“You know,” I said, “I'm actually quite handy.”
She laughed. “No, you're not.”
“I am. I could take a look at whatever the problem is and fix it.”
“No, you could not. What are you going on about? I bet you've never even held a hammer in your life before.” That was true, but I could learn, how hard could it be? These days, you could learn how to do anything online.
“It might be good to have a man around the house.”
She scoffed. “I used to have a man around the house, and he was just as handy as you claim to be.” That might have been true. Yes, Russell and I probably had the same skill-level when it came to fixing things around the house. One of us was a drunkard gambler who was dead now and never really loved her anyway and the other was a drunkard gambler who wanted to give her the world. Like night and day; the two of us. I was a little offended at the comparison.
“Once I'm there, you're going to wonder why you didn't invite me earlier. I'm telling you, I'm an asset.” She didn't believe me, but she was laughing instead of giving me the cold shoulder, which was good. It was progress, however small. She had proven that it was going to be a marathon with her, not a sprint and I was taking every little win as it came. “I'm telling you, I'm not like
that man you used to be married to. I can actually put my money where my mouth is.”
“Okay, first of all, even if you were to stay in Belshire for any amount of time, it wouldn't be in my home.”
Not ideal, but I understood. I could take it. Being in the village meant I was a maximum of fifteen minutes away from her at any given moment. Being in London meant I was hours away from her, and a long-haul drive to get to her. If I was in Belshire, I could see her every day no problem.
“What about in that little cottage I stayed the last time?”
“If you are staying in Belshire for any amount of time, you are going to have to arrange your own accommodation. Sorry.”
“Okay, okay. I'm just saying. You might want me close. I'm handy around the house and I can help you out with the gardens. No offense, but I've seen the state of them.
She laughed. “Now that I would have to see to believe.”
“I'm a rugged outdoorsman, don't you know?”
“If you are a rugged outdoorsman, then I'm the queen. I bet you couldn't tell the difference between a head of lettuce and deadly nightshade.”
“Of course, I can, they're all very clearly labeled at the supermarket.”
“Right, right. And I suppose you know the difference between rosemary and thyme?”
I shrugged. “Is one of them more expensive than the other?”
“No, both of them would be free because, never mind, you'd be hopeless in a garden. I bet you've never even mown the lawn.”
Of course not. There were always people who did that. I never felt bad about how privileged my upbringing had been. I was incredibly lucky, and I wished that more people had the access and opportunity that I had had. The truth though, was that if Eddy wanted me to mow her lawns then I would figure out how to do it. If she wanted me to knock the entire house down and build it up again brick by brick, then I would figure out how to do that. I had never been more serious about anything in my life. I was ready to put it all, everything on the line to be with her.
“Well, I'm great with kids. You were scared about introducing Riley to new people. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Is that so? When was the last time you were around a child?”
I had to reach pretty far back in my memory to recall. Thinking about it, the last time I had been around children for any significant amount of time was when I was also a child. There were a couple of times that I had met Brenna and Charlie's kids, but that was it. it wasn’t so much I had a quarrel with children; it was that in my experience, they were noisy, dirty and out of control. “Oh,” I said remembering. “I was at a restaurant recently and there was a particularly annoying one causing a ruckus and his parents weren't putting a stop to it, so I did.”
“You disciplined someone else's child?”
“No, I asked the waiter to re-seat the child and his family somewhere far away from me.”
Eddy laughed. “There is no way I'm introducing you to Riley.” I had already kind of met him in a way. He didn’t seem like the annoying ones that I came across from time to time but she was right, I didn't know the kid and the kid didn't know me. Who knew how that would work? I wanted to find out though.
What did it even mean to date a woman who had a child from a previous relationship? In the past, I had never been with a woman who was also a mother… if I had and didn’t know it, she had never mentioned having a baby. Maybe I couldn’t empathize because I had never been in the same position, but I had the depth to understand, as much as I could, anyway. Every child was their parents’ first priority. I was going to be playing second fiddle to the four-year-old and that was okay. I wasn’t jealous of a little boy.
That little boy was part of her life and that meant he was going to be part of mine too. The thought of fatherhood made me a little dizzy, but like I said, we were taking it slow. Even when Eddy and I did get together, Riley wouldn't immediately start calling me dad or anything. It would take some time and I had time. I was giving this as much time as it needed.
“Give it time, you'll be singing a different tune soon.”