Devoted Read Free

still out. She
left me a note saying she had come back from breakfast
with Zoe, but headed over to the school paper office. I had an idea about how to get ahold of her dad without her finding out. I went over to my desk and got out her residential
application. I remembered that she’d listed her mom
and dad’s cell phone numbers as emergency contacts. I found her dad’s number and with trembling hands and huge knots in my stomach, I
dialed it.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi,
Mr. Sadler?”
    “Yes, who is this?”
    “This is Braxton Gibbs, Emmi’s friend, um…boyfriend. I hope I’m not bothering
you?” I hoped she told him she had a boyfriend.
    “No, Braxton, you’re
not disturbing me at all. I have a day off work today,
I’m out running some errands but you caught me sitting with a cup of coffee. I ’ve actually heard a great deal about you from my daughter
and my wife and I’ve been looking forward to meeting you myself. Emmi’s okay, right?”
    “She’s fine, sir. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. She went to the newspaper
office.”
    “You don’t have to call
me sir, Braxton. Call me Ed.”
    I didn’t think I could do that, but I didn’t want to argue with him, so I said, “Okay,
thanks.”
    “So, Emmi’s okay, is there something I can do for you?”
    “Um, I was just hoping
that we could get to know each other,” I told him, the
first sign that I was chickening out. I didn’t really
want to ask him on the phone. Maybe I should have
driven to their house.
    “ Emmi tells me you do some mixed-martial-arts fighting?” Her dad was going with the
idea of us getting to know each other it seemed.
    “Something like that. I did get offered a
contract with the professional MMA league though, recently. That was
flattering.”
    “I’ll bet that was
exciting. Are you going to accept it?”
    “No, sir, I really
don’t want to do that the rest of my life. It was good to get through college. I have one fight left, the big one for the championship and
then I’m finished. It helped with all of the expenses for school and I set up a
college fund for my sister as well.”
    “That’s great, sounds
like your sister has a pretty good brother. And how is school going?”
    “It’s going great,
sir…um, sorry, Ed. It’s going great. I graduate this year and I have a 4.0.”
    “Well, that’s
impressive,” Emmi’s dad said. “I struggled for a 3.0.
You must be a smart guy.”
    “Thanks, I love
computer stuff so it all comes kind of easy to me.”
    “Yeah, but I know
there’s a lot more to it than just your primary classes. Give yourself credit
where it’s due.” It was no wonder that Emmi was so
well-adjusted. Ed barely knew me and he was already
trying to be supportive. “I’m sure my daughter appreciates a boyfriend who can
hold an intelligent conversation,” he went on to say. “Unfortunately, her last
one was a bit lacking in that department.”
    I wanted to laugh, knowing the punk he was talking about. But, I held it inside and said, “ Mr …Um, Ed…”
    “Now it’s Mr. Ed? I
sound like the talking horse.”
    “What horse is that,
sir?” I asked him.
    He laughed and said, “Never
mind, Braxton. I ’m showing my age. It was way before
your time. Before mine too, but I caught the reruns.”
    “Oh, okay.” I had no idea what he was talking about. “I was wondering if
you and I could maybe have lunch sometime? ”
    “I’m free now,” he
said.
    “Oh,
um…yeah, sure. Are you here in town?”
    “No, but I’m close. I was just finishing up my errands and thinking about
getting some lunch anyways. How about I meet you at
Buffalo Wild Wings out just off the highway? That’s about halfway for us both,
right?”
    “Yeah, that’s perfect,
thanks.”
    “Looking
forward to talking to you, Braxton.”
    “I’m looking forward to
it too, sir…Ed, thank you.”
    I hung up the call with a few less knots in my stomach. He was really
nice …or he was pretending to be so he can get me