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After we suffered through the pictures, I told Natalie to send me a pic so I could forward it to my parents.
“Don’t be out late.”
“Mom,” Delaney said.
“What? That’s what I’m supposed to say.” Natalie hugged her. “Be good. I love you.”
Tears sparkled in her eyes. She was probably thinking that it should be her ex here and not me.
Delaney moved through the door ahead of me, and Natalie stopped me with a hand to my arm. “Thank you for doing this. You made her whole year.”
Something cracked in my heart. I knew this was a big deal, but hearing her confirm it had my emotions out of whack. “We’ll have fun. Don’t worry about her.”
“I don’t worry when she’s with you. I know you’ll take care of her.”
I felt tender toward her and Delaney. I hugged her quickly and kissed her temple. “I’ll bring her home safe. Have a good night.”
“I’ll be here. I didn’t want to go out in case she needed me.” Her eyes were suspiciously shiny.
I bet she was worried Delaney would be upset that her father wasn’t here.
“I’ll let you know and send pictures.”
“Good. Now go.” Natalie waved me off, and I had a feeling she wanted a few minutes to herself.
I’d feel better if Natalie had her friends around her. On the way to the truck, I texted Alice, asking if she’d check in on her, maybe call Kylie and see if she could come over and keep her company. Alice immediately responded by saying she was on it, then asked for a picture. I sent the obligatory photos to my parents and Alice and Sam before helping an eager Delaney into the truck.
“Where are we going?” Delaney asked.
“It’s a seafood place that serves your favorite.”
“Salmon,” she said with a smile.
She buckled up, and I closed the door. I drove her to the restaurant with Delaney talking a mile a minute in the back about the theme of the dance and whatever her teachers had been telling her all week about it.
I had a feeling if I lived with her, I would have heard these stories many times already. I thought of my empty house and the string of unsuccessful relationships and felt lonely. Could I really go my whole life without a child of my own?
We parked and headed into the restaurant. This time, Delaney held my hand, and I could almost pretend she was mine. She looked up at me with so much adoration.
“I couldn’t find any Irish dancers.”
Delaney shrugged. “That’s okay.”
We ordered cider and salmon and talked about school and her hopes and dreams of being a vet when she grew up. I was impressed because I had had no idea what I wanted to do at that age.
“Daddy said getting into vet school is really hard, so I should do something else.”
I shook my head, not liking that her father had discouraged her from pursuing her dreams. “You can do it if you want to. You can do anything if you want it badly enough.”
“Did you want to do construction?” Delaney asked in her sweet voice.
“Dad encouraged us to go to college and pursue our own interests. It just worked out that we wanted to be in the family business.”
Then we talked about the kids at school and her friends, which kids were nice and which I should avoid. I listened, making appropriate comments about being nice to everyone, even if they were mean, hoping I wasn’t overstepping. I sent Natalie a picture of us at dinner.
Natalie: Salmon?
Mac: She said it was her favorite.
