Page 148 of Eleanor & Grey

You’re going to be more than okay.

But I need to ask you to do one thing for me: watch after your father. The truth is, he’s going to need you more than you need him. Because he doesn’t have her heartbeats in his chest. No, his reminder of Nicole lives in your eyes. In your smile. In your love.

You are saving your father. Without you, I’m certain he would drown.

So, even if you never forgive me…even if you continue to hate me…even if I never cross your mind again…I want you to know that I am here for you. Day or night. Night or day. Whenever you need me, I’ll be there, Karla, because you mean that much to me. Not just as Greyson’s daughter, but as another human being who just needs to know they aren’t alone.

I’m one phone call away, and I will always answer.

I’m still here.

-Eleanor

P.S. I know you’re hurting, but your scars are so beautiful.

I placed the letter down on the table and sat back a bit, stunned. “Wow.”

Karla nodded. “Yeah.” She raced her hands through her hair and then leaned toward me. “So…when are we going to go get her?”

“What?”

“Eleanor. When is she coming back?” I raised an eyebrow, and she gave me a dramatic sigh. “Dad, are you kidding me?! Didn’t you just read that letter?”

“Yes, and it was perfect, but that doesn’t mean Eleanor is coming back.”

“What? Of course, it does.”

I wanted to agree with her. I wanted to rush out of the house and run to Eleanor to tell her we were ready. Yet, I couldn’t do that. Not yet. “Karla, we’ve been through a lot these past few months, and we still have a long way to go to heal. My concern is you and your sister. If Eleanor and I are meant to be, it will work its way out down the line. But for now, it’s just the three of us against the world.”

“Look, I know things haven’t been easy for us, and I know I’ve made them even tougher sometimes, but you deserve to be happy, Dad. I know it’s been hard for us all, but that’s the truth. I’m sure you think I deserve to be happy, and if I deserve it, you do, too.”

I gave her a smile. “I am happy. I have you.”

She groaned, slapping her hand to her face. “Why do you have to be so corny sometimes?”

“I’m a father. Being corny is part of a father’s job.”

She stood from the chair and started walking away, but I called after her.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“What made you open the letter today?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Maybe it was just Mom whispering in my ear.”

She walked off, and I picked up the letter and read it over and over again.

“Thank you, Nicole,” I whispered into the wind, and I did as Lorelai instructed me to do.

I believed to my core that Nicole could hear me.

“So, I received a call from Karla saying you were being stubborn,” Claire mentioned during our Tuesday lunch date.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. She said you had a good thing in Eleanor and were tossing it to the side because you were a chicken shit—her words, not mine.”

I smirked. “Sounds like my daughter.”

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