Cattail Ridge, page 11
part #4 of Firefly Hollow Series
“Hurry, Archer. I gotta go!”
They dashed inside and to the side of the restaurant where the restrooms were located. Judging from her whimper he figured they might have a minute, tops. He tried the women’s door but it was locked.
“Occupied!” someone called from inside.
“Shit.” Scooping her up, he said a mental prayer. “Close your eyes.” If his choices were letting her wet herself or taking her into the men’s room, the men’s room it was. Fortunately it was empty, and he hurried her into the stall. They got paper on the seat just in time, and as soon as her rear hit the seat, she was going. He stepped outside the stall to give her privacy and hoped she was big enough to either ask for help if she needed it, or not need it in the first place. There was a lot more to this parenting thing than he’d ever known, and he was perfectly aware he’d just barely scratched the surface.
Her sigh of relief matched his but her words had him nearly in tears, they were so unexpected.
“Thank you, Archer. I had to piss like a racehorse. I couldn’t hold it anymore.”
He laughed so hard, he coughed. “Sydney Marie, where did you hear that?”
“Aunt Rachel and Mommy.”
“Emma’s going to be so proud,” he murmured, still chuckling. When an older man opened the door and stepped in, he gave Archer a wary look.
Archer held his hand up. “Five-year-old girl. Can you give us just another minute?”
“As long as it’s a fast minute.”
“We’ll hurry. Thanks.”
Sydney flushed the toilet and came out, and he held her up while she washed her hands. “I can’t wait to tell Mommy I got to use the boy’s room. That was fun, Archer. Can I do it again someday?”
“We only do that in emergencies. It’s better for you to use the girl’s room when you can,” he explained as they left the restroom, her hand in his. The humor of the fact that she was more excited over using the men’s room than she had been about seeing Natural Bridge was not lost on him.
After a quick stop at the post office, he made a proposal. “How about we swing by the library and see Grandma? Maybe see if they have any new books you want to read?”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
Sydney’s trip to the bathroom had made him aware of his own pressing need. He didn’t want to show up at Emma’s studio just to use the restroom, and he hoped that Sarah would be able to watch Sydney for a couple of minutes for him. Just that one little aspect of being with a young child of the opposite sex made him appreciate with newfound respect what single parents went through. If just using the bathroom was such an ordeal, he couldn’t begin to imagine the myriad other things that happened in everyday life that a parent had to learn to account for.
He thought of his own father. Steve Gibson had found himself alone, raising two active boys under the age of nine, when he was only thirty years old. From what Archer remembered of his mother, as well as what he’d been told, she’d been very much like Zanny Campbell. The kind of woman who kept a perfect, if lived-in, house, and took great pride in taking care of her family. Having seen how much John and Zanny relied on each other, he realized, for perhaps the first time, that his father had to be have been completely overwhelmed when Tamsin Gibson died.
Sarah was manning the front desk when they went in the library, and when she looked up to see Archer with Sydney, her smile softened. “Well, would you look at this. What are you two up to?”
Sydney told her where they’d been. “And then I got to use the boy’s room, and everything!”
Sarah coughed to cover up her laugh. “I’ll bet that was exciting.”
“Speaking of the boy’s room… Could I excuse myself for a minute?” Archer asked.
“Of course. Sydney and I will look at the new arrivals.”
When he came back out he found them in the children’s section. Sydney was browsing and Sarah was on the phone. He waited until she hung up to move up beside her. “Thanks, Sarah. I never realized the logistics of having a little girl with no one around to watch her if you have to step away.”
“Oh, it’s a challenge when the child’s a girl. Boys are a little easier, but there were a few times Owen found himself with two or three little girls and no one to watch them. Ask him, and I’m sure he’ll show you a few gray hairs from the whole ordeal. Jack was in, by the way. He told me what happened. I’m sorry.”
Archer shrugged as the embarrassment of being fired washed over him again. “It’s probably for the best. Neither of us was happy there.”
“Still, that’s stressful. And you’ve had enough stress lately.” She put her arm around his waist and hugged him. “You look like you’ve caught up on at least a little sleep. You’re coming to dinner this Sunday, right?”
Archer hugged her back. “I’ve slept late two days in a row now, and yes, ma’am. I wouldn’t miss it. I thought I might even bring that banana pudding everyone is so fond of since I don’t have to work this weekend.”
Sarah’s knowing look told him that while the banana pudding was a hit, the “everyone” he referred to was Emma.
“They do say the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach,” she teased.
“Humph.”
After getting Sydney some books, as well as some for himself, he decided to take her back to his apartment. He knew she had crayons and a coloring book in her bag, and one of the letters he’d picked up at the post office required a phone call. Besides, if he was being honest with himself he had to admit that he was exhausted. The idea of putting his feet up for just a little bit sounded like an excellent plan.
Once she was settled in and coloring, he made the call. With that done, he kicked his shoes off and sat on the couch beside her. For about an hour, he read while she entertained herself with the coloring book. When she got up and wandered over to his bookcase though, he knew the quiet time was up.
“What else you got to do in this place?” she asked, hands on her hips. She picked up a picture of him and Logan, taken a few years earlier when Logan was on R&R. “Is this your brother?”
“It is.”
“He doesn’t look very happy.”
“Actually, he was pretty happy there. Logan just doesn’t smile a whole lot.”
She traced their images with her finger. “He’s got a scar on his cheek.”
“He does.”
“And he wears glasses, like me.”
Archer nodded. “Just like you.”
She came back over to the couch, the picture still in hand, and lay down on her belly beside him. Her feet went up, legs bent at the knees, and moved slowly back and forth in a reverse version of a leg swing. “Can we call him? On the phone?”
“Well, I guess we can try.” He glanced at his watch. It wasn’t quite five. “He should be home.”
Sydney gave him a look that clearly asked what he was waiting for, and he picked up the phone.
“This should be good,” he told her as the line rang. “He doesn’t talk to little girls very often, I bet.” Her eyes lit up at the idea.
“Hello?”
“Hey, big brother. What’re you into?”
“Recovering from that sadistic witch’s torture. What about you? Shouldn’t you be at work?”
Archer winced. He’d forgotten that little detail. “I have the day off. Hey, someone wants to say hello.” Not feeling the least bit of guilt, he handed Sydney the phone and sat back to enjoy the show.
“H’lo? Is this Logan?”
Archer heard silence on the line, then his brother responded.
“I’m Sydney. Archer took me to Natural Bridge, and I got to use the boy’s room. How come you don’t smile?”
It took a lot of willpower to keep from laughing aloud. Archer could just imagine his brother’s scowl. Sydney herself was frowning as she listened to his answer, and then the frown cleared.
“Oh. I get it. My cousin, Noah, he doesn’t smile much either. Is Archer really your baby brother? He is?” She nodded. “He said he was. So my friend Mary says it takes a mommy and a daddy to make a baby brother. I didn’t ask Archer ‘cause if he’s the baby brother he probably doesn’t know. But you should. So does it?”
Archer was biting the inside of his lip so hard he knew he was going to draw blood if he wasn’t careful. His eyes were watering with the effort to not burst into laughter. Oh, Logan was going to kill him but it was worth it. Standing, he went to the kitchenette and got a glass of water while the conversation continued.
“So you don’t know how baby brothers are made, either? No, I understand.” She sighed. “I guess I’ll have to ask my mommy. She had me so maybe she knows. And then she can tell you and Archer, and you’ll know, too.” She paused a minute, and Archer saw her smile. “Sure. I like jokes.”
“Oh, crap.” If Logan told her one of his ribald Army jokes, Emma would kill both of them. Sydney had a wicked recall on jokes and with his luck, she’d tell it to the whole family at Sunday dinner. He tried to not act too panicked as he went back to the couch. Sydney’s belly laugh stopped him from grabbing the phone away from her.
“You’re silly. That’s a newspaper. My grandpa likes to tell that joke.” She told him a couple of knock-knock jokes, and then she sighed. “You better talk to Archer. Are you coming to see him at Christmas?”
After a minute she handed the phone over. “He’s funny. I like him. I gotta pee again.” And she was off, running for the bathroom.
“Hey. What joke did you tell her?”
Logan was chuckling, actually chuckling, and Archer held the phone out from his ear to look down at it in surprise.
“The one about the newspaper, of course. That girl is a pistol. If she’s anything like her mother you’re going to have your hands full. And do tell me if Emma explains where baby brothers come from, I’d like to know.”
“I’ll do that. I’m sure you’ve wondered all these years.” He sighed. “Logan, kids are complicated. I’ve only had her a few hours and I’m exhausted. I don’t see how Emma does it on her own. Or how Dad did it, for that matter. Things make a lot more sense now, why they were the way they were.”
His brother blew out a breath. “I imagine they do. So why aren’t you at work, again?”
Sydney came out of the bathroom then, and Archer watched her go into his bedroom. He got up and followed, not interfering, just watching to make sure she didn’t get into trouble.
“I parted ways with the dealership. So did Jack. We start new jobs Monday at the other big car place here in town so I figured I’d take advantage of the unexpected vacation days.”
Logan was quiet for a minute. “Is that because of me?”
“No, it’s because the GM was a di–jerk.” He caught himself just in time. The last thing he needed was Sydney asking what a dick was. “This new job pays more, with slightly less hours. This was a good transition. I’ll be lead mechanic, and when a managerial position opens up I’m going to be near the top of the list.”
“Are you okay not working for a week?” Logan was one of the few people aware that Archer had filed bankruptcy, and had spent the last few years paying it off.
“Yeah. I told you, that was all cleared up last year. I got aggressive with it to get it off my back. I’m fine, Lo. I promise you. Stop worrying.” A pang of guilt hit him as he thought about Candace’s early release, but he flat out wasn’t willing to get into it today.
Logan grumbled a bit but he let it go. “So I guess I’m coming there for Christmas, if not sooner. Did I hear that correctly?”
Archer smiled as Sydney got one of his ball caps down and tried it on. “You did. Listen, I’d better go. I’ve got to get this young lady back to her mom or Emma will skin me alive.”
“She’s a pretty special kid. You take care of her, okay?”
“Will do.”
It was still a little early but Archer figured by the time he got Sydney’s backpack put back together and got her out the door, they’d be right on time. She got sidetracked when they went through the garage downstairs on their way out, though, by the car that was covered with a protective blanket.
“What’s under there?”
“That’s Logan’s car. I’m keeping it for him until he can come for it.” The car was something Logan and their father had been working on when Steve died. Since Logan was often overseas and didn’t really have a home base here in the states, Archer had kept it for him.
“Can I see?”
“Sure.” He turned the overhead lights on and when he whisked the cover off the classic muscle car, Sydney gave a half-whistle.
“It’s so pretty,” she told him, awed. “It sparkles.”
“It does.” The car was a classic, a 1967 Mustang. Electric blue, the car shone under the lights. While not showroom perfect, it was in good shape. “Want to sit behind the wheel?”
She nodded and bit her lip. “Please?”
He ushered her around to the driver’s side and let her in the convertible. For several minutes she played with the car, turning every knob she could reach, beeping the horn. Archer had a blast watching her have a blast. He found it all too easy to imagine her behind the wheel in a few years, smiling up at him as she got ready to drive off to her first date, or to college. He wondered briefly if he would be there to see her grow up, and the thought that he might not be choked him up. He shut that train of thought off before it went any further.
“Okay, kiddo. We’d better go.”
Even though the day hadn’t gone as he’d expected it to, it had been a wonderful day overall. Hopefully Sydney felt the same, and he’d be able to spend more time with her again soon. If he was really lucky he’d be able to get Emma to go along as well. He was planning to formally ask her out just as soon as he got his head around the new job, Logan’s injury and recovery, and Candace’s parole.
Emma met them at the door when they got there. She was in the pair of cut-offs from the other night and another worn T-shirt. Archer almost swallowed his tongue when she smiled at him. A tendril of hair was loose from the bun she had it piled up into and was teasing the nape of her neck. His resolve to be patient and wait on asking her out started melting away.
“Hey, there’s my girl. How was your day?” Emma picked Sydney up and gave her a big hug.
“Mommy, we went to Natural Bridge and the post office and the library, and I got to use the boy’s bathroom. And then I got to talk to Logan. On the phone. He told me a joke.”
“Sounds like you had a big day, sweetie. Come on in, Archer. Are you hungry? I made spaghetti, and there’s plenty for three.” She sat Sydney down and headed for the kitchen.
Archer covered up a laugh. Emma still heard him, and glanced around to stick her tongue out at him.
“Hush. I make excellent spaghetti, I’ll have you know.”
“I know you do. It’s everything else you have trouble with.”
She stopped and turned, hands on her hips, and he almost ran into her. “I do well enough, thank you. We don’t starve.” Her sassy smile reassured him that she was teasing and he smiled back.
“Hard to not joke when you have such good material to work with. Your cooking skills are legendary in the Campbell family, you know.”
Emma narrowed her eyes. “You sure you want to stay for dinner? Because you don’t act like you do.”
He checked on Sydney, who was disappearing into the kitchen. “I’d rather have dessert.” He gave in to temptation and touched the tendril, then let his hand trail down her shoulder. “But I guess dinner will be good for now.” When her mouth dropped open, he winked and went on around her and down the hall, laughing to himself the whole way. For a week that had started so lousily, things had turned out okay.
Chapter Fifteen
Emma and Sydney didn’t see Archer much for the next couple of weeks. He was busy with his new job and training, and things were hectic at the shop, as well. When they went to Sunday dinner two weeks after his outing with Sydney, Archer was there, but the news he had was discouraging.
“They’re sending Jack and me to training in Detroit this week. We’ll fly from there straight to California and then back to Tennessee. This new line they’re getting ready to roll out is so different the bigger dealerships are required to send in their service managers.”
Owen whistled. “How long is that going to take?”
“Too long. We leave Monday evening, head north. We’ll be there for a week, then a week in California. Jack said they may or may not let us come home for a few days in between, then we go back out for almost another week.”
Emma set her fork down. “Isn’t that somewhat unusual?”
“It’s very unusual. Jack said he’d had to go do training a few times over the years but not like this. I guess they want us to be up to speed so that when the new vehicles come in we can train the rest of the crew.”
“No. You can’t go.” Sydney wore a fierce scowl, and tears gathered on her lashes as she glared at Archer across the table. “I won’t let you.”
Emma smoothed a hand over her daughter’s head. “Sweetie, he has to go. It’s his job.”
“I don’t like his job!” With a sob, she pushed back from the table and ran out of the dining room.
Emma grimaced and stood. “Excuse me, everyone.”
“I’m sorry,” Archer told her as he followed her out the front door and toward the barn, where Sydney was heading. “I didn’t expect her to be happy about but I didn’t expect that kind of reaction.”
