Her eyes drop and she nods, admitting reluctantly. “I haven’t forgotten.”
When I squeeze her neck, she lifts her eyes. “But I also know you need and deserve more. As I said, I’m ready to prove that to you.”
Finally, something that seems to resonate. Ella jerks in surprise as if she suddenly understands my game.
Except it’s not a game. I love my wife, and I am going to get her back.
I lean in, pressing my lips to her forehead. “Remind Lucy to be ready at nine sharp in the morning.”
She doesn’t respond as I pivot and head through the living room, letting myself out the front door.
All in all, I think that went very well.
CHAPTER 2
Steele
Lucy answers the front door as soon as I knock on it—promptly at nine. She even smiles as she tosses her backpack over her shoulder, and I lean in to grab her rolling suitcase. She has a ton of stuff over at my house already, but she still insists on bringing more.
This bothers me, obviously, because it means she’s resolved that Ella and I aren’t getting back together. Of course, she’s never been given any reason to think otherwise.
I glance past her into the living room to part of the kitchen I can see. “Your mom around?”
“Nope,” Lucy replies, stepping past me onto the porch. “Out for a run.”
Interesting.
Two things are, to be exact.
First, I was actually feeling a little desperate to see Ella. I couldn’t stop thinking about that moment we shared in the kitchen yesterday, and while I didn’t expect any major conversation, I wanted to see her.
Second, I find it interesting she’s out on a run and not here to say good-bye to Lucy. I mean, she’ll only be gone for the day and evening with me, but Ella is always there to send her off with a kiss and an “I love you”. I can only surmise she said her goodbye’s earlier and went on a run to avoid me, which doesn’t bode well.
Whatever.
I’m determined, and that won’t dissuade me.
Once Lucy’s bags are in the Rover and she’s belted in the front seat, we take off.
“Want to get some waffles for breakfast?” I ask. It’s her favorite, and I wouldn’t turn my nose up at them either. I’m generally diligent about my diet and exercise routine because… hello, professional athlete. But I occasionally like to indulge. What better way to do it than with my daughter?
“Already ate,” she replies. I don’t detect any sulkiness in her tone, but I don’t quite trust I have happy-go-lucky Lucy today. I’ll have to see how it plays out.
I glance over as she stares out the windshield, one arm resting on the middle console so she’s leaning my way slightly. Everyone always says she looks like the perfect combination of Ella and me. She has Ella’s face… same nose, eyebrows, cheeks, and chin. The only part of me is her smile, which is slightly lopsided and has a dimple on one side.
As she is growing up and entering her teens, I hate noticing she’s starting to develop a body that’s definitely going to be like her mothers. Luckily for us, Lucy hasn’t reached a stage where she wants to wear ridiculous clothing liked cropped tops and shorts that barely cover her butt.
Not that it would do her any good to want those things, because Ella and I would be equally united in saying NO.
Where Lucy shines, though, is her personality, which is also a combination of Ella and me. She has Ella’s sunny disposition—unless she’s in one of her moods—and always sees the bright side of things. She’s caring and always looking to make others feel good.
From me, she gets her stubbornness—which can be a good quality at times—and a sharp sense of humor. Probably the thing I’m most proud of is her work ethic, but, truthfully, she gets that from both parents. She watches me hone myself for my job seven days a week so I can be the best of the best, and she learns there is no wasting time on achieving goals.
Her mother is a hard worker as well. While she was a stay-at-home mom when Lucy was younger, she started working toward her degree on a part-time basis. When Lucy entered school, Ella knocked out her undergraduate degree in graphic design and now works remotely for an ad agency based out of New York. From her, Lucy learned it’s never too late to set new goals and reach them. She saw her mom doing that while being the primary caretaker since I travel fifty percent of the season.
All of this has made Lucy into a diligent student, and she’s at the top of her class. She’s there with a little pushing, enticing, or bribing from us, but she understands the rewards that come with hard work.
An intense swelling of pride erupts within me to know my child has watched us and learned. She has taken these lessons and made herself successful with them. That’s especially so since she’s just started in a new school here in Phoenix when we moved from Quebec.
“How’s school going?” I ask, always a safe subject because she enjoys it and excels.
“Great,” she replies happily. “I really like social studies.”
“Any neat projects you’re working on?”
Lucy tells me about a paper she has to write on the Industrial Revolution and how much she likes her teacher. She bemoans math class, but is really into English and the book she’s reading—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
“Never heard of it,” I say. English was probably my least favorite subject and I excelled at math. Again, she takes after Ella here and not me.
Lucy tells me about the book—she’s only halfway through it—but already knows what the theme of her term paper will be. “I’m going to focus it on overcoming adversity.”
That’s my kid, I think with another puff of pride.
I love talking about this stuff with her, and I probably don’t even know the half of what goes into Lucy’s school and education because I’m gone so much. Sure, I’d sit down with her on occasion and help with schoolwork, but the majority of that fell on Ella.
Frankly, it became easier to let Ella handle it. I probably missed out on a lot of instances where I would have these moments of satisfaction to see my kid flourishing.
Over time, Ella maintained Lucy’s schedule and ensured she was a good student, made her piano lessons on time, and enforced the chores she had to do. My wife was the boundary maker and more the disciplinarian if needed.
Me?
I got to be the fun dad who was here for small patches of time, so I could swoop in and show Lucy how great I was. When I had days off, I would always plan something monumentally fun. I’d hope like hell that my kid loved me enough for these small showings of time and affection I could give her.
Focusing what free time I had with Lucy meant Ella often took a backseat to her daughter in the time we spent together. But Ella never minded because Lucy’s happiness was more important. Ella was more than fine with her place behind Lucy in my limited time, but now I know she was never fine with the way she came behind hockey and my own whims.
That’s what I need to fix.
Lucy chatters along without realizing where we are until I pull into the parking lot of “Big Bob’s Putt-Putt Palace”. She’s never been here before, but neither have I. In fact, it’s been a few years since we’ve been to a putt-putt course.