Page 18 of The Daddy’s Girl

After unlocking my door, I turn to watch him walk away down the long, quiet street. My chest releases a breath of air as I feel him putting space between us.

I’m still riding a high from what he said to me on the train.

No one will ever be good enough for you.

How’s a girl supposed to move on after a line like that? And yes, I’m choosing to ignore the fact that Matis likely meant that in a fatherly way. I’m like a daughter to him, so yeah, I’m sure he does think no guy will ever be good enough for me. In the same way my dad does.

“That you, sweetie?” my mom calls for me from the living room.

“Yeah,” I reply as I shut the door and slip off my shoes, dropping my bag on the bench by the door.

I secretly love that she still waits up for me every night. My mom lost her mother when she was young, and I see that in the way she is with me. Always waiting up. Always answering when I call. Always there for me, no matter what, as if making up for something she never had.

And honestly, I could have moved out years ago, but why would I? I grew up in this house, and I love it. It’s big but not obnoxiously so. It feels like home, and there’s always someone here to talk to, so I’m never alone.

I don’t know how Matis can stand it.

Walking through the hall, I turn the corner into the living room where my mom is sitting in an upholstered chair, a tall lamp illuminating her in a soft, yellow glow. She sets her book on her lap and pulls off her glasses.

Julian looks more like my mom than I do. Although I got her blond hair and blue eyes, I have more of my dad’s features. Sharp cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes, a little divot in my chin.

“So how’d it go?” she asks as I drop into the oversized chair in the corner.

“How did what go?”

“Setting Matis up on that dating app. Your dad and I had a good laugh about that on the way home.”

I roll my eyes. “He didn’t even know how to swipe. Or what a catfish is.”

She laughs quietly, covering her mouth with her hand. “It won’t be easy, Melly. Not just with the technology but with the dating part too. For as long as I’ve known him, Matis has never once been interested in long-term relationships.”

“I know,” I reply on an exhale. “But he’s lonely. Can’t you tell?”

Solemnly, she nods. “That’s why we always invite him to everything. He’s family to us.”

A frigid, fearful thought enters my mind. “Do you think if he finds someone else, he’d stop coming around so much?”

I expect her to immediately reply no. That’s impossible. Matis will always be a part of our family.

Instead, to my dismay, she shrugs. “Sometimes it happens like that. I don’t think we’d lose him completely, but he would have a life and a family of his own.”

My stomach feels like solid iron, weighing heavily as I start chewing on the inside of my lips and picking at the hem of my dress.

“Sweetie, it’s okay,” my mom says, noticing my distress. “He’d be happy, though. Isn’t that what matters most?”

“Sure, yeah. Of course,” I say, quickly covering my reaction. If my mom ever knew my true feelings for our family friend, she’d be horrified.

“That is if you can even get him to commit to someone. I love Matis, but he’s always been a bit of a playboy.”

“Tell me about it,” I complain. “When I told him to put anything resembling commitment in his profile, you would have thought I suggested he kick a puppy.”

My mom throws her head back and laughs. We both get a fit of the giggles, and once she recovers, she rests her chin on her fist. “You know…” she starts with a wistful look in her eyes. “He tried to seduce me once.”

“Mom!” I shout, covering my face.

“Before you were born, of course. I almost went with him too.”

“Oh my God, stop,” I moan as I slide down the chair as if I could make it swallow me whole.