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“You have a daughter. A real human daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know if it’s yours?”
“She’s mine.”
“No, do you really know for sure? How long did you know her? Her mother, I mean.”
“Emily’s not like that.” I lace my fingers together and grip.
“Okay, okay.” Noelle stares at the table and breathes in and out with her hands circling to mimic the breath. “This will be fine. This will be okay.”
“I just found out yesterday. I didn’t know. I swear to you.”
“How dare she not tell you. What a bitch.”
I flinch. The feeling I have, it’s just an inkling. She ignored my emails; she kept my daughter from me. But the Emily I knew wouldn’t have done that. Maybe I didn’t know her all. Still, calling Emily a bitch is crossing a line. “She’s not, Noelle. That’s not fair.”
“Fine.” She shakes her head, flustered. “Did you meet her? Your daughter?”
“Yes. Olive. She’s wonderful.” Turning my head, I catch the owner staring at me and immediately ripping her gaze away.
“Well. Well.” Noelle breathes and out.
“Everything is fine,” I say, like I wasn’t freaking out twenty-four hours before. “I just need to figure out some things.”
“What does that mean for us?” she asks. That makes me pause. I just found out I had a daughter I didn’t know about, and Noelle is asking about us as a couple? That doesn’t sit right with me either.
Taking a deep breath, I say, “I’m figuring it out.”
“Okay, okay,” she says. “Does Emily have a boyfriend? A husband?”
“She has a boyfriend.” That admission makes me twinge.
Noelle deflates with relief. “That’s good.”
“Like I said, I just found this out, and it’s a lot to process.”
“I bet.” She leans back with her arms crossed. “I would love to meet Olive. And Emily.”
“I want you to,” I say and mean it. Although we’ve had our problems, Noelle is important to me, and I want her to meet my other important people. “There’s one thing. Olive doesn’t know I’m her dad yet.”
“Who did they say you were when you met her?”
“I’m an old friend.” I grip my own hands tighter.
“Emily and I should meet each other,” Noelle says. “It makes sense.”
“How long are you planning to stay?”
“As long as you’re planning to stay.”
I hide my grimace under my hands. “Where are you going to stay?”
Her eyebrows lower, and her jaw slacks. “With you, of course.”
“I’m staying on Emily’s property. I’m not sure if she will be okay with it, but I can ask.”
