Operation Celibate Courtship commenced the next day. Cam made even more of a conscious effort to clean up after himself. He didn’t leave his shorts on the bathroom floor. After shaving, he rinsed out the sink. Instead of leaving his empty smoothie glass wherever he was when he finished it, he brought it to the kitchen…and rinsed it out. All he could do was hope she noticed.
He also brought home a packet of tickets and parking passes and told Dakota that they were for all the games on non-school nights, and during Spring Break.
“You’re under no obligation to use them, but I know you guys enjoy going, so the choice is there if you want.”
“Cam, this is too generous. It must have cost you a bundle.”
“Didn’t cost me a thing,” he said. “We all get two season tickets as part of our contract.”
Which was utter bullshit. The players had to buy the tickets. They got them for a slight discount, but they did have to pay.
Today was a non-game day. He was lazing around as much as possible, passively watching one of the Marvel Comic movies because when he turned the TV on, that’s what was playing. Dakota had left to go pick up Zinny and he found himself eager for them to return because he had a couple of rocks from Canada. As far as he knew, Zinny only had rocks from the United States.
But he knew something was up the minute he heard the door open and close. Usually, the kid raced into the house and made a beeline for his room. If his door was closed, he was taking his game day nap and was not to be disturbed under any circumstances. Zinny had already tested that rule and been deprived of TV privileges twice. If the door was open, she called his name loudly to find out where he was.
And damned if he didn’t look forward to that every day. Weird how he hadn’t realized how lonely he’d been until these two ladies came into his life.
So instead of Zinny’s squeaky voice calling his name, he heard only plops of a backpack and purse, heavy sighs, a chair scraping on the floor. When he walked in the kitchen, Zinny sat at the breakfast counter, her head resting on her crossed arms. Dakota started unpacking a bag of El Pollo Loco take-out—ten pieces of roasted chicken, beans, rice, tortillas and salsa—about six inches from Zinny’s face. She didn’t budge, which was a bad sign. The kid loved El Pollo. She pretended she was a chef and made her own little burritos.
“Hi,” Dakota said to him as she put together a plate for Zinny. “You hungry?”
They’d been over that before. It was pretty much a rhetorical question. He was always hungry and had told her that anytime she was cooking something for Zinny, she should make enough for him too.
“Thanks,” he said. “Is something going on?” He gave meaningful glance toward Zinny, whose hair he ruffled. Surprisingly, Zinny turned her face the other way. “I saw some halibut in the fridge and I thought you were making that for dinner.”
Dakota saved El Pollo for special occasions but nobody looked like they were celebrating anything.
Dakota reached for Zinny’s backpack and unzipped it. “You’d better eat before it gets cold, Zinny.”
Zinny buried her face in her arms.
Dakota heaved a sigh then grabbed a breast and started stripping the meat off it and laying it on a tortilla.
Okaaay.
“So, Zin Bin,” Cole said, “I’ve been waiting for you to come home. I have two surprises for you.”
Zinny raised her head and he noticed her eyes were red and puffy. She’d obviously been crying and the sight of her sad face made his heart constrict painfully.
“Surprises?”
He pulled the rocks from his pocket and her eyes flashed with a delight that was a hundred times dimmer than usual—sort of like that sound his car made when he tried the start the engine and the battery was almost out of juice.
“This one’s from Edmonton and this one’s from Calgary. Both of those places are in Canada. Do you have rocks from Canada?”
“No.” She had pulled one of the Styrofoam containers toward her, snaked a single pinto bean and put it into her mouth like her arm weighed a thousand pounds.
“What do you say to Cam?” Dakota prompted.
“Thanks, Cam,” Zinny said, as she started pulling the chicken off the bone and putting it into a small pile on her plate.
Still not sure what the problem was and wanting to ask about it, but not while Zinny was in the room, Cam helped himself to a breast and two thighs and a generous portion of the sides.
Dakota’s phone rang and he saw it was Natalie Nordbeck calling.
“Hi, Natalie.”
Zinny spooned some rice onto her tortilla in super slow-mo.
“We’ve been better,” Dakota said.
Cam could hear Natalie talking but couldn’t make out what she said. Dakota’s eyes darted to Zinny as she listened. The more Natalie talked, the more relaxed Dakota’s face got.
“That’s really generous,” she said, the beginning of a smile forming. “Thank you so much for thinking of us. I’ll let you know, okay? Sure. Thanks again. Bye.” She put her phone down. “Zinny, guess what! That was Nico’s mom. She said that Nico’s dad wants to go to the dance with you. Isn’t that great?”
“He isn’t my daddy,” Zinny said. “He’s Nico’s daddy.”
“What’s going on? What dance?” Cam asked.
Zinny unzipped her backpack, pulled out a crumpled piece of pink paper and pushed it across the counter.
Daddy-Daughter Winter Wonderland Dance
Friday, 7 p.m.
Roosevelt Elementary School Multipurpose Room.
It all became clear.
According to the flyer, children could bring whomever they wanted if their dads weren’t available. Grandpas, uncles, big brothers, what have you.
Dakota spoke again. “So, what do you say, Zinny? I think it’s so generous of Paul to offer. You’ve met him too. He’s very nice. You should go with him.”
Cam suddenly realized how very much he did not want that to happen.
“I don’t think she should go with him,” he said and Dakota shot him a killing look, but he went on. “I think she should go with me.”
Dakota looked at him dumbfounded.
“What do you say, Zin Bin?” he said in a softer tone. He pressed his cheek to the counter so that they were eye to eye. “Will you go to the dance with me instead? I know I’m not your dad, but it would be my honor to be your date.”
He heard a weird sound come from Dakota, but he didn’t shift his gaze. Little Zinny’s face was transforming into pure joy. A moment later, and with an eardrum piercing shriek, she threw her arms around his neck and her legs around his midsection. She was thanking him and kissing his face and he laughed as he turned around in a circle, loving the feeling of this tiny girl hugging him with all her might. Even better was Dakota’s overjoyed expression of gratitude.