AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t believe you did all this,” Lilly chimes in, jumping up and down.
Hell, I should’ve done this years ago. “Susan, these are my daughters. Why don’t you see what they’d like to create?”
Lilly walks over to where I’m sitting, her hand resting on my shoulder with a look of contentment I honestly can’t recall. “I’m so proud of you, Dad.” She places a peck on my cheek before scurrying over to examine all of her options.
You did good, Broadie. You did good.
* * *
“Good morning, sunshine.”
“Good morning, Daddy.”
“Want me to make you some French toast?”
Lilly stops dead in her tracks. “Are you serious?”
“Sure. We might need to go somewhere to eat something that isn’t burnt afterward. But how hard could French toast be?”
Lauren shuffles into the kitchen, looking like she barely slept.
“Dad just offered to make French toast,” Lilly tells her.
“I didn’t say it would be good.” I laugh. I can’t remember the last time my girls spent the night here. It’s been years. But they were having so much fun playing in the art room that we ordered pizza and stayed up half the night.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Have you talked to your girl?” Lilly asks.
My face falls before I can stop it. Plastering a reassuring smile back on my face, I answer her honestly. “No, honey. I made a big mistake. And I hope you two never let a man treat you the way I treated Poppy.”
Lauren’s suddenly wide awake. “Did you cheat, Dad?”
“No, no. I’m not that kind of guy. But I lied to her.”
Lilly brings her coffee over to where I’m sitting, curling up by my feet. “What did you do?” she asks, blowing across her cup.
I rub my neck, wondering how much to disclose. “She was the first woman since your mother I was interested in having a relationship with. But she turned me down. I can’t explain it, but I just had a feeling we’d be good together. That was right before you girls saw her at Luigi’s that night with her brother.”
Lauren sits on the ottoman, holding her coffee in both hands, listening attentively.
“I don’t want to go into detail. But I basically tricked her into dating me.”
The two of them tilt their heads in confusion.
“I manipulated the situation, so we were at the same place at the same time. It was wrong.”
Lauren looks bewildered. “But she liked you too, right?”
“I think so. But there’s no room for deceit in a healthy relationship. I tried to justify what I did. But it was wrong. Plain and simple.”
“You don’t think she’ll ever forgive you?”
This conversation is going to require another cup of coffee. “I hoped she would. But it doesn’t look that way.” I place my mug under the Keurig and press the start button. “Look. If a boy had lied to you and didn’t come clean about it until he got caught, I wouldn’t want you with someone like that.”
Noticing the room has grown quiet, I look up to see the two of them staring at one another. I love these girls. “Please, don’t worry about me. It was a lesson I needed. I’m grateful she shut me down. If not, I’d probably still be working seven days a week instead of spending my Sunday morning with you two.”
