Her face brightened, a wide, genuine smile on her face at the prospect. “Are we still talking in hypothetical terms or did you go on an actual date?”
He returned the smile. “An actual, real-live date. And before you ask, yes, I think I like her, and I’m pretty sure she likes me back.”
“The next question on the list is does she like kids? I’m thinking we’re a package deal, Dad, so she needs to like me too.”
“She’s a teacher, so I think she likes kids well enough. I’d like you to meet her sometime soon.”
“She’s a teacher? What’s her name? Do I know her?”
“Her name is Claire Anderson, and she’s new to the school as of January. I don’t know what grade she teaches, or even if it’s elementary or middles school.”
Kayleigh scrunched her face in a look of concentration. “I don’t know any teachers named Miss Anderson, but you can introduce us. How about this weekend?”
“Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll give her a call and see if we can set something up.” Ed smiled, and tucked the loose strands of hair back behind her ear. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
15
Tuesday, April 28, 3:00 p.m.
Monomoy Middle School, Chatham
Claire sat at her desk in the empty classroom, steeling herself for what was sure to be an adversarial conversation. Sure, she’d been an advocate on the behalf of her students and raised questions regarding parental fitness before in her career as an educator, but never had she felt so all alone and out there on a limb in this sort of situation.
She took a deep breath and checked the clock on the wall. She’d specified three o’clock in her letter to Kayleigh’s father. She hoped the man would respect her enough to be close to on-time. Since Kayleigh wasn’t one of her homeroom students, she didn’t have her student folder on hand, but if the father didn’t respond to her note, she’d be forced to look up the student record and call him directly. Since Kayleigh’s grandmother was the principal, she wanted to keep things as cordial as possible.
She took a deep breath, trying to think about something else, but the first thing which popped into her head was the text messages from Ed she was desperately trying to ignore. They arrived last night, but she’d dismissed the notifications without reading any of them. She needed to focus on her parent meeting today, not on the lying bastard who rocked her entire world last week before leaving her high and dry.
Yeah, he can totally wait for a response until I’m good and ready.
He couldn’t bother to tell her his last name? Couldn’t share the fact his mother was the school principal? Couldn’t call or text to let her know he’d be away for the whole weekend?
A knock on the doorframe had her looking up, and then freezing in shock. Ed. Here. At her classroom door. Smiling like he was happy to see her. Like he hadn’t been ignoring her for four whole fucking days.
What is he doing here?
“Claire? Oh my god, how weird! I want to talk to you about stuff, but first, I need to find a teacher. I thought they told me this was her room? Mrs. Masters?”
She heard the words coming out of his mouth, but it was almost like they were in ancient Latin and indecipherable. “My married name is Masters,” she said in way of explanation. “I’m Kayleigh’s Reading and Language Arts teacher. And can I assume you’re…”
“Her father. Yes.” He entered the room and took a seat in the chair she’d placed in front of her desk. “I know I didn’t tell you I had an eleven-year-old, but it didn’t seem like a first date conversation.”
“We had more than one date,” she said, trying hard to keep the bitterness out of her tone.
He chuckled. “We sure did. And you also told me your name was Anderson, but here we are.”
“Yeah, here we are.” She swallowed the lump rising in her throat. “I asked you to come in to talk about Kayleigh.”
“She’s worried you’re mad at her about something.”
“I’m not upset with Kayleigh. It’s her broken arm and unexplained bruising that have me concerned.”
He sat straighter in his chair. “You can’t think… Claire, I was here with you all week, while Kayleigh went with my brother to New York City. And before you even think it, Dylan is a great uncle. He would never abuse a child. She fell out of a tree, for fuck’s sake.”
“I know the story she’s telling her friends,” Claire countered, her voice rising over his. “But she also talked to me before the vacation break, about how her single father wasn’t dealing well and spent a lot of time yelling at her.”
“Kayleigh said that?” Ed hunched forward, planting his elbows on his knees and running his hands through his thick hair. Her fingers itched to follow those same paths, but she clenched her hands together on the desk instead. He was a lying liar, and she couldn’t believe her body was still reacting to him.
He heaved out a sigh and looked her in the eye. “I don’t remember yelling at her, to be honest. Sure, it may have happened, but I love my daughter. Spring has been a bit crazy at work, trying to bring the summer cops up to speed. I may have been short, but I certainly don’t remember any fights.”
“And the black eye a few weeks back? End of March?” Claire glanced down at the bullet point list she’d made last night in anticipation of this meeting, tried to keep to her script and keep her objectivity intact. It was hard. This was the man she thought she might be in a relationship with. The man she’d let into her bed. Into her heart. Turns out, she didn’t know as much about him as she thought.
For instance, he’d never mentioned having an eleven year old.
Ed’s face screwed up in confusion. “Black eye? You mean the tae-kwon-do incident?”
“Yeah, the incident. Care to explain?”
“Kayleigh was up against an older boy in a tournament at our dojo. The boy got a little frustrated when Kayleigh got the better of him on the scoreboard. He slipped up, got a little too aggressive with his moves.”
“Okay. And the new bruises?”
“Like I said before, she was away for vacation week with my brother and my parents.”
“She said it happened on Friday. Where have you been since Friday morning?” There. She put it out there in a normal, calm voice, not at all accusatory or needy. Not like she’d been waiting for him to call since Friday night. But if he’d been at home beating up on his daughter, then maybe it was a good thing he never called.
He paused, cocking his head to one side. “Didn’t you get my texts last night?”
“I haven’t read them yet.”
His impossibly blue eyes held her gaze for a long moment before turning away. “I told you in my voice message Friday morning, I had to be in Boston to give testimony at a trial. It was continued to Saturday, and we wrapped up yesterday. I got back on Cape kind of late last night. I tried to call you as soon as I could. I would have called from Jake’s phone, but I didn’t have your number memorized.”
She felt her jaw tighten and consciously tried to unclench her teeth. “And you didn’t call me from your own phone because…?”
He sighed and spread his hands wide. “I’m a dumbass, all right? I forgot my phone charger when I left for Boston, and Jake has an iPhone, not an Android, so his charger wasn’t compatible.”
“Jake?”
“My partner for the case we were testifying for.”
She took a deep breath and tried to refocus the conversation. “So you’re going to claim the cause of your daughter’s broken bones was a squirrel?”
Ed sighed, obviously nearing the point of giving up the argument. “Honestly, Claire, I wasn’t there at the time. I was in a car on my way to Boston. My brother Dylan went to the hospital with her, Columbia Presbyterian, if you want to call him to get his side of the story. Probably why my phone died, since I was on talking with Kayleigh for at least an hour or more. Poor kid.”
She considered his words. Considered the situation she found herself in.
Ed seemed to have an answer for everything, but not the question sitting at the top of the pile. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a child? Why didn’t you tell me about Kayleigh?”
At least he had the decency to hang his head. He obviously knew he screwed up. “Claire, I’m sorry. I never meant to lie to you.”
“And yet here we are.”
He blew out a long breath. “I think I told you last Monday, my dating skills are rather rusty. I’m not sure what’s required to be shared or not when two people get together, but here’s my full disclosure. Kayleigh’s mother and I… we met freshman year in high school and dated for four years. I found out she was pregnant on the day of graduation. I gave up college to marry her and raise our child. I would do anything – anything – for my daughter, except cause her pain. And since I had no idea if she’d be okay with me kissing someone other than her mom, I wasn’t about to expose her to you or us or whatever it was we were starting with one another.”
“But…”
Ed held up a hand to quiet her. “I needed to talk with Kayleigh first, to see if she would be okay with her dad dating someone new. She was in New York City last week with my brother on their annual spring pilgrimage, paying homage to the stars of Broadway.”
“I see.”
“Do you? Because from where I’m sitting, it feels like you’re making some pretty heavy accusations.” He paused. “I know I fucked up. I should’ve told you about my daughter. And about my mom being the principal here at the middle school. But when we were together… honestly? All I could think about was you.”
The icy reserve began to melt, but she tried to hold firm. “I’ll need to check your story before I make my official report.”
“My story?” He reared back as if she’d slapped him before a stone wall descended to cover his emotions. “I’m telling the truth.”
“Which still doesn’t reconcile with what Kayleigh has told me about her home life, Ed. About the single father who drinks too much and yells at her, blaming her for his problems.”
He stood quickly, knocking his chair backward, his face still a mask of stony calm. His voice was a quiet murmur. “Kayleigh told you those things about me?”
Claire frowned, thinking back on the exchanges she’d had with the girl. “She told me a friend was having trouble with her father, but in my experience…”
Ed held up one hand. “Enough. I’m leaving now before either of us says something we may regret. When you’re ready to discuss this like two adults, you have my number.”
He stalked out of the classroom before Claire could formulate a response. She sat at her desk, wondering what just happened. Could she have been wrong about Ed lying to her?
Finally giving up, she gathered her things and shoved them in her bag, more than ready to head home for the night. She walked down the hall toward the front entrance, passing the teacher’s lounge. She stopped when she heard the principal’s voice drifting out of the lounge and into the hallway. “It was the craziest thing I’d ever seen, Sandra, honest to God. I would never believe it if I wasn’t there to witness what happened. First my granddaughter falls out of the tree, and then the squirrel jumps down after her!”
Claire stopped mid-step. The story about the squirrel is true.
Could the rest of what Ed told her also be true?
She remembered the messages he’d left for her the night before, and pulled her phone out of her bag. Scrolling through her contacts, she found his first text.
Testimony was extended through today – just got back on Cape. Sorry I didn’t call sooner but forgot to bring my phone charger to Boston. There’s something else we need to talk about, stuff I need to tell you before we get any deeper into this relationship… hoping we can talk soon because I missed you this weekend.
Which was what he’d told her this afternoon, too. Except for the part about missing her. She’d probably screwed everything up, seeing how she accused him of child abuse. She sucked in a deep breath and scrolled down to the next text.
I guess it’s too late to talk tonight. Maybe we can talk tomorrow? I miss you. What I wouldn’t give for one of your hugs right now.
The next text came an hour later.
The thing is, I have a daughter. I told her about you tonight, and she wants to meet you. I wasn’t sure she would like the idea of her dad dating again, so I kept it a secret. I’m sorry. This weekend sucked not being able to talk to you. I miss you.
Another last text was time-stamped close on its heels.
I thought about telling you about Kayleigh on Friday, but then the trial took me away. Kayleigh is my daughter. She’s eleven going on thirty – beautiful, funny, smart, and full of life. A lot like you. I think the two of you will get along well. We should do something – the 3 of us – this weekend. What do you think? I can’t wait to see you again. I need to kiss you. I miss you.
The lump in her throat threatened to cut off her ability to breath. She blinked away the tears pricking at her eyes.
Had she screwed up something really great before it even got started?
How was she ever going to fix this?
16
Saturday, May 2
Schoolhouse Ice Cream, South Chatham
Ed couldn’t remember being this nervous about a date ever. Not even when he’d gone sight unseen into a blind date set up by his co-worker’s wife. That night had every hallmark of a disaster waiting to happen… and yet, somehow, miraculously, it all worked out. One of the best first dates in the history of first dates.
He could only hope today’s date went at least half as well. He wasn’t going to lie by omission ever again. Bringing his daughter along was a good start, and the local ice cream place should make for a neutral meeting ground.
“Is she here yet?” Kayleigh poked her head into the front, between the driver and passenger seats. “Do you know what her car even looks like, Dad?”
“I don’t see it yet.” He shifted to look at his daughter. “Thank you for telling me about your friend Cindy having problems with her father. I wish you’d come to me first.”
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t sure who to talk to. And I know you and Mr. Gregory are friends, so I didn’t know if you’d believe me.”
“Kayleigh, I will always believe you.” He patted her shoulder. “I think Mr. Gregory will be better now that he and I have talked. He’s going to get some counseling.”
“I’m sorry Mrs. M. thought I was talking about you. That’s kinda embarrassing.”
More than embarrassing, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it any more, or blame his daughter. It was his fault for not telling the truth in the first place, but they’d each made mistakes. Luckily, things seemed to be working out. “I think she’s pulling in now,” Ed said, pointing to the CRV turning off the road into the parking lot. He caught his daughter’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Now, remember what we talked about at home.”
Kayleigh rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. No awkward questions about her boobs, no yelling gross if you kiss her, no picking my nose…”
“Hey, seriously!” Ed frowned as his daughter burst into a fit of giggles. “And you wonder why I don’t bring you places. Or go out on dates in the first place.”
She sobered and looked him in the eye. “Really, Dad. I’ve known Mrs. M. a lot longer than you have. She’s pretty awesome. And way too young and pretty for an old man like you. If she’s okay being seen in public with us, I think you better make sure she doesn’t get away.”
“That’s my plan, Kayleigh.”
“No, I’m serious. Like don’t you have the set of handcuffs you used to wear when you were a street cop?” He gave her a quelling look and she started giggling again. “Kidding, kidding. Man, you’re a grouch when you’re nervous.”
“I love you, Kayleigh.”
“Love you too, Dad. Now let’s go get the girl.” She opened her car door and ran across the parking lot toward Claire, waving like mad.
Ed shook his head with a smile and follo
wed at a more sedate pace, watching Kayleigh throw herself at Claire the minute she stepped out of her car. The sweet gesture took on a comical edge with Kayleigh trying to maneuver her cast in a way that wouldn’t maim her favorite teacher and Claire laughing while trying to shield herself from the weaponized arm. Ed’s nervous energy melted away, replaced with a sense of contentment, grateful that Claire decided to give him another chance. He promised her – and himself –he’d never lie to her about anything ever again, and never give her any cause to doubt him, or his feelings.
What he was feeling now felt a lot like love. He knew it was too soon to put those three little words out there between them, but he knew where he wanted things to go. Especially now that he’d found the woman he wanted to share his future with.
He was ready for his happily ever after.
Epilogue
August 2, 7:00 p.m.
Pleasant Bay, Chatham
Claire snuggled back into the wooden Adirondack chair next to the fire pit, smiling at the noise surrounding her as the kayaks were pulled onto shore for the evening and someone emptied a new bag of ice into the cooler. All in all, it had been a perfect summer day on the water. Ed’s family lived on the ocean with this sandy stretch of private beach. Now she understood his obsession with buying Adirondack chairs for her lakefront, and why he and Kayleigh had talked her into building a fire pit on her property the weekend before. Ed grew up with these waterfront views and summer get-togethers with his cousins, and wanted to replicate them at her house too. She had to agree it was pretty perfect.
She pulled a hooded sweatshirt over her still damp bikini to ward away the chill coming off the ocean. Barely August and the night air already held a hint of autumn.
Kayleigh appeared in front of her, a hot pink cover-up over her bathing suit. So far, her pink phase had lasted through the summer months, and Claire was starting to think it might be a permanent thing. Which was good, considering they’d already painted the guest room in her cottage pink for the nights Kayleigh slept over.
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