Page 89 of The Leaves In Autumn
“Okay. So why does it have to be a dinner?”
“Because we need to eat?”
“No. I mean why not a lunch in the backyard? You told me she’s obsessed with going to France and Italy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Why not put yourself in that picture?”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Because it shows you support her dream and it could include you.”
I have no comeback. He’s right.
“Let’s cut the shit, Dad.”
He stares at me. I fold.
“Yeah, alright. I guess I don’t want her to forget me.”
“So do something unforgettable. What if you make it like you’re in an Italian outdoor scene. Like maybe under the overhang. You could string some lights there. We can search online for how to make it look authentic.”
“That sounds good. But I’m not going to be fucking making an Italian feast. I can barely make grandma’s lasagna.”
“So, throw some money at it. There are good Italian restaurants here. And we can go to the deli and pick out cool shit that would look good on the table. Hey! Even you can make a charcuterie board.”
“How do you know about charcuterie boards?”
“I’ve had girls make them for me, Dad. Come on.”
“Point taken. Now help me with the few things I’ve thought of already. These are things I want, so we need to figure the best way to incorporate them.”
“What things?”
“I had told her I didn’t want a birthday celebration, so she found a celebrity born on the same day as me and pretended that’s what we were celebrating. She had a life-sized cutout of Channing Tatum there.”
Teddy chuckles. “That’s funny.”
“I want to do the same.”
“That’s good. She’ll like that. But we need to tie it all together. And fill in the gaps. This has to be cohesive.”
“Good. Yes.”
“What you should do is remind her of the things that you’ve had fun doing. She can take some of Montana with her.”
My mind goes to the Bozeman hotel. Can’t recreate that one.
“Let’s brainstorm.”
He leans back in his chair, opens the junk drawer and takes pen and paper.
“I might post on TikTok. Just the lunch set up. Nothing else. Okay?”
I love the little shit. Occasionally he listens.
“Yeah. It would be good content.”
