Page 102 of The Maxwell Brothers
"I can't reschedule. I've been waiting for this opportunity for years. I can’t pass it up."
"It's your daughter's birthday party. The one you only see once a year, if that. Remember?"
Nora sighed. "Look, I’ll make it up to her, okay? I'll come later, and the two of us will have fun, and I will explain it to her. She’ll understand."
"No, she won't. She's a kid." What was so hard to understand? “This is important to her."
“Vogueis important to me too. Can you be supportive at least once?”
“Not if it means you're disappointing our daughter."
"I heard you're dating her nanny."
I stopped pacing at the abrupt change in topic. "Where did you hear that from?”
“Paisley. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You said you weren’t interested in my personal life."
"No, I'm not. I just… well, I assumed that whenever you were serious about someone, you’d tell me."
"It doesn't concern you. And Paisley is happy with it."
"Yes, Paisley can't stop talking about Lexi. I'm glad she's bonding with her. I really hope it lasts."
I scoffed. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
"You know how you are, Tate. There’s always some drama in your family. I saw the video about Tyler. I’m guessing that’s taking up some time. Besides your meetings, obviously. I don't know if that's going to be enough for any woman."
Nora was always able to get a rise out of me, but this time, her words missed the target. I felt completely calm as I answered."Or maybe I’ve finally found someone who accepts me for who I am and who likes my life and everyone in it."
As I said the words out loud, I realized Nora and I never had that. Even though we'd been married, our bond—if we’d even had one—had never been as deep as what I had with Lexi. Not even close.
"For your sake, I hope you're right," Nora said. "Now I have to go. I'll make it up to Paisley, I promise. I already switched things around so I can take her on vacation."
That calmed me down, but only a bit. “Good. You’d better not cancel.”
“Tate, we both know our marriage was a mistake. We were too young when we decided to get married, and, well, frankly, I don’t think we were really in love. I’ll admit that I was dazed by the Maxwell name.”
“Finally you admit it.”
“And when I got pregnant, it was all so unexpected. I was never the maternal type, but I thought perhaps I’d feel different once I was a mom. But I didn’t. I just saw my career slipping away. And then after the divorce, I realized it was easier to be away. I know it’s selfish.” She hesitated before adding, “I think Paisley is getting to a point where she’s used to me not being a big part of her life.”
“She was very upset on the phone.” But even I couldn’t deny that lately, Paisley asked less about her mom. She’d even forgotten about their calls these past few weeks.
“I know. And I understand that her birthday is a big thing for her. I’ve never missed one before. But this isVogue. If I don’t do this, it will all be for nothing.”
“Goodbye, Nora.”
After I finished the phone call, I paced even more than before as I replayed our conversation.
Something clicked in my mind. What I had with Nora didn't fall apart because I hadn't been able to make her happy. We were simply two people who got married when they had nothing in common. Paisley was never going to be Nora’s first choice. Even I couldn’t make that happen. But it didn’t matter. I’d been fixated on the idea that Paisley needed a connection with her mother, but since meeting Lexi, I realized a mother didn’t necessarily have to be the person who gave birth. Paisley had me, and now she had Lexi, who was amazing.
In the afternoon, I went to pick up Paisley. I was going to take her out for ice cream. Yeah, I was going against my rules, but sometimes you just had to break them.
I parked in a spot next to the school and walked up to the front door. Kids were playing in the courtyard, waiting for their parents to pick them up. I couldn't see Paisley anywhere. Maybe she was still inside. I saw her teacher, Ms. McDonald, at the other end of the courtyard, so I walked in that direction.
"Where is Paisley?" I asked.
