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10
London
“So, what have you done or what do youneedto do?”Dad asks as soon as we’re in his office and comfortably situated on the two-seater couch.
I pull out the Portillo’s offerings from the bag and hand his favorite Italian Beef sandwich to him, shooting him a cautious grin.“What makes you say that?”
Dad quirks a brow as if to ask whether I think he’s an idiot or not.The reality is that I’ve never been able to get anything past the old man.For as long as I can remember, he has always seemed to know me almost more than I know myself.
He picked up on my feelings for Luca a long time before I would even admit to myself I had them.Even then, instead of warning me off, he took me out on a Dad-and-London day date.We often have these little meetings of the minds now—usually over food—when he can tell something is eating away at me, or in this case, when I’ve built up the courage to tell him a life-changing decision.It’s not major; this isn’t my first time moving out on my own.But itisthe first time I’ve decided to do it since moving back to Chicago, and it will be my first time living alone.And although Mom and Dad have never given any hints that I’m cramping their style or have ‘outgrown’ the nest, so to speak, Mom told me this morning that she’d been hoping that I’d do this soon.Not for them, but forme.
“C’mon, Lonnie.Hit me with it.It’s got to be something big to warrant Portillo’s mid-shift.”
I laugh and shake my head at him, putting my half eaten sandwich back in the wrapper.“I’m going to look at an apartment after work.”
“OK.”That’s all he says.
“Dad,” I groan.“Is thatallyou have to say about it?”
“London, you’re twenty-seven years old and far too old to ask for Daddy’s permission to do anything in your life.”
“I know.It just feels like a big step.”
He reaches over and squeezes my leg.“That’s ’cause it is, and I’m proud of you.”
“For moving out?”I ask with a snort.
“Well, I won't like coming home and not having breakfast with two of my three favorite girls.That’s going to suck.But no, I’m proud of you for the woman you’ve become, standing on your own two feet, and living life on your terms.”
“Sometimes it feels like I’ve been in a holding pattern ever since I moved back.”
His eyes soften.“I can see why you’d think that, but what have I always told you?Life’s a journey.There are twists and turns, and ups and downs, and—”
“Sometimes it takes a step or two backward to see where you need to take a step or two forward again.”
“Exactly.”He pauses to take a big bite of his Italian beef and gravy sandwich, wiping his stubbled chin with a napkin before looking my way again.“And your mother and I didn’t raise a fool.You and Violet are our proudest accomplishments.The young women you’ve become are a badge I wear with honor, and I hope you know that.”
I playfully slap his arm.“Don’t you dare make me cry, Dad.I don’t want to have to redo my makeup.”
He rolls his eyes.“Wouldn’t wantthatnow, would we?”
We fall silent for a while as we work through our food.“So, where are you looking?Like are we talking about the same block as us?The other side of town?Next door to the firehouse?”he asks with a teasing glint in his eye.“Maybe near a certain soon-to-be lieutenant’s place?”
Now I’m the one groaning.“Dad ...”I warn.“Are you forgetting the rule?”
He bounces a shoulder, his expression one of totally fake innocence.“What?That’s for everyone else.I can veto the rule if it means my daughter is happy.”
“You know we’re just friends.It’s part of what has led to me finally deciding to step up and grow up a little.Stand on my own two feet and move on with my life.”
Thatgets me a jerk of his head, and if I’m not mistaken, a little tick in his jaw.“Moving on?What’s caused this?Did something happen?”
“Nah.Well, kind of, but not really,” I say, hedging my bets.
Dad’s dry chuckle cracks through the air.“You want to explain that to your dumb ol’ dad?”
I sigh.“It wasn’t an exactmoment, per se.I think it’s just been building for a while.Luc and I are friends, best friends, and I think that it’s finally dawned on me that I’m wasting my life away waiting for that particular status to change—that’sifit was ever going to.Violet’s been in my ear about dating and putting myself out there.”
“Other fish in the sea and all of that?”
