Page 103 of Truth or More Truth
When I follow her into the house, Nanette is sitting at the kitchen table with a dazed look on her face, and my heart leaps into my throat. She’s been doing so well the past few weeks that Opal moved back home and only spends a couple hours a day with Nanette when I’m out of town. While I’ve told Nanette she’s welcome in my house anytime, she never comes over here on her own without a direct invitation, so I’m concerned something bad has happened.
“What’s up, Nan?” I ask carefully. “Everything OK?”
“Yeah, Mom, why are you over here? I was gonna come see you in a minute.”
The haze finally clears from Nanette’s eyes, and her gaze zeroes in on me. “Diego offered me a job.”
I freeze. “What?” My sneaky little friend mentioned nothing about this to me.
“He called and offered me a job with the foundation. It’s part-time, and while it would work best if I’m in the office in Chicago, I could do a modified version of the job from home.” She presses two trembling fingers to her mouth as tears fill her eyes. “I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to have a real job again.”
Leave it to my friend to make Nanette’s dream come true. I’m not sure why neither of us thought of this option before.
Kelli races to her mom and throws her arms around her neck from behind, almost choking her. “Mom, this is perfect! You said yes, right? You told him you’d do it?”
“Not yet,” Nanette says as she removes Kelli’s arms from her neck and turns sideways in her chair so she can look at our daughter, who drops into the seat beside her. “I told him I’d need to talk about it with you two first.”
“But we want you to take the job!” Kelli gives me a beseeching look. “Right, Dad?”
“We want you to be happy, Nan,” I say as I take a seat across from them. “If this job will accomplish that, I’ll support you all the way. You know that.”
“And it means we have to move to Chicago!” Kelli exclaims.
“No, honey, it doesn’t. I can work from here if needed.” Nanette looks at me. “You ready to have this conversation, or do you want to wait?”
“Let’s do it now!” Kelli says as she bounces in her chair.
“Why don’t you fix us all a snack first?” I say to my daughter. She usually eats something as soon as she gets home from school because she’s starving. “That way none of us will get worked up simply because we’re hungry.”
Kelli rolls her eyes. “I know ‘we’ means me. But I am hungry, so OK.”
She heads into the pantry and soon brings afew bags of chips to the table. “Pick what you want,” she orders us before heading to the kitchen to pour three glasses of lemonade.
“All right, I’m ready.” Kelli pops a Cool Ranch Dorito into her mouth after she takes her seat.
“First,” I say, “let’s talk about what it would look like if Melissa moves here.” I hold up my hand when Kelli starts to protest. “I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to talk about both options, and we’ll start with that one. Let’s discuss it on its own merits as if it’s the only option. Don’t compare it to moving to Chicago.”
Kelli shrugs. “I don’t think much would change for Mom and me.” Her eyes go wide. “Wait. You’re not going to kick us out if Melissa moves here, are you?”
“Kelli Marina Jacobs!” Nanette’s teacher voice is making an appearance. “Of course your father isn’t going to kick you out. Why would you think that?”
She looks back and forth between her mom and me. “I don’t think he’d kickmeout ofthishouse, but it might be a little weird to have an ex-wife in the backyard if the new wife is living here.”
I sigh. “Kelli, you and your mom aren’t going anywhere if Melissa moves here. Your mom will still live in the guest house, and you’ll have a room in both houses.”
Kelli’s nose scrunches. “Melissa would be OK with that?”
I realize in this moment that I haven’t specifically asked Melissa about this, which is an obvious oversight on my part. I think she’d be fine with it, but I can’t answer for her. I can’t very well ask her in front of Kelli and Nanette this weekend, though, so we’ll need to discuss it before she gets to the house. But how do I answer my daughter’s question now?
“Melissa is a very understanding and caring woman,” I hedge, hoping that will be a good enough answer for Kelli. “And she knows how much I want to keep both of you close.”
Nanette narrows her eyes at me, knowing I didn’t answer the question, but Kelli nods.
“Well then,” Kelli says, “I don’t think my life would change that much if she moved here. I’d have somebody else who’s therefor me,” she holds up a finger, “and an extra person to drive me around.”
“Melissa is not going to be your chauffeur,” Nanette chastises. “That will not be her job.” She then looks at me. “What about her job, though? If she moves here, she’ll have to find a new one.”
“Yes, she will,” I reply. “That is, if she wants a job. If we get married, she won’t need to work if she doesn’t want to.”
