Page 113 of Books and Hookups

My mother nudged him, and he cleared his throat. “I read your book.”

“You did?” My heart pounded. “The—the whole thing?”

“The whole book. Your mother and I read it together.” He didn’t let any expression cross his stoic face.

“And…” It was hard to squeeze the words out past the constriction in my throat. “What did you think?”

My mother squeezed my father’s arm. “Stop teasing her, Marvin.”

He smiled. “We loved it. I loved it. You conveyed the complexity of being a woman in today’s challenging times. I’m so proud, Lucie.”

“Proud?” My fingertips tingled, and I shook the feeling back into them. “Thank you.”

“Now I’m going to say hello to my granddaughter and Danny. I have to thank him for the videos.” He strode toward Mia, who was now perched on Carly’s hip.

My mother lingered for a moment. “He’s trying, you know.”

I rolled my eyes. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“He realizes he didn’t do the best job parenting you. He’s trying to do better at grandparenting. He loves you both, and he’s striving to show it.”

I took a deep breath and sighed it out. I was trying to be less hard on myself. I should extend that grace to my father too. “Okay.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t try too hard with the ‘Grandpa’ thing,” she said, following my father.

I stayed back. He was proud of me. They both were. At forty-one years old, I shouldn’t care. But I did. I felt warm inside.

“Hey.” Danny put an arm around my shoulders. “You all right?”

“Yeah.” I smiled up at him. “You?”

“You, me, and our family on Mia’s first birthday? I can’t imagine being happier.”

I rose on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Me neither.”

---