Page 105 of Pipe Dreams
He sighed. “I’ll read it if you want me to.” Maybe then this whole letter-reading business would just go away.
“Do it.”
Mike got up off his bed and climbed the flight to the master suite. He glanced around his bedroom and noted that the cleaning woman had been by. Good. He wasn’t invitingLauren to spend the night in a bachelor’s dive. It took him a minute to locate the FedEx envelope and slide the letter out.
By the time he slid his thumb under the flap and tore it open, Elsa was waiting in the doorway, her eyes on him. The note was just two paragraphs long.
Mike—
Your letter is short because I’m not going to bother nagging you to buy organic or to learn to cook something more than pancakes and steak.
He burst out laughing.
“What?” Elsa yelped, scampering over.
He held up a hand to keep her at bay, though, until he’d read the whole thing.
...You and I never did things the same way, but I already know you’re a great dad.
I’m sorry if I upset our girl with my letter, but I had to say it now. Because honey—if she waited for you, go get her back. Life is too damn short. The sacrifice you made for me was extreme, and I want you to know I appreciate it. Now go and be happy while there’s still time.
—S
The room went blurry.
“Oh, Daddy! What is it?”
Wordlessly, he passed her the note. When Elsa read the first line, she clapped a hand over her mouth. But then she bit her lip, and the tears started up again. “Oh, man.”
Those were his thoughts exactly.
“Shewasa good person,” Elsa said, as if to reassure them both.
“That was never in doubt,” he said. “Marriage is hard. Things were complicated with us. It wasn’t all your mom’s fault, either.”
His daughter put her head on his chest and hugged him. “I’m never getting married.”
“Uh-huh. I’ll remind you of this conversation someday.”
“Is Lauren really coming over?”
“She is, sweetie. I invited her.”
“Okay. Then I have to go wash my face and change.”
“Nah. Why?”
“She always looks so freaking perfect. She has thebestclothes.”
He chuckled. “Lauren likes to shop, kid. You play your cards right, she’ll take you with her sometime.”
Elsa squinted up at him. “Don’t try to butter me up, okay? I hate it. I can see you coming from a mile away.”
Yikes. Just like the boys in Dallas. “You should play hockey. Center, or maybe right wing.”
His daughter gave him a half-irritated look and left the room to go and rummage through her closet.
Mike put Shelly’s note back in its envelope. He tucked it into the top drawer of his dresser, then went to see if Hans was home from the grocery store yet.
