Daddy Lessons

“We’re going back upstairs, sweetie,” Hailey said, putting her hands on Natasha’s shoulders.

“I don’t like it in the ‘partment. I want to be here with my daddy.”

Well, your daddy doesn’t want you to be here with him.

Hailey knew that wasn’t entirely true. Dan had his own ideas of how Natasha should be schooled but, unfortunately, they didn’t coincide with hers.

“I like this sandwich.” Natasha grinned as she looked up from the plate Hailey had set in front of her. “How did you make it look like a rabbit?”

“Your grandmother has a great big cookie cutter in the shape of a rabbit,” Hailey said. She remembered when Dan’s mother had brought the cookie cutter up from the store. Dan and Austin had teased Mrs. Morrow about the humongous cookies she would be making with them and how fat they would all get eating rabbit cookies.

The memory teased up other emotions, which she fought down with a sense of dismay. Was this how it would be for the rest of her time teaching Natasha? Old memories and old emotions constantly assaulting her?

She took a quick breath. Just get through it.

“Aren’t you making a sandwich?” Natasha asked, swinging her feet as she picked up her rabbit.

“Not for me. I’m going to eat with some friends at a café,” Hailey said, just as the stairway door creaked open.

Dan stepped into the apartment, talking on his cell phone. “I needed that order yesterday,” he said as he bent over Natasha’s head and gave her a kiss.

When Hailey got back from the kitchen with the sandwich she had made for him, he had finished his phone call.

“How was your morning, munchkin?” Dan asked, sitting down beside Natasha as Hailey set a plate in front of him. “Did you get lots of work done?”

“I got bored and then I got sad.” Natasha delivered the comment with a sorrowful look Dan’s way, and just in case he didn’t get that, she added a dramatic sniff.

“What were you sad about?”

“My mommy.”

Dan pulled the corner of his lip between his teeth, then pointed to the plate in front of her. “But look at the cool sandwich Miss Deacon made for you. It looks like … a rabbit?” He shot Hailey a puzzled look.

“I used that old cookie cutter of your mother’s.”

“She still has it around?” Dan’s mouth quirked up in a grin, which didn’t help Hailey’s equilibrium around him. She’d thought he would still be upset with her for taking Natasha downstairs. It appeared she’d been forgiven.

“I thought it would make her sandwich more interesting,” Hailey returned, wrapping her purple sweater around herself. “So, if you guys are good, I’m heading down to Mug Shots for lunch.”

Dan’s puzzled expression held a touch of relief. The awkwardness between them was palpable and she guessed he would be more comfortable if she left.

“Sure. Thanks a lot for the sandwich. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I didn’t mind,” Hailey said, walking to the cupboard to get her coat.

“No. You can’t go,” Natasha cried out. “You have to stay and eat with us. Daddy always says it’s important to eat together.”

Hailey gave the little girl a gentle smile as she pulled her coat on. “Your dad was talking about families eating together,” she said, pulling her hair free from the collar. “Which you are doing right now. You and your daddy are a family.”

Natasha turned to Dan, grabbing his arm and giving it a tug. “Tell her she has to stay. Tell her, Daddy.”

Conflicting emotions flitted across Dan’s features.

Hailey held up her hand, forestalling his answer and giving him an out. “No. I should go. I have some friends waiting for me I want to visit with.” Not entirely true, but there was bound to be someone she knew hanging around Mug Shots.

As she zipped up her jacket, Dan’s cell phone rang.

Dan answered it, then, as he spoke, glanced up at Hailey, frowning. “Yeah, I guess I can,” he said. He ended the call, then eased out a sigh as he held her eyes. “That was Jess Schroder. I need to meet him down at the lumberyard in twenty minutes.”

Hailey bit her lip as she checked the clock. “That doesn’t give me enough time to get to the coffee shop, eat and come back.” She hesitated a moment more, then accepted the inevitable. “I guess I better eat lunch here,” she said, unzipping her coat.

“Sorry about that,” Dan said. “I’ll make sure you get a break tomorrow.”

She just nodded, then returned to the kitchen to make a sandwich for herself. She took her time, not sure she wanted to sit down at the table with Dan and Natasha. The situation smacked of domesticity.

She brought her sandwich to the table, sat down, then bowed her head, her hair falling like a curtain around her flushed cheeks. Dear Lord, just help me get through this, she prayed. Help me act around Dan like I would around any other guy. And bless this food, please, and thanks for all the blessings I have.

She waited a moment, as if to let the prayer settle. When she looked up she caught Dan’s enigmatic expression. She knew what he was thinking. At one time church, God and praying had not figured prominently in her life.

I’m not the irresponsible and goofy girl I used to be, she wanted to say.

Though she kept her thoughts to herself, she was unable to look away, unable to stop the tender stirring in her chest of older emotions. Older attractions.

“Why were you looking at your sandwich?” Natasha asked.

Hailey broke the connection, smiling at Natasha’s confusion. “I was praying a blessing on my food.”

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