Page 104 of Pipe Dreams
“Okay. If I have to stop at home, it will take me until six thirty to get to your place, though.”
“That’s fine. I’ll light the grill at six.”
“Do you cook other things these days, too?”
“Nope. Just steak and pancakes. Same as always. You’ll have to be the one who teaches the twins to cook.”
“You think you’re so funny. Until the doctor says I’m having twins.”
“Bring it, woman. Now go back to work so I can make you a steak at six thirty.”
They hung up, and just like that he was feeling upbeat again.
•••
The first thing he did upon reaching home was to run up the stairs and knock on Elsa’s door. “Sweetie, I’m home. Can I come in?”
There was no reply.
“Els?” He turned the doorknob. She was sitting in the center of the bed, her index fingers pushed into the corners of her eyes. “Hey—are you okay?”
She nodded, but tears leaked down her face.
“What happened?” He was across the room in three paces, sitting on the edge of the bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“I... read Mom’s letter.”
It actually took him a minute to remember what she meant. “Oh,” he said stupidly.That freaking letter. Of course it would make her sad. “I’ll bet she said some nice things.”
“Yeah,” she said, her breath shuddery. “But...” She reached under her pillow and pulled it out. She flipped the pages—there were four or five, with Shelly’s handwriting on both sides. Elsa found the one she was looking for and thrust it at him.
This isn’t easy for me to tell you, but I want you to know the truth about why your father and I broke up. I cheated, honey. I went behind your father’s back to have a relationship with Tad. I can’t tell you how much I regret the way I handled it. Deception is never the right way to fix a broken relationship. Maybe my relationship with Daddy wasn’t fixable, but now I’ll never know.
He cursed under his breath.
I’m telling you this because you might hear things that aren’t true. Or you might wonder why Daddy moved out, and he might not be willing to tell you. And—this is the most important thing I have to say—if your father finds someone who treats him better than I did, I hope you can make room in your heart to understand that he deserves that.
Shit.
Elsa leaned into him, crying silently. He passed a hand over his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, honey. I’m sure that was hard to read.” On the one hand, he understood why Shelly had felt the need to be honest with her daughter. But maybe it could have waited five years instead of one.
“It’s okay,” Elsa sobbed.
Right. “Would now be a bad time to mention that Lauren is coming over for dinner?”
Elsa snorted and laughed and cried all at the same time.
Mike grabbed a tissue out of the box on her night table and dabbed at her face. “Your mom was a good person, okay? Only a good person can own up to her worst mistakes like that. It was brave of her.”
“I kn-know,” Elsa stuttered. “What did yours say?”
“What?” He grabbed a second tissue because the first one was already trashed.
But when he held it up to her face, Elsa snatched it and mopped up herself. “What did your letter say?”
“I didn’t read it yet.”
“Really? Aren’t you curious? Mine was, like, burning a hole in my desk drawer.”
