Page 80 of This Time Around
He stooped down and opened his arms, and Paige stepped into them. He hugged her tight, and heard a small sniffle close to his ear. She clung to him like a baby koala, her bony angles and the scent of strawberry shampoo overpowering the poised young woman who insisted she needed a training bra. Paige squeezed him back, and Jack wondered how he ever thought he knew what love was before he had a daughter.
“All right,” he said as he released her. “I want you to go to your room and think about what you’ve done. When I come get you, we’re going to talk about consequences and what other privileges you’ll be giving up besides the phone.”
She nodded. “Okay, Daddy.” She turned and walked away.
He straightened up and turned to see his mom watching him from the couch. She set down her phone and patted the space beside her.
“Very nice, son.”
“Thanks.” Jack sighed and walked over, dropping into the space beside her. “It’s going to get harder, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she told him. “But you can handle it.”
“I wish I had your confidence.”
She put her hand on his back and rubbed a slow, circular pattern the way she used to when he was a little boy who couldn’t sleep. “You’re already ten times the father your dad ever was,” she said. “You grew up without any sort of male role model at all. It’s nothing short of miraculous that you turned out to be such an amazing dad.”
He smiled and put his hand on hers. “That’s because I had a mom who was badass enough to be both parents.”
She laughed and put an arm around him, rocking a little. “I did my best.”
Jack raked his fingers through his hair and glanced at his phone. The message wasn’t lighting up the screen anymore, but he could still picture it in his mind.
Total mistake, for sure!
Dammit to hell.
“Trouble in paradise?” his mom asked, reading his mind.
Or reading his text messages. He could never really hide anything from her.
“Yeah,” Jack muttered and flipped the phone face down. “I guess I need to make a phone call.”
“I take it you and Allie are seeing each other again?”
“I don’t know.” Jack dragged a hand down his chin. “Maybe. It’s complicated.”
“I can imagine. I’ve seen that look in your eye all week.”
“What look?”
“The one you used to get when you were seventeen years old and you sat by the phone waiting to hear if her parents would let her go out with you that night.”
He snorted at the memory, thinking life might’ve been easier before the advent of cell phones. “Yeah, it might be a little like that. I’m not so sure she wants to hear from me right now.”
“She always had her pride,” his mom said, and he wondered how much she knew. “It was one of the things you always loved about her. Also one of the things that got in the way, if I remember right.”
“Probably true for both of us.”
His mom patted his knee again and looked up at him, her expression serious. “You want a little unsolicited advice from the person who not only incubated you for nine months, but watched you navigate every great romance of your life?”
He snorted. “Depends. Will this person feel obligated to describe her episiotomy as a way to emphasize the challenges of raising me?”
“Not this time.” She pressed her lips together the way she often did while trying to think of the kindest way possible to suggest he remove his own head from his butt. “Go see her in person.”
“Who, Allie?”
“Yes, Allie. I don’t know if Paige messed something up or if you messed it up yourself or if Allie did. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you probably can’t un-mess it using the same tool that caused the mess in the first place.”
