“Your dad can have a healthy relationship with Darienneandyou. But not if you don’t give him the opportunity to try. He’s not a mind reader.”
I try to shed my anxiety with a forceful exhale. “What if I lose him anyway?”
What if I’ve already lost him?
Linden gives a thoughtfulhmm. It reminds me of the subtle way he touches me, like he can read how much I need it. Maybe I shouldn’t think of it as an offer of support, but a part of me already has. “Then you put crabs in Darienne’s underwear drawer.”
I giggle. “That won’t solve my problem, though.”
He grunts. “No, but it’s guaranteed to make you feel better.”
“Thanks for making me laugh.”
“Anytime, shortcake.”
“Be safe today,” I say as longing tightens inside my chest.
“Always.”
During my drive to Love Buzz, I give myself a pep talk. If I can’t weave the party into the conversation, I can always kick it off with an “I feel” statement.I feel hurt by the way Darienne treats me.Or I could really shock him with:I feel sad that you seem to have stopped caring about me.
Linden’s compassionate, wise words are like a warm hug around my heart.
What happened to you was terrible, and it hurt you deeply. You deserve to take as much time and employ whatever resources as you need for those wounds to heal.
In the bright light of day, this feels even more true. Gratitude for Linden being brave enough to share his past heartbreaks and the rocky road he traveled to heal himself is like a warm, steady wind filling my sails.
Inside Love Buzz, I scan the space for Dad. He’s always early. When I spot him, my nerves soften a little bit. Part of me expected him to be with Darienne, even though I followed up withjust the two of us?when we finalized our plans yesterday.
Dad stands up as I approach. He gives me a calm smile, and we hug. I inhale his Old Spice scent and savor his bear-like squeeze, and when we sit down, we both start talking at once.
An hour later, we’re hugging again and making a promise to make breakfast just the two of us a more regular event. I didn’t divulge all of my feelings, but I shared that I missed him. He seemed surprised, and revealed that my divorce had shaken him more than he understood at the time. “Maybe I’m old fashioned, but when you married Russ, I tried to take a step back. Let you live your life. I quit worrying about you. So when you two split…I sort of locked up. I didn’t know what you needed.”
I put my hand over his. “I just need you to still be my dad.”
He looked relieved. “Okay, Meggers. I think I can do that.”
We talked a little bit about Linden. “Is he good to you?” Dad asked, compassion edging his serious gaze.
My smile must have impressed him, because he laughed and shook his head.
“Okay, maybe don’t answer that.”
We were almost finished with our breakfast when he brought upthe party.
“I figured out that Darienne rigged things so she’d get credit,” he said, looking sheepish.
I stared at him in shock. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
He gave me a tentative shrug. “She’s not confident like you, Megs. She sometimes feels…intimidated. And I thought, you know, if it was so important to her to feel like she’d participated, what was the harm? But she took it too far.” He reached for my hand. “I saw your face that night, after the slide show. I realized later what it meant: that you got hurt. That was not my intention. It was an incredibly memorable night, honey. Thank you for everything that you did to make it happen. I’ll never forget it.”
Tears stung the corners of my eyes, but I smiled and squeezed his hand. “You’re welcome, Dad.”
“And I’ll…talk to Darienne. I want her to apologize. What she did wasn’t fair to you.”
I smiled at him through my emotions. “Okay.”
Outside the café, the warm summer sun heating my shoulders, we hugged goodbye one last time. I practically skipped to the grocery store and bought all my favorite snacks and several dinner options. Then when I couldn’t decide between strawberry ice cream, Moose Tracks, or lemon gelato, I bought all three.
