs.
“Fuckin’ hell, Tiny. What’re ya waitin’ on? A fuckin’ invitation? Get out there and get it going before the girls get here,” he commands, and Tiny scurries off with his tail between his legs.
The whole scene makes me chuckle.
Tex Jameson will never lose his firm edge. Even after the moments where he gets all fucking soft and tells me he loves me.
And I can’t deny that’s something I’ll always admire.
He never minces words, never says shit he doesn’t mean, and that’s why when he lets his guard down and expresses emotions, you know it’s not bullshit. If anything, when it comes to a guy like my daddy, it only makes those rare moments with him even more meaningful.
Once I offer a quick hello to Leah’s brother Sam and check in with my mama that everything is set to go, I head out of the lodge and in the direction of the truck.
It’s time to celebrate Joey and Leah.
The instant I step into my house, I spot Ernie sound asleep in his crate in the living room and my ears are hit with the sounds of chatter and giggles. I’m already smiling as I walk down the hallway to Joey’s room.
I pause just outside the threshold and take in the view that is Leah hanging a painting—a pretty pastel picture of a sunset—on the wall above Joey’s bed, while my daughter smiles and giggles and dances around like a giddy little girl as she looks around her room.
Once Leah adjusts the painting, she steps back. “All right, Joey, what do you think? Did we achieve your design goal?”
Joey holds both of her arms out wide and spins around. “Yes! This is the perfect room for a cowgirl like me!”
Leah laughs, and Joey rushes over to her to wrap her arms around Leah’s waist.
“Thank you so much for helpin’ me, Leah.”
Leah grins down at my daughter and hugs her right back. “You are very welcome, sweetheart.”
The whole scene is beautiful, but it’s kind of heartbreaking at the same time.
Besides my mama, Leah is the closest my daughter has ever had to a mother figure in her life. And it is really sad that her own mama can’t realize how special this little girl really is. How it’s a fucking honor to get to spend time with her, to watch her grow up.