“Yes.”
At least he’s consistent.
“You own half the city.”
“And that means I get to vet the men my daughters date, and none of them are good enough for you.”
“Canada,” Miranda whispers. “We can both run away to Canada.”
“Roland, you’re being slightly ridiculous. It’s not fair to the girls. If they want to date an accomplished man who has a good job and doesn’t have any skeletons in his closet and who makes them happy, then they should havesomeflexibility here.”
“That’s a very low bar,” Dad replies.
“Is it? I don’t see either one of the girls settling for someone who doesn’t make them happy. It was the critical element whenIfell in love.”
He grunts.
“Glad you agree,” she says, “because I actually wanted tointroduce Ziggy to that nice young man from the Environmental Engineering Club that we had lunch with earlier this week.”
“Mom. No.” I shake my head. “If I meet someone, and it’s natural and we click and he can handle dating a single mom, then I meet someone. But I don’t want to get set up on dates. I don’t want that obligation. I’d rather meet him by accident.”
Dad eyes me. “So long as he can take care of you and isn’t traveling all the time and doesn’t put you second behind anything. And I do meananything.”
That should be a good statement.
But it’s not.
I know it’s not.
Miranda knows it’s not.
And I suddenly understand better what Dad’s issue is with either of us dating one of his rugby players.
It’s their life, Goldie said to me the other day while she and I had lunch and Holt and Fletcher were at the gym.
Not because Holt was working out, but because he wanted to soak in the atmosphere until hecanget back to working out.
When you’re dating an athlete, you accept that they possibly love their sport more than they love you. But they love you with everything they have available to love you, and given the extra-big size of their hearts, it’s more than enough.
I told her she was crazy, that Fletcher seemed like he’d sacrifice the world for her, to include rugby, and she agreed.
She said he’s special. And that hedidtry to quit rugby for her once.
But Dad might not know that.
All he knows is that he asks his players for everything they have.
Which doesn’t leave anything for the rest of their lives.
And what will happen when Holt can get back to the gym?
What if Iamjust a distraction to pass the time while he’s injured?
Dammit.
Dammit.
A plate of breakfast potatoes and a side of biscuits appear in front of me, and I do what’s expected.
