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“Honey, I gave him permission to marry you this summer because I thought that’s what you wanted, but I wasn’t happy about it.”
That admission floored me. “Why am I hearing about this for the first time right now?” I demanded. He never said anything negative about him before.
“The lives of hockey players, they’re not… They’re not always conducive to healthy marriages. They’re in different cities all the time, which obviously is too tempting for those like Garrett, and they miss a lot of important events. I try hard to let my guys prioritize their families, but it doesn’t always happen. Last month, Coleson missed the birth of his new baby. Shit happens when we’re on the road. So, I’m relieved. I think it’d be nice if you met someone who was boring. Normal.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. I couldn’t see the bright side of this whole situation just yet.
“I wasted 21 to 27 with him. So many years,” I groaned out miserably, covering my face.
He patted my leg again. “That’s okay. Think about it this way, you know those chick flicks you make me watch? They all start out the same way.”
I eyed him warily. “Huh?”
He snapped his fingers. “What’s that word? It starts with an A… The silly little story in the beginning about the bad ex before the main love interest is introduced, you know what I mean?”
“Anecdote,” I sighed.
“Yeah! Garrett is just another silly little anecdote. He’s not your main story, honey, I promise.”
“But that means I’m at the very beginning of a story again. I was going to marryhim.I don’t want to startall over!”I practically shrieked. I’d have to date again. Meet the parents again. Pretend to be perfect again– like I didn’t toot or pig out on food or wear sweats every chance I got. I’d have to act all proper and shit. What the actual fuck?
My mind raced then. I was getting ahead of myself. I’d have to act perfectifI got asked out on a date. I was screwed. I didn’t have friends like I did back in college, and even those friendships hadn’t really lasted because Garrett always made a stink about me going out with girlfriends, so they moved on without me.
And I was a teacher. I worked with kids all day, not in an office with other grown adults.
And my idea of a fun Friday night was not going to the bar to flirt with new people anymore. I enjoyed going to the movies with my parents or going to one of my dad’s games with my mom and swapping notes with him later…How the hell would I meet someone new?
I think my dad could track my dread, because he said, “It’ll happen when you least expect it.”
I cut my eyes to his. “Do not fucking say that.”
He rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t have friends to go out with, I don’t have coworkers to date, I live here and don’t even see anyone my own age, I-”
“Focus on one thing at a time. Focus on what youdohave,” he urged.
“WhatdoI have?!” I shouted in a panic. “The whole world is going to think I’m a crazy girl! That video went everywhere.”
“No one thinks you’re crazy. They think you stood up for yourself.Andthat you have impressive hockey skills,” he said, struggling to keep a straight face.
His laughing was not helping. I dropped my head in my hands and let out a strangled groan.
“Hey, don’t look so sad. You have me, too.” He pulled me into a side hug, and my despair melted a teensy bit at that. I did have him. And my mom. And my three older sisters, but they all had their own married lives with kids already.
“Never would’ve thought I’d be the failure child,” I mumbled.
He let out a bark of laughter. “You are not the failure child. I am quite proud of that slapshot of yours. Way better than any of your sisters could do.”
I rolled my teary eyes, but I did appreciate the compliment. “I am basically living out theFailure to Launchmovie right now, dad.”
“No,” he shook his head, “You’re the creative, bossy one. You always have been. I think you’re stronger and smarter than most men, and that’s harder to pair off.”
“Pair off?” I asked warily.
“Yeah, weak men are threatened by you, and there’s a lot of weak men these days. There are still good ones, I know because I work with some. You just have to find one that fits with you and your life here. I always suspected you were gonna have a harder time than you sisters because they were in a totally different generation of dating. I don’t think the…” He paused and snapped his fingers, searching for the words, “what do you call it? The Timber and the Tikitytok and the Instasnap stuff? I don’t think that existed when they were going through the dating world, and I think it was easier without all of it. But I know you’ll end up happy. I’d bet on it.”
“You’d probably bet a single dollar,” I said in a condescending tone.
