Page 91 of Let It Be Me
Her Mom’s expression brightens. “Oh, he’ll be so happy to know you’re back in town.”
“Are you high mom? Because how you’re correlating that with thinking I wouldeverwant him back is beyond me.” Sarah holds onto me tighter.
“He still loves you.”
“I don’t give a shit if he becomes President. He cheated on me and that’s not something I would ever excuse. Never mind the fact that he constantly shielded me from thenegative side of living in this bubble, when the best thing would have been for me to see it first hand. Because if it’s one thing I learned it’s that I deserve to be cherished. I deserve to be loved and treated like I matter. I deserve to see everything, the good and the bad.”
“Paul, did all of that,” her Mom says, still holding onto hope that a relationship between them will restart. Biting my tongue while she dismisses me sitting next to her daughter is hard.
“No he didn’t. He just madeyousee what you wanted to see. Don’t you get it Mom? The longer you keep thinking he’s this perfect guy, the easier my decision is to cut you out of my life.”
“You can’t possibly be serious.”
“Would you rather have your daughter or some guy whose only claim to fame is his last name?” I ask because I can no longer take her dismissiveness towards Sarah. Towards me.
Her face relaxes as much as the botox will allow and I see something I said making it through to her. But it’s hard to undo years of behavior in a day. And Sarah’s Mom is that.
“I would love to be part of your life,” Sarah’s Dad tells his daughter and leans forward.
I feel Sarah’s body trembling at this first step. “I would love that Dad.”
His gaze turns to me. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m David.”
I take his offered hand and shake it. “It’s nice to officially meet you. I’m Riley.”
“I have to thank you for loving my daughter in the way I’ve failed. I was so focused on other things that I let other people take the reins on her. For that, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I’m glad she has you in her life. She hasn’t been happyin a long time and I could never pinpoint what that was. Until you came along and her happiness, her spirit lifted higher than I ever thought possible.”
“Sarah has brought a joy into my life that I didn’t know I needed.” I wrap my arm tighter around her and kiss her on the forehead. “Loving her has been one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. I know all too well how easy it is to lose the people you love.”
“What can you give her that Paul can’t?” Sarah’s mom, Erica, asks in a dismissive tone.
“A piece of mind that I’ll love her and provide for her, build her up and not tear her down, support her when she needs it, and laughter. So much laughter that she’ll never know what her life is like without it. And I’ll do all of that the way my parents did because I have had two of the best examples of how to be an amazing partner.”
We sit in silence as what I said hangs in the air. I’ve told Sarah I love her multiple times. But I don’t think she knows how far and how deep that love runs. She leans into me as she waits for her mom to meet her on her side. When she turns her nose up at us, Sarah accepts defeat and taps my leg to signal it’s time to leave.
“Well, Dad, we’re going to head out. I would love for you to come and visit us. We can catch a baseball game and you can maybe meet Riley’s parents?”
“I would love that, sweetheart.” He says and we stand up from our seats. Her mom stays seated and ignores us as we walk to the door. The goodbyes are still slightly filled with tension but Sarah’s spirits are much higher than when we got here.
We spend the rest of the week doing everything the hotel suggests. Rainbow Road and The Battery are the top two places that were at the top of our list. We eat more inthat week than we usually do and walk more than normal. And by the end of the trip, with a final visit from David, Sarah is excited for what’s to come and how her relationship with him will develop now that she’s older.
Multiple times this week, I told her how proud I am of her, how much I love her, and how much I can’t wait for more of this; enjoying this life that we’ve begun to create.
33
SARAH
“Ready for this?” Riley asks before we walk into Kamryn’s house.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I tell him, because how ready is anyone when you have a planned intervention for someone you care about?
The plan was for a girls night and that hopefully Jax comes alone. We get to the stairs and Riley kisses me on the cheek before heading upstairs to join Mason and Adam in the man cave. I take a seat next to Emily at the kitchen island and Kam passes me a margarita that smells suspiciously like more tequila than margarita mix.
“Jax should be here soon. She had to finish editing a video for a brand.” Kamryn says and pours herself a glass of water. She’s in a Cincinnati sweatshirt that looks like it belonged to Mason and ratty grey sweatpants.
I raise my eyebrow at her choice of drink.
“If this is about my sister, then I need a clear head.” She tells me and sets her glass down when we hear the front door open.
