DID YOU READ CHAPTER 1, CHAPTER 2, Chapter 3, CHAPTER 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, & Chapter 10?

Chapter 11

– Present Day –

As Jason warmed up for his soccer game, he thought about his morning.

He could still feel Kayla’s legs wrapped around him, her body squirming against his.

He had loved holding her, and being on top of her on the ground.

He only wished he would have just finally kissed her. It was all he could think about.

Jason’s teammate Carl yelled, “Heads up!” And a ball hit Jason in the side of his head. Jason remained standing, but felt dazed. As Carl’s wife came out on the field and walked Jason to the sidelines, Jason didn’t know if he was more dazed by his infatuation with Kayla or by his close encounter with the soccer ball.

He thought, Was she scared, or was she turned on?

The more he thought about it, the less he knew what to think.

Trying to think about more productive thoughts, he focused on getting to see the brightest star in his life, his daughter Margo.

He told himself, Think about Margo. She wouldn’t want you to be miserable over a woman you can’t and shouldn’t have. Think about getting to talk to your daughter tonight. You haven’t seen her in months, and you only get to see her for an evening. Then Margo and Kayla both leave for their canoe trip.

He wondered if Kayla had packed everything she would need. We got her tent, her sleeping bag, and all of her food packed into her dry bags, and she should have all the survival essentials she would need.

Jason had taken Kayla shopping at the outdoors store, buying her a compass, flint, flashlight, knife. All the things she’d need if she somehow got stranded on the river alone. He told her to wear the little pack of essentials around her neck at all times.

Kayla had smiled and reassured him that she’d be fine, but he felt better knowing she was prepared.

Jason ended up playing the soccer game after he recovered. It helped him get his mind off Kayla, and helped him not think about how much he was going to miss her the whole week she would be gone.

When he got home that afternoon, Kayla was busy in the kitchen. Jason noticed she was wearing nice jeans and a fitted t-shirt that hugged her delicious curves.

He said, “You sure cleaned up nice.”

She smiled at him, and stuck out her hip, as if showing off her outfit. “Why thank you.” Then she turned her attention back to the pot on the stove. “Hey, Margo just called. She’s getting here earlier than she thought. So you probably have just enough time to shower before she gets here.”

He hurried to his shower, and mid-way through, he heard excited squeals coming from the kitchen. He figured Margo had arrived.

When he walked out into the kitchen, Margo and Kayla were so busy chattering, they didn’t notice him at first.

Jason just watched them for a moment, taking in the site.

He’d always considered Margo to be mature for her age, but maybe that was more of how he wanted to relate to her. Perhaps he’d never really seen her for the child she must have been once — or perhaps still was.

He noticed for the first time that Margo’s demeanor and laughter was much more juvenile than Kayla’s.

As Kayla continued to cook the meal, Margo told her all about a conversation she’d been having with her boyfriend earlier that day. Kayla was listening, but Jason assumed the conversation must be boring her. To his surprise, Kayla asked a pointed question, showing that she was deeply engaged in Margo’s story.

Jason continued to watch, perplexed by the friendship and dissimilarities between the two young women. He wondered if Kayla had always been sort of an older sister to Margo.

His train of thought was broken when Margo noticed him standing there. She yelled “Dad!” and came running over to him, embracing him in a big bear hug.

As they sat down for dinner, the conversation was a whirlwind, following every whim in Margo’s mind as she jumped from her favorite class to a new restaurant, then to her friends and their boyfriends, and finally to Jason’s love life.

“So, Dad. How’s the dating game going for you at the moment?”

Jason took a quick bite of food, stalling for time. After chewing slowly, he finally answered, “Um, I’m not really in the game right now.”

Margo raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. “I don’t believe that for a minute. You’ve always got something going on. So who is the lucky lady of the day?”

Jason tried not to look at Kayla. “I’m really not seeing anyone right now.”

She stared at him skeptically for a moment, and then turned her attention to Kayla.

“And what about you? Did you go out with that guy at school?”

Jason raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t heard about this.

Kayla blushed just a little. “No, I told him that I was too busy to go out any time soon.”

Margo asked, “Yeah, but he was cute, right? Being busy is no excuse. Everyone’s busy.”

Kayla shrugged and stared intently at the bite of food she was about to devour. “Maybe he’s not my type.”

Margo raised her eyebrow at Kayla, and then slowly looked back and forth from Jason to Kayla. Then she gasped, and blurt out, “Oh my god. Are you two sleeping together?”

Jason looked up at Kayla to gauge her reaction, but Kayla was just looking at him, waiting for him to answer. Finally, he hold Margo, “Not that it’s any of your business, but No, we aren’t sleeping together.”

Margo eyed both of them, trying to see if they’re lying.

Margo asked her dad, “Then why aren’t you dating?”

Jason shrugged. “I guess I just haven’t wanted to lately.”

“Yeah, but you’re a serial dater.” Then she stared at her Dad again.

He just shrugged again, and took a bite of food, hoping to God the conversation would be over soon.

Margo tried Kayla one more time. “So, no one at school has your eye right now?”

Kayla shook her head quickly.

Margo sighed in disbelief.

Jason took the opportunity to change the subject. “Do you guys have all the supplies you need for your trip?”

Margo started going through the list of what she’d packed, or what her boyfriend would be bringing. He didn’t ask Kayla, because Jason knew she was prepared.

Jason asked, “And you got your oil changed before leaving New York?”

Margo made an exaggerated apologetic face. “Dad, I totally forgot.”

“How many miles over?”

“Um… like 4 or 5, I think.”

“4 or 5 what? Hundred?”

Margo looked to Kayla and smiled, as if wanting support, but Kayla didn’t laugh. Kayla asked, “Thousand?”

Margo nodded to Kayla.

Kayla calmly looked at Jason, and waited for him to respond.

“Margo, I bought you that car, but if you aren’t going to take care of it, then I will gladly take it back.”

She begged, “Dad, please, no! I’ll be better, I promise!”

“What was our deal, when I let you use that car?”

“That I get to keep it if my grades are good and if I take care of it.”

“And how are your grades?”

“Really good this semester. I only have one B so far, and I think I’ll be able to pull that grade up.”

“That’s really good, Margo.” He reached over and patted her hand. “You know I’m very proud of you, right?”

She nodded.

“So, tell me what you’ve been doing to take care of the car.”

“Um… I washed it a few weeks ago. To get the salt off.”

“Good. Did you do that every other week during the winter?”

“Um… I tried, but I was so busy.”

“How many times did you wash it this winter?”

She looked at Kayla for support again, but still got none. Margo looked back at her dad. “Not as often as I should have.”

“How many times?”

“Only once.”

Jason sighed, and leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms, staring at Margo, wondering how she was so irresponsible, when Kayla was so mature.

He was silent for a few moments, but then spoke. “I’m thinking I did you a disservice by buying you that car.”

She pleaded, “Dad, no. I love the car. I’ll do better, I promise. You now I need the car to get to my internship.”

“If you had bought the car yourself, don’t you think you would take better care of it?”

“Dad, I’m still learning, you know? I will do better, OK?”

He had already decided what to say to her, but he paused for dramatic effect. “I have already been extremely lenient with you on this. But that stops now. When you graduate, you have to show me every receipt for every car wash, oil change, and tire rotation. If any of those are even one day late, then you get to buy your own car. There are all sorts of good deals out there, I’m sure you’ll find something nice.”

“Dad, I’ll do it. Every two weeks, I’ll wash the car. Every three months, I’ll get an oil change. Every other oil change, I’ll rotate the tires. I promise.”

He leaned forward on the the table. “You can promise all you want. All I care about is those receipts next Spring. From today on, everything needs to be on time.”

Margo got up and hugged Jason. “I will, Dad, you’ll see!”

Kayla stood up and started walking out of the room. “I’m going downstairs. See you when you come down, Margo.”

Jason waved at Kayla, as Margo still hugged him. Kayla smiled and waved back, mouthing, “Good night” to him.

Jason said, “Margo, you know you can ruin a car by not changing the oil regularly?”

Margo nodded.

Jason said, “Leave your car here, and take my car on your trip. I’ll get it taken care of while you’re gone.”

She hugged him again. “Thank you, Dad!”

He wondered if that’s what she had planned all along.

Margo bounded down the stairs, and he could hear the girls talking excitedly again.

He sat at the table, and put his face in his hands. He thought about all the things he should have done better while raising Margo.

He wondered if he should have settled down with a woman just so Margo would have had a mother figure. He thought through the women he’d dated, and not a single one jumped out as marriage material. He wondered, Maybe I’ve been dating the wrong type of woman.

He heard footsteps in the kitchen, and looked up. Kayla was standing there, and she smiled at him.

She walked over and placed her hands gently on his shoulders. He laid his hands flat on the table in front of him, and then leaned back into his chair.

Kayla’s fingers pressed into his shoulder muscles, as if she knew exactly where he held his tension. She rubbed his neck too, and then gently massaged his scalp.

He closed his eyes, and felt the tension fade away.

She leaned her body against the back of his chair, and she reached forward to rub his chest.

He let out a soft moan.

She walked her fingers up his neck, and then rubbed his temples.

He relaxed his neck, and his head fell back, leaning against her soft body, directly between her breasts. He waited for her to move, but she didn’t. She continued to rub his face, further relaxing him.

After a few minutes of silence, she leaned forward and said quietly into his ear, “You know you are a really good Dad, right?”

He scoffed, shaking his head. “I don’t even know how to tell anymore.”

Suddenly, she scooted his chair back a few inches, and then stood to his side, and then slid down so that she was sitting on his thigh. Her face was directly in front of his. She held his face, as if her life depended on what she needed to say.

She said very quietly, “There are a million reasons why you are an excellent father, but the biggest thing is that you have her trust.”

Jason didn’t understand why that was a big deal. The thought, Isn’t keeping her safe and fed and healthy more important than trust?

Kayla was sliding off his leg, so she wiggled her butt to reposition, which caught Jason’s attention.

Kayla added, “Your daughter doesn’t lie to you. Do you have any idea how rare that is?”

Jason shrugged.

Kayla said more forcefully, but still quietly. She obviously didn’t want Margo to know she was up here talking to him. “Don’t shrug it off. You’re up here sulking, and you have no reason to be. You treat her like an adult, even when she does dumb shit. And therefore, she does not lie to you. She trusts you to talk things through with her.”

Kayla took a deep breath. “You’ve raised an awesome woman, and you did that on your own.”

She stood up just as suddenly as she had sat down. She got a glass of water and then walked by his chair again. She added, “You have a lot to be proud of.” she leaned down to say into his ear, “Especially the way you handled this tonight.” Then she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Night.”

He watched her walk out of the kitchen, and he felt a thousand times better. He couldn’t even remember what he’d been thinking about before Kayla walked in.