“Hey, sweetheart,” he replied, the lines around his eyes deepening with his smile.
It was odd to see my dad face-to-face, even if it was virtually. Last time I had seen him, I had been too angry to care about much else. Now that I looked at him, I could see that he seemed to radiate happiness. His eyes wrinkled when he smiled, his hickory gaze was sparkling, and his hair was a bit longer than it had been before I moved. The more relaxed vibe suited him, and it made me glad to see that he was happy. I hadn’t even realized how tense or stilted my parents had been before the divorce. I had been living in my own little world. Is that what’s going on with my mom? I wondered.
“How’s it going? I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I saw you didn’t have school and figured we could chat for a while.”
“I don’t think I have anything going on today until later. Just going to do some homework, but it’s not due until Friday,” I relayed, propping the phone on my desk so he could see me while I worked. “And it’s good. Spent the weekend taking it easy, watching movies, and reading when I wasn’t at work. How’s everything there? I know you guys were expanding the vineyard to include a brewery. That up and running yet?”
“Not yet, we’ve been trying to get the final touches finished up and working on our brew recipes before officially starting testing and production. Other than that, the vineyard and winery are booming.”
There was an awkward pause, my eyes staring down at the pen I had clutched in my fingers. The longer I contemplated asking what I wanted to, the more the pen tapped the desk until finally I got the courage to ask.
“So, uh, Meredith, what does she do?” My words were quiet and hesitant, my stomach turning slightly from my nerves.
“Sweetheart, we don’t have to talk about them until you’re comfortable with it,” my dad tried to tell me.
“I’m not going to lie and say it isn’t an adjustment,” I murmured, one shoulder lifting slightly in a half-hearted shrug. “But they’re a big part of your life, and... I’d like to get to know them.”
“I would love that too because, if you want, they could be part of your life,” he offered hesitantly. Giving him a soft smile, I nodded.
“I’d like that.” It wasn’t a lie either. It would be difficult to adjust, but I knew it would be worth the awkwardness and weird interactions in the end.
“Good. To answer your question, she works in financials at US Bank. She handles small business loans.” As if the universe knew we were talking about her, Meredith called out in the background.
“Honey?” Her melodic voice was far away but moving closer. “You on the phone?”
“Yes, talking with Emma.”
“Oh, then I’ll let you two have some privacy,” she started.
“Wait,” I called out. My dad’s brows rose, but he didn’t say anything. “I mean... hi?” My greeting went up at the end like a question, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. “Did you know the name Meredith has Welsh origins and means ‘great lord’?” Why, Emma? I nearly groaned. Normal, need to work on the whole ‘normal’ interactions.
My dad chuckled, waving Meredith into the frame. Well, at least browsing Pinterest in my little bits of free time had some benefits after all, I thought glumly, remembering all the random names and meanings I had read through when I browsed last.
“Come say hi, Mere,” he prompted. “We were just talking about you.”
“Hopefully nothing horrid,” she joked. When she stepped into the frame, she gave me a warm, welcoming smile. Her curly red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she didn’t look to be wearing any makeup except some mascara. My dad’s fiancée was pretty, and the way he looked at her—with so much love—made my chest squeeze. I had run away without giving any sort of time to get to know her or her kids. “It’s nice to meet you, Emma.”
“Yeah... sorry about last time.” I cringed.
“No need to apologize, it was completely understandable. I’m happy to get to talk to you now. Your father’s told me lots about you.”
“Really?” I perked up, the awkwardness dimming as my intrigue increased. A very small sliver of me had worried, for whatever reason, that the last five and a half months of distance would have ruined our relationship. Knowing that, even in that time, he hadn't forgotten me, meant more than I could put into words.
“Of course,” Meredith chuckled as she talked, “about how you love facts and coffee, about how one of your favorite places to go is the arcade, that you’re ambitious, all of that amazing stuff.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I murmured, a wave of emotions washing through me as I processed everything she said. Pride, nostalgia, and the sensation of being loved, built to the point that I felt my eyes start to prickle and burn with the urge to cry, but I blinked them away, my cheeks hurting from how wide I was smiling. “So, he tells me you work at a bank? Does that mean you help with the vineyard financials?”
“Sometimes, but Todd and your father seemed to have their financials all figured out before I came along. They went through the bank I work for to help ensure a contingency loan for the expansion, but I didn’t have much to do with that. Not that you want to hear about numbers and paperwork, I’m sure, but—” A crash sounded in the background, followed by shouting, that cut Meredith off as both she and my dad looked over their shoulders at something I couldn’t see. She sighed and shook her head, turning back to the camera. “That would be the teens causing mayhem and destruction. I’ll let you two keep talking while I go deal with that. It was great getting to talk with you, Emma.”
“You too,” I replied, my smile genuine as I gave a small wave. With that, she turned and started back out of the room, her fading yells silenced by a door being closed.
“So, how’s everything going there?” Dad asked once we were alone again. I tried to keep my face smoothed over, but a small hint of a grimace slipped out, and his brows drew down. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” I tried to tell him, but his gaze narrowed and he gave me ‘the look,’ the one he always did when he called me out on my bluff. “It’s been fine for the most part.”
“Yes, but fine doesn’t necessarily equate to good. I won’t force you to tell me what’s going on, but I’m here to talk to whenever, wherever, okay?”
That single statement seemed to be the moment that tipped the scale. My eyes watered, yet my heart felt so full that I honestly was surprised it didn’t burst. I had wanted so desperately to be able to talk to my mom about everything, for her to see what was right in front of her, and I was just now realizing I had been doing the same to my dad. I had expected him to come talk to me, and he did, but I had brushed it off amidst everything going on. He was there for me to talk to, and right then I realized I wasn’t alone like I had been feeling.
“I know, it’s just… been a lot, you know?” I started, and once I began, I couldn’t seem to stop. Everything over the last few months came tumbling out, though I glossed over some of the more intimate details. Once it was out there, I felt so much lighter. There would still be hard times when the memories of the party from hell would creep up but knowing I had at least one parent on my side helped.