“Nothing I can’t fix.”
He was quiet for a moment. “You always this argumentative, Aiden?” I’d given him my name in the first round of twenty-questions after I’d moved Monroe in. He’d refused to call me by anything else since then.
“Only when people don’t listen to what I’m saying.”
“Mmm.”
We stood in silence while I finished cooking the meat. I threw the mushrooms and onions on the barbie that Monroe had chopped.
“So you’ve been going to AA?” he said.
I inhaled a long breath. This wasn’t a secret, but I didn’t love discussing the fact I struggled with alcohol. “Yeah.”
Silence again for a long few minutes.
And then—“How long until you decide to marry my daughter?”
I turned to face him. Hadn’t seen that question coming. “I’ve already decided, Col.” I was just waiting for my divorce from Tenille to go through.
“I figured as much. But I need to know when it’ll happen so I can start getting the cash ready to pay for it.”
Hadn’t seen that coming either. “There’s no need. I’ll pay for it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You and I are going to have a problem if you argue with me over that.”
“What? Different to the problem we have over me being with your daughter?”
“I have no problem with that anymore. You’ve proven yourself.”
“Jesus, you have a fucking funny way of showing it, then.”
Before he could respond to that, Monroe and Charlie interrupted us. I narrowed my eyes at Charlie. She appeared happier than when she’d stomped away from me. I wouldn’t have put it past her to try to con Monroe into agreeing to this date. The two of them often played sides against me. What neither of my girls understood was that there were some things I was happy to let them have, but others were a hard no. This was a fucking hell no.
“You finished with the meat?” Monroe asked.
“Yeah. Just about done with the mushrooms and onions, too.”
Col passed her the tray of cooked meat and then said to Charlie, “I’ve got something for you, Charlie.”
She smiled at him. Charlie liked Col, and I didn’t think it was just because she liked watching him give me a hard time. I had to give the guy credit for taking the time to get to know her. It was still early days, but he was shaping up to be the grandparent she’d never had.
He pulled a photo out of his wallet and passed it to her. I couldn’t see what it was, but the way her face broke out into a wide smile told me it was something she loved.
She looked at him hopefully. “Is this what I think it is?
He nodded. “Yes. Don’t get too excited. She’s an old car, but I figure you and I’ll have plenty of time to work on her before you get your licence.”
“You bought a car?” Monroe asked, full of surprise.
Col looked at his daughter with the kind of look I watched Charlie with. The one that revealed the unconditional love we felt for our child. “Yes.” He glanced at Charlie. “Angela has more photos on her phone if you want to see them.”
“Cool,” Charlie said, her face full of more excitement than I’d ever seen on her.
They left us to go and look at car photos, and I pulled Monroe close, settling my hand on her ass. “We’re getting married, sugar.”
She pulled her head back so she could look up at me. “Oh, really? Are we? You just decided that, did you?”
I tightened my hold on her. “No, not just now. I decided that a long fucking time ago, but your father has just given his blessing.”