AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then, I’m going to get started.” She hesitated. “Where do I get the water from?”
“Lucy.”
“Dad?”
“Why are you awake?” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Why are you trying to wash my truck without any prompting from me?”
She dropped the bucket and mop and then hurried into my arms to hug me. “Are you okay?”
I hugged Lucy back and rested my chin on top of her head. “I’m fine, Luce. What’s going on with you?”
“I saw a shot glass on the counter.” She pulled away from me and I realized she was crying as she wiped her eyes. “Mom told me what she did.”
My heart kicked into a painfully fast pace. “What exactly did she tell you?”
“Did you drink?”
I shook my head. “No, Luce. I wanted to, but I didn’t.”
She let out a deep sigh and swallowed audibly. “Good.”
I forced a smile. “I wouldn’t risk it. No matter how shitty I feel.”
“Did you believe her?” Lucy saw the expression on my face and narrowed her eyes. “Dad. She told me all about the things she’s accusing Fiona of but it’s all bull. You know that, right?”
I didn’t answer. I’d gone through everything a thousand times in my mind through the night and I’d gone back and forth about what I believed even more. In the end, I didn’t know what I believed. After you’ve been fooled a few times in life, it gets hard to know what’s real.
“Oh, god, Dad. You believed her? You’d have to be an idiot to believe anything she says.” She rolled her eyes and then froze. “You didn’t go back and make things right with Fiona?”
I swallowed. “No.”
“Dad! Why not? You really believed Mom? She’s nuts, Dad. All she’s ever done is lie to you. Why would you believe her?” Lucy groaned and walked away from me. “Stupid. So stupid. You looked happy with Fiona, Dad. And she liked you. A lot. I could tell.”
My mouth went dry and I felt like I had gone on a bender the night before. My stomach soured and my head pounded. Lucy said Fiona liked me. Liked, as in past tense. As in I was in love with a woman who had liked me but probably no longer did. “I love her.”
Lucy spun around and gasped. “You do?”
I realized I’d spoken the words out loud and gripped the back of my neck. “Yeah, I do.”
“And you chose to believe Mom over Fiona? God, Dad. She’s never going to forgive you.” She winced. “Sorry.”
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Draining it before speaking again, I glanced over at Lucy and found myself on the verge of asking my teenage daughter for advice.
“What?”
“I’ve lost my mind.” I looked up at the ceiling and then back at her. “What do I do?”
She bounced in place and clapped her hands together. “You’re asking me for help?!”
Immediately, I shook my head. “No. Forget it.”
“Dad! You need me. You were the one stupid enough to believe my mother. You know who wasn’t? Me.”
I growled out my frustration. “Lucy. If you call me stupid one more time, you’re going to be washing my truck until you’re thirty.”
She shrugged a single shoulder but kept her mouth shut. For all of thirty seconds. “I can’t believe you love her. That’s amazing. She’s nice, Dad. I liked her.”
I paused at the past tense liked again. Lucy still liked Fiona, clearly. Maybe she hadn’t meant Fiona liked me in the past tense. Maybe Fiona still liked me. If she liked me, I’d be easier to forgive.
