Tyler
Ipull into the bar and see my dad’s truck is already there.
Dad and I try to grab a beer at least once a month. We see each other more than that, obviously, but this is our night. No women around or Trent to distract us with work talk.
“Hey, Dad.” I give his shoulder a squeeze as I take a seat on the empty barstool next to him. He lifts his beer to me and takes a swig.
“Just ordered you one.”
Danelle, the bartender, places a stout down in front of me.
“So how are things, Dad?”
He looks over his shoulder at me. “Feel like I should be asking you that. I’m an old man these days, not much changing.”
I smile. “Yeah, things are good.” He doesn’t have to elaborate for me to know he’s referring to things with Brooklyn. He and I had a short chat about it on the porch at Thanksgiving. I wanted to go more deeply into things with him, but not with everyone around.
“The family loves her, your mom especially. She told me to tell you tonight not to screw the pooch with this one.”
“With this one? What makes her think I’m the one who screwed up any of my other relationships?”
Dad gives me the look.
“For the record, Selma and I both agreed we weren’t each other’s person, and as for Alana, she was only looking for a distraction from her impending divorce.”
“Look, I’m not saying you screwed anything up, but you also have a knack for walking away too quickly. Marriage is damn hard, son. You’re gonna face more hardships than you realize, and you just gotta be willing to fight for it.”
“Whoa, who said anything about marriage?” I give him a smirk and he just chuckles and shakes his head. “Actually, that’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about tonight. Mom’s ring.”
He looks over at me briefly just as a young man I’ve never seen before walks into the bar.
“You think it’s too early to ask?”
“It’s not about what I think. I don’t adhere to rules about stuff like that. You know that. Hell, your mom and I had one helluva trip finally making it down the aisle.”
“Would you have changed anything? Like if you could go back?”
The young man walks up to the bar and smiles at Danelle while ordering a beer. Most likely a tourist down from Jackson, just passing through.
“No. I mean, hey, I probably wouldn’t have been such a stubborn asshole, but it all worked out in the end. I tried not to fall for your mom.”
That piques my interest. “You did? Why?”
“Same as you. I was hard-nosed and thought I had my life all figured out. I let the brewery consume my life and convinced myself I didn’t have time for anyone or anything else. I wanted to keep things . . . casual with your mom.”
I crook an eyebrow. “Casual?”
“Just sex,” he says bluntly, and I shake my head.
“Jesus, Dad, maybe some tact?”
He just shrugs and I carry on. “Yeah, I tried that too, with Brook.”
We both laugh—never thought I’d be sharing this with my dad.
“So you love her. I know that, and we can all see it. You think she’s it?”
I nod as I slowly roll the bottle in my hand. “I really do. She’s everything and so much more than I thought I could ever get.”