Page 40 of Worth of Waste

“That’s not really for you to decide,” Karen said.

“Pardon?”

“You don’t get to decide if you’re good enough for him—if you’re worthless or amazing as a father.”

Dino fixed the baby’s hat, carefully balancing him on his lap at the same time. “I don’t understand.”

“You don’t get to decide,” she repeated simply, “he does. The only thing you can do is influence him in one way or the other by the things you do and the way you love him. He gets the final say, Dino.”

“Oh.”

One little word.

All it took was that one little word for Karen to know Dino would do just fine.

“This is a nice place,” Dino said. “Bigger than your last apartment.”

Karen found him leaning in the kitchen entryway of her apartment, surveying the space with an appreciative eye. “Not as nice as that house you tried to shove on me, though, right? And I needed a bigger space for all the stuff that comes along with a new baby.”

Dino didn’t miss her dig about the house if his smirk was any indication. “I was trying to do something right, Karen.”

“The thought was nice.”

“But?”

“But I didn’t feel right taking it,” she admitted.

“Yet, you took the lake property.”

“You didn’t give me much of a choice there, either.”

“You could have said no,” he pointed out.

“You knew I wouldn’t.”

“I hoped you wouldn’t. Big difference.”

Karen sighed, tossing the potato into the colander and setting the knife aside. “Say what you want to say.”

Dino crossed his arms, never once taking his gaze off of her. In the living room, she could hear the sounds of Junior rolling around in his walker and bumping into things, followed by his babyish giggles every time he hit something. It was his favorite game to play. Karen had learned early on to pack away anything that might break when Junior was let loose.

“You haven’t moved into the lake property, either,” Dino finally said.

Ah.

There it was.

“I have a job, and it’s a bit of a drive from there to the studio, Dino,” she explained. “That’s all.”

“Not that I gave it to you.”

Karen shook her head. “Not that at all.”

“Okay.”

She eyed him curiously. “Why haven’t you mentioned the other house? It’s closer—it’d be an argument for you to use to get me living there.”

Dino’s expression blanked, growing cold and emotionless as he replied, “It’s not safe. It probably won’t ever be, now.”