“Mallory.” Christian reached out a hand and covered hers. “It’s okay. It’s just us. We’re ready to eat if you’re ready to sit down and eat with us.”
The touch of his strong hand above hers was exactly what she needed to feel grounded. Tension eased from her shoulders, and after a moment she served up plates and sat down at the island. It wasn’t often when she had dinner guests, aside from Dan, and she had to fight the urge to run around serving everyone instead of enjoying the meal with the people she cooked for.
“This is really good,” Lily gushed, once again surprising both Mallory and Christian.
Mallory didn’t acknowledge Christian’s reactions to his daughter. As her first time meeting Lily, she had no idea what her normal behavior was, and it wouldn’t be fair to judge based on his reactions. Lily seemed sweet, and by the time they finished their meal, she was certain she liked the girl. She was genuine and respectful.
Taking her up on her request to make herself at home, Lily plopped herself on the couch and took out her phone, leaving Christian and Mallory alone at the island. She propped her feet up and inserted earbuds, completely off in her own world.
“So? How’s that been going?” Mallory asked quietly as she stood to begin clearing dishes.
Christian began helping, moving the empty dishes to the counter so Mallory could load them into the dishwasher before he took it upon himself to hand wash the larger dishes. As they were side by side, doing dishes, he finally answered her question.
“I’m enjoying our time together, but I have no idea what’s going on with her. She still isn’t herself, but she’s been getting closer since we got back to New Jersey.”
“She still hasn’t talked to you?”
“Not really,” he said with a sigh. “All she keeps saying is that she doesn’t want to be in Florida with her mom and wants to live with me.”
Mallory was quiet while she finished loading the dishwasher. Wishing she had something helpful to say, the only thing that came to her mind was what she’d needed when she was struggling at around the same age. But still, she felt out of place offering any form of parenting advice.
“What is it?” Christian coaxed.
“It’s not my place.” She hesitated.
“Please?” he asked before glancing over his shoulder and lowering his voice. “I’m at a loss here. I feel like I’m losing her right in front of me.”
His admission stunned her. She blinked back unexpected tears as she tried to put her thoughts into words. She didn’t know how to help his daughter, but she did know what would have helped her when she was younger.
She glanced over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t listening to them. They were being so obvious, but she didn’t want to risk Lily overhearing their conversation.
“I just needed someone to be there. Someone who wouldn’t leave or get upset no matter what I did or what I said. I’m not a parent but I would say just keep doing what you’re doing,” she said gently.
“It’s so hard,” he said, his voice cracking. “I just want to fix everything for her. I want to shield her from the world.”
Mallory dried her hands on the dish towel before wrapping her arms around him. Touching him while his daughter was around wasn’t something she planned to do, but at that moment she didn’t care. Lily wasn’t stupid. She knew they were more than just friends.
“I’m so sorry,” she breathed. “How are you going to manage work this weekend? I know she isn’t staying home by herself.”
Christian stepped back. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll figure something out.”
“She can stay here,” she offered. “I don’t mind and I’m here anyway. It’ll be a reason for me to get the guest room ready, it’s really not a big deal.”
He hesitated. “You don’t need to do that. I can figure it out.”
“Christian. I wouldn’t offer if it was a problem. It’ll just be me here. She’ll be fine. Most we’ll do is go downstairs to Dan’s for coffee. Ask her. If she’s good with it, I am.”
Mallory finished wiping down the counters and straightening up while she pretended not to watch him walk over to Lily and sit down beside her. Lilly didn’t move beyond pulling her earbuds out. She said something and shrugged before replacing them and then continued to do whatever she was doing on her phone.
“She said she’s fine with it. I still feel weird, though. You really don’t have to.”
She took his hand and led him back to the island to sit. Lily was back doing her own thing, so they had a few minutes to sit and relax. She poured them each a glass of wine then sat down to join him.
“It’s fine. Here,” she said, passing him a glass. “I know everything is a lot right now, so just take a minute. It’s okay to do that.”
She felt like she was giving a motivational speech, but she didn’t know how else to get through to him. It was obvious that he was on edge. And being on edge was the worst thing he could do if he wanted Lily to open up to him. Mallory wouldn’t tell him that since she drew a hard line at giving parenting advice.
“I’m not trying to lecture you. I just want to help. You don’t need to do everything alone.”
