Page 22 of Fake it With Me

“Thank you,” Liza said at the bottom of the stairs. “For being cool about tonight. For not being angry that I embarrassed you.”

“You didn’t embarrass me.”

“I really did. But I appreciate you pretending otherwise. I’ll do better next time. I promise.”

“You were fine. Better than fine. You were real, and that’s what I need. Not someone who can play the game perfectly. Just someone who gives a damn.”

She smiled, and even exhausted and mortified, she was beautiful. “Okay. I’ll try to remember that.”

“Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Darek.”

“Goodnight.”

I watched her walk down the hall to her suite.

It would work out. One little hiccup was not enough to make me throw in the towel.

Saturday morning, I woke up to silence, which was unusual. Daisie was typically an early riser on weekends. The quiet made me check my watch and I discovered it was a quarter to eight. It was late for me. I was surprised I slept so late.

I got up, threw on jeans and a T-shirt, and headed downstairs to start breakfast.

That was when I heard it. Crazy sounds coming from the kitchen. Low, mournful wails that rose and fell like music, like nothing I’d ever heard in my house before.

“What the hell?”

I walked in to find Liza and Daisie huddled over Liza’s laptop at the kitchen table, both of them completely absorbed in whatever was on the screen. Neither of them noticed me standing in the doorway.

“This one is the sound of a whale calling for his friends,” Liza said. “See? You can hear them answer back. Listen.”

The whale song played from the laptop speakers, haunting and strange and oddly beautiful.

Daisie leaned closer, her eyes wide with fascination. “What are they saying?”

“Well, we don’t know for sure. But I like to think it’s something like…” Liza lowered her voice, making it deep and goofy. “Hey, guys, wait up!”

Daisie giggled.

Liza changed her voice, making it higher. “Over here, dude!”

Daisie laughed harder. The sound filled the kitchen. I stood there watching them and felt my heart filling with warmth. This was what I had wanted for Daisie. She needed a mother figure to laugh with and learn from. There was a very real feminine bond that I could never recreate.

But it was also dangerous. Daisie was already getting attached. I could see it in the way she leaned against Liza’s shoulder, completely comfortable and trusting. And if I had to guess, Liza was getting attached too.

They finally noticed me, both turning at the same time.

“Daddy!” Daisie beamed. “Liza is showing me whale songs! Did you know they sing to each other?”

“I did not know that.” I walked over and kissed the top of her head. “What else are they saying?”

Liza grinned. “Feed me, I’m starving,” she said in her whale voice.

I laughed and shook my head. “You know you can help yourself to the pantry and fridge.”

“I do know that, but Daisie told me you made pancakes on the weekends. I didn’t want to step on any toes.”

I appreciated that. I liked that she respected my traditions. “I’ll get started.”