Read Online All For You (Boys of the South) by Marquita Valentine, The 12 NAs of Christmas - Free Book Online Page B

surprise. He never willingly talks about her, at least not
without a six-pack or two behind him.
    “So do you.”
    “Nah, not like
she did. I swear that woman could talk plants into growing.”
    “With a name
like Wisteria Holland, what else could she do?”
    My dad grunts in
answer before saying, “In another year, I’ll be ready for
you to start shouldering more of the responsibilities of Walsh Lawn
Service. Are you up for that?”
    “Do frogs
jump?”
    My dad laughs,
letting go of the fern and the subject of the woman who left both of
us. “We’re invited to the Diaz house for a Christmas Eve
party. Feel like going?”
    If I say no, he’ll
know something’s up, and if I say yes, he’ll ask me why
I’d want to go hang out with people I barely know. Shrugging, I
say, “I dunno. What do you feel like doing?”
    He takes a pull from
his bottle of beer, then says, “Diaz is nice enough. So’s
his wife, but I’d feel out of place there, like if I touch
something, a maid will be right behind me, wiping away any trace of
my existence. I’d rather be here at home, watching A
Christmas Story marathon with my little girl, and eating take-out Chinese.”
    I would have given
anything for any trace of my existence to have been wiped away during
high school, until my tormentor turned lover did exactly that. “Then
we won’t go.”
    “You shouldn’t
feel like that, too.” He moves the clay pot to one side.
“You’re just as good as the rest of them.”
    “Never thought
I wasn’t,” I say lightly.
    “Mac, you
might fool everyone else around here, but you can’t fool your
daddy.” His gaze turns harsh. “Weston Diaz is damned
lucky you chose him, out of every guy around here, to spend time
with. Make sure he knows it, and treats you accordingly.”
    My heart jumps into
my throat and all I can do is wrap my arms around the one man who’s
always taken care of me and hug him tight.
    “I love you,
Daddy.”
    “Love you,
too.”
    “Would you
mind if I go hang out with Julia instead of watching Duck
Dynasty with you?”
    He lets go of me.
“Go on. Have some fun. Be twenty for once, but not too twenty.”
    Grinning, I text
Julia and press a kiss on my dad’s cheek. “You don’t
know how much I need this.”
    “Honey, we all
need that, every now and again.”

    ***   ***   ***

    West
    For the past hour,
I’ve been playing soccer with my dad in the backyard. Nothing
too competitive, but he’s good enough to keep me on my toes.
    “Eyes on the
ball, son,” he’d say before every pass.
    Once he gave me a
tennis ball, and made me do drills with it. Tiny and greenish-yellow,
I hated that thing, because it was so difficult to keep going and
find in the grass… until I realized how much improved my game.
    I still refuse to
play tennis though.
    “Ready to
talk, old man,” I say, panting a little as I sweep my leg out
and kick the ball back to him.
    He grabs the ball,
tucking it under one arm and nods at the patio. A pitcher of water
with lemons floating in it, and two glasses wait for us beside a
veggie platter. My mother’s doing, I know.
    “Are you happy
at school?” My dad pours water in the glasses and hands me one.
    This wasn’t
the opening I thought he’d go for. Honestly, I thought he’d
heard McKenzie and me.
    “Yes, sir.”
This is not the time to talk about transferring to Carolina.
Instead, I dig into the veggie tray and scarf down about a dozen
carrot sticks.
    “And
Charlotte?”
    A handful of grape
tomatoes never make it to my mouth. I drop the handful in front of me
on the table. “She seems to like school.”
    “That’s
not what I’m asking.”
    I can’t lie to
him; I’ve never been able to lie to him. “We’re not
together anymore.”
    “This is good
to know, especially after the strip show you performed at Tanaka’s.”
    “It wasn’t
a strip show.”
    He raises his brow
at me, and I hold up a hand. “Okay, so out of context, it was a
strip show, but in context, it