Page 46 of Truth or More Truth (Throwback RomComs #3)

forty-two

. . .

I make it home from Arizona in time to pick Kelli up from school on Wednesday afternoon. She squeals when she opens the door and throws herself over the console to hug my neck.

“I love you, Daddy. I love you so much! I know I already told you this, but I’m so sorry I said I didn’t like you. That was mean, and it wasn’t true. I didn’t like what you were doing, but I’ll always like you . I promise.”

I pat her back. “I know, baby … Kelli. I’ll always like you, too.”

She lets go of me, settles into her seat, and buckles up.

“I’ll also always love you.” As I pull out of the school’s drive, I think about what I said to Emily at Ash and Leslie’s wedding.

“Speaking of love, you were right. I do love Melissa, but I want you to know I’ll never love her more than I love you.

I love her differently than I love you, but I love you both equally, OK? ”

She sighs, but it’s a good sigh. “Yeah, it’s OK to love her as much as me, though sometimes it might be hard, because I’m pretty awesome.”

She giggles, and I poke her leg.

“By the way,” I say, “I haven’t told her I love her yet,” though I did try, but she was right to stop me, “so don’t let it slip this weekend when you see her.”

She gasps. “I’m going to finally meet her? Are we going to Chicago? ”

While I called Kelli yesterday and told her we’d discuss a possible move when I got home, I decided to tell her about Melissa’s visit in person, so I could witness her reaction. It was worth it.

“No, she’s coming here.”

“Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!” She stomps her feet on the floorboard and squeals again. “I finally get to meet my new best friend.”

I can’t help but smile at her excitement.

“I’ll stay in my room at Mom’s house when she’s here, though,” she declares.

“Why?” I figured she’d want to spend as much time with Melissa as possible.

When I glance over at her, she waggles her eyebrows. “You know why.”

I groan. “We’ve talked about this, Kell. The two of us,” I motion between us, “will not be discussing my sex life, and I’d appreciate if you’d not even mention that it exists.”

She snorts. “I didn’t technically mention anything this time. You’re the one who made it weird.”

“What did I do to deserve this?” I mutter. “You’re supposed to be grossed out by the idea of me having sex, not being my wingwoman.”

She holds both palms face up. “What can I say? I’m a modern woman. I mean, I don’t want to think about the details, because that’s totally icky, but as a concept, it’s cool.”

For the rest of the ride, she chatters about school and her friends. I never have to worry about awkward silences with my daughter. She’s always happy to talk enough for five people.

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 a few 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 kick me out of this house, 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 there for 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.”

Nanette shakes her head. “Don’t you assume that’s what she’ll want. In fact, I can’t really see you being interested in a woman who wants to just stay home and be a lady of leisure.”

“You’re right. I think she’ll want to work.

” She maybe won’t want to work full-time once kids come along, but I don’t say that because Kelli will have another squealing fit at the thought of a baby.

“She has an Ivy League education as well as experience on Wall Street and with a professional sports team, so she shouldn’t have trouble landing something new here. ”

Kelli says, “But it would be silly for her to move here and find a new job, only for you to be going to her old city all the time for your job and spending time with her friends.” She gives me a pointed look. “I know those friends are your friends, too, but that doesn’t seem fair.”

“Great point, kiddo.” Nanette pats Kelli arm.

“I know.” Kelli smirks at me.

She’s right about all of that, but I need to get us back on track.

“Let’s take the focus back to the two of you and not think about Melissa or me for a minute.

Pretend we don’t matter. Is there anything negative for either of you personally if Melissa moves here but nothing else changes about our living arrangements? Will your lives be upset in any way?”

Kelli and Nanette look at each other, their profiles nearly identical. They hold a silent conversation and then turn to me as one.

“No.”

Kelli adds, “But that doesn’t mean it’s the best option, because you and Melissa do matter. We care about your happiness a lot. So now let’s talk about moving to Chicago.”

I lean my elbows on the table and look Nanette in the eye. “You stand to lose the most if we move. You’d have to find new doctors, and you’d be far from your brother and cousins.” Her parents and grandparents have all passed away, but she’s close to some members of her extended family.

“They have busy lives,” she says. “I rarely see them now when I only live an hour away from them. It’s not worth us all staying here for the handful of days a year I see them.

I’d actually spend more cumulative hours with them if I move away but come back specifically to visit them once or twice a year. ”

I nod. “Makes sense.”

“And I’ve already called all my doctors and asked for referrals in Chicago. None of them seemed concerned about the possibility of me moving. It’s a big city, and there are good hospitals there. It’s not like we’d be moving to the middle of nowhere.”

I settle back against my chair. “When did you call your doctors?”

“A few weeks ago.”

“We kept hoping you’d come around,” Kelli says around a mouthful of chips. Thankfully she swallows before continuing, “And Whitley has some cousins in Chicago who go to a school a lot like ours. She said she could have her mom get us the school’s name and phone number.”

I take a sip of lemonade as I look back and forth between the two of them. “You’ve already planned this all out without me, haven’t you?”

Kelli nods. “Pretty much. Moving there makes so much more sense than Melissa moving here. And it’ll make you happy, which will make both of us happy.

Is moving going to be easy? Nope. It’s gonna be a lot of work.

I mean, on top of doctors and schools, we gotta find a place to live.

And it needs to be close to your friends and have a place for Mom to live on the property.

” She smacks her hand on the table and shoots me a stern look.

“Because one thing I won’t agree to is moving there and having Mom not live by us. ”

I give her a soft smile. “That’s not going to happen. We’ll find a place that’s perfect for all of us.”

Kelli grins. “All four of us, you mean?”