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His father nodded. “Let me know when you’re ready to talk about it.”
Alex’s eyebrows furrowed.
His father swallowed. “When you’re ready, I know you’ll ask.”
“I should know what to do, but I don’t.”
His father didn’t answer, but waited for his son to continue.
Alex rubbed the back of his head. “It caught up with me again, and I almost lost a good woman.”
“You thought dating around meant being a real man?” his father asked.
Could he blame Alex? That’s all he knew. “Not everyone wants commitment, Dad. I get it now, but I didn’t before.”
“Let me ask you something.” His father paused for a moment, but continued. “If a man treated your cousin, Lisa, the way you’ve treated women in the past, would you respect him?”
His father might as well have hit his head with a wrench from his tool chest. Alex’s skin crawled thinking about the pain Lisa went through during her divorce. He never compared his actions to her deadbeat ex-husband.
“How about when Celine gets older? How would you want a man to treat her?”
Alex dipped his chin. He grabbed his own sandwich, taking a bite. He chewed despite his dry mouth.
His father sipped his drink. “I know you saw some things growing up, and I did my best to keep you from all of that.”
Alex swallowed. “You did your best. I don’t blame you.”
“I know, but I should have told you that you can’t live in fear, son. You thought dating more than one woman protected you from being hurt, but you missed out.”
Alex rubbed at his chin. “There’s a photo online. It showed a picture of me with another woman. It was before Zoe, but it’s bad. I’m glad she didn’t push me away this time, but I hate that it happened.”
His father nodded.
“Well?”
“Well what?” his father asked.
“How do I fix it?”
“You’ll figure out the answer. I can’t tell you what to do, son. Take responsibility for your actions and learn from them,” his father said.
Alex felt a twinge of pain in his chest.
“And if you love this woman, you won’t let her go.” His father raised an eyebrow.
Love? Alex slouched in the chair. Did Zoe love him too? Another knock came to the door, and he sat up in his seat. Both men faced the door spotting Francesca Johnson. Alex watched his father rise from his seat to greet her.
“I’m sorry. I’m interrupting,” she said.
His father took her hand in his. “Father-son lunch.”
She beamed at him. “I’ll see you tonight then.” She kissed his cheek and smiled at Alex. “Nice to see you again. Enjoy your lunch.” Ms. Francesca left the men alone. A silly grin danced across his father’s face.
The corners of Alex’s lips curled up. “You look happy.”
“I want the same for you.”
Leaving
