Page 19 of Maple Mountain
She took the figurine from Archer.“Grouse.Huh.”
“Let’s get the suitcases,” I suggested.
Lenni nodded, set the figurine back on the shelf, and darted out of the room.Mildred went with her.
“I wonder what she’s going to do when she finds out what business the Powells are in.”Archer looked at me.
“Ask for diagrams of the cuts of meat?”
“God help me.”
ChapterFive
The House
“I think my dog likes your daughter better than she likes me,” I quipped as I watched Mildred follow Lenni up the stairs.
“I think my daughter likes you better than she likesme,” Archer replied.“She barely talked during dinner and when she did, it was to you.”
Though his tone was light, his words permeated my heart.
“It’s just going to take you both some time to settle in together,” I said.
“She doesn’t have that problem with you.She acts like she’s known you forever.”
“Mom stand-in.”I shrugged it off.“When she figures out you won’t bail on her, she’ll come around.”
I rose from the kitchen table and began clearing the dinner plates.
Archer stood and began to help.He raked a hand through his shaggy dark hair in frustration, mussing it.“Do you think she knows I’m completely fucking terrified?”
“You?Terrified?The big, strong cowboy?I never would’ve guessed,” I teased.
“Seriously,” he said, keeping his voice soft.
“You’re hiding it well,” I remarked.“You can always scream into a pillow later if it makes you feel better.”
“Thanks for the suggestion.”His gaze wandered to the stairs.“What do I tell her?”
“About what?”
“About why I didn’t even know she existed.”
“Tell her the truth.Kids respond to honesty—they know when they’re being lied to.”
“I can’t becompletelyhonest with her.Not until she’s older,” he pointed out.
“You tell her a version that works for a kid.But make sure it’s the truth.”
“Tell her that her that her mom and I were nothing serious, and that she was right to raise Lenni far away from bikers?Tell her that I was a nineteen-year-old player who had no business being a father?How the fuck do I tell a little girl all that?”
“You tell her that sometimes people have feelings for each other, but that it doesn’t always last.You tell her that her mother loved her enough to keep her away from things she shouldn’t be around.Be vague, Archer.And then you tell her that you didn’t know about her until yesterday.That part is very important.She’s angry.With her mom dying and Nancy bailing on her without so much as a goodbye ...You’re just the icing on a shit cake right now.But if you want this to work, you’re going to have to get honest with her even if it’s uncomfortable.”
He rubbed his forehead.“Are you sure you’re a New Yorker?You’ve got the blunt Midwesterner attitude down.”
I smiled.“I come from a long line of straight shooters.”
“Thank God for that.I couldn’t handle someone pussyfooting around.Promise me you won’t ever do that to me.Promise me you’ll give it to me straight, even if you think it hurts to say.”
