Page 41 of I Choose You

“I wish you could see what I see.”

You see your daughter, who you’d love unconditionally no matter what.

I was grateful for that.

The smile I pasted on felt plastic and cheap. “I was just fixing my hair, Mom.”

But having someone else’s unconditional love, someone who didn’t have to treasure me by default, was something I doubted I’d ever find.

15

KADEN

The weekend seemed so far away, but Friday morning came bright and early. I’d woken up before my alarm, as I usually did. But instead of lying there and trying to beat Dad’s Wordle stat, I wondered what Brooke was up to. No doubt she was already done with a brutal workout and on her way to her office.

We’d texted every day. It began as work-only messages, which were important. I wouldn’t knock her professionalism. If anything, I was impressed by her attention to detail and suggestions for solutions.

But she hadn’t asked me out since. I hadn’t either, but I felt like that was the natural next step. To leave the ball in her court and let her take the initiative.

A slight fear crept in. What if she doesn’t?

I refused to believe it.

She’d been too attentive—both talking and listening—to be faking it all. When she’d played with her straw and put the idea of her mouth being somewhere else? Oh, she’d done that deliberately.

Until she reached out, though, I felt stuck in limbo.

At least I had a full day’s worth of work to distract me from nonstop thoughts of her. It was time to get up and get ready to head to work.

Kody and I laid off the horsing around at the office. He was eager to go out that night, but I wasn’t sure what I would do.

We both had plenty of things to wrap up before the weekend. Regardless if I had set plans or not, I enjoyed the feeling of tying things up and addressing loose threads to avoid having them on my mind over the weekend. Dad modeled that behavior, and Kody and I followed it almost to a T.

“Afternoon, boys.” Dad approached with a tall steaming coffee. Instead of heading to his office suite, he paused at my door, where Kody and I had been discussing something about a department change.

“Don’t forget about the dinner tonight,” he said as he sat.

What? I frowned and scrolled back in the three-way chat we shared. There it was. Kody hadn’t replied. I hadn’t either. It was tucked under a longer text which was why I’d likely missed it.

Good thing I didn’t make plans then.

“What?” Kody asked, finally looking up.

“The dinner tonight. We’d like our families to get to know each other better.”

“Shouldn’t you have done that before proposing to Margaux?” he asked.

Dad ignored him. “Margaux is bringing her daughter.”

Kody exhaled long and hard, frustrated as he sat back in his chair. “What’s her name again? Mirabel?” He tossed his pen to the table.

“Mercedes,” Dad and I answered in unison. Dad rolled his eyes and I smiled. He’d never change.

“We’re looking forward to both of you being there.”

Kody groaned. He picked up his pen and tapped it. “I had plans to go out tonight. Some buddies wanted to check out this new bar.”

“Then go, just don’t drink much and come after. One drink,” Dad suggested.