"Yeah," she mumbled.
"So, can you believe that Violet still cares about me even though she might care about someone else too?" I asked.
"But you can only love one person," Faith insisted.
I lifted my hand, halting her. "Why?"
"What?"
"Why?" I asked again. "She has cared about Ash and Cy since she was a kid. Longer than you've been alive, cupcake. When I started dating her, I knew they were close. When I tried to make her choose, she made it clear that if she had to, she would, and it wouldn't be me. Why? Because she barely knew me and they are her family."
"That's what makes me so mad," Faith admitted. "She loves them more than you, and you are herboyfriend!You're supposed to be first, Dad. If she loved you, then she wouldn't do that. She wouldn't want to, so it means she doesn't love you!"
"That's not how it works," I assured her. "When your mom got pregnant, I was supposed to marry her, but it wasn't right for me. It wouldn't have been right for your mom either, but she doesn't believe me." I waved that off. "All I'm saying is that it's not that easy, Faith. I also don't know what you want."
"I want her to love you most," she said as if that should've been obvious.
"What if she loves me as much?" I asked.
A crease formed in her brow. "But..."
"What if she loves me different, but just as much?" I pressed. "Like asking if you like eyeliner more than lipstick. One doesn't work without the other, right?" I had a feeling it wasn't true, but I was seriously winging this. "Maybe some things work together."
"So you're just going to forgive her?" My daughter's mouth flopped open. "No! She has to pay for what she's done."
"With flowers and jewelry?" I asked, thinking back to something she'd said before my first date with Violet. "Or maybe she needs to act like an obedient little bitch for a while, just to make it clear she's sorry enough? What is honestly enough for you to forgive her? For you to think that I should?"
Her feet started swinging and her eyes dropped to the floor. Finally, after a very long pause, she said, "I dunno."
"I don't either," I said. "But that's the thing, I don't want to end this just because it's what everyone else does. I've talked to Cy, and there's a cottage down the hill with the cabins. It's a mess, but if Violet and I break up, he said I can fix that up and the two of us can move in there."
She glanced up. "Is he breaking up with Ash?"
"No, he's not," I said.
"But he should!" she huffed.
"Cy said he's made that mistake before - leaving Ash - and he was miserable. He said Ash isn't perfect, but neither is he." Granted, those were pieces from other conversations, yet I had a feeling it was pretty much what he'd say. "Cy said that Ash came right in and told him what happened. He didn't lie about it, and that matters more to him than anything else. People make mistakes, but the part that hurts is when they lie about it."
"Isn't that what cheating is?" Faith asked.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, but neither one lied about it. Faith, we're working things out, all four of us. I know you don't understand, and I know you're mad, but I really hope you don't make me choose."
"Why, because you'd choose her over me?" Her tone was snide, and I would've chewed her out for it any other time.
Instead, I simply shook my head. "Never, but I want to be happy too. I will always choose you first, no matter what. I promise you that. It's just that I want to choose hertoo,and that's what caused this whole problem. The choosing part is sometimes very, very hard."
She sighed. "I know, but you still deserve better, Dad. Maybe you can forgive her, but I can't."
"But can you give her a chance to change your mind?"
She just glared at me. "Not like I have any choice."
Well, it wasn't perfect, but it was a step, and I was going to count that as a win. My daughter wasn't demanding to live with her mother, and she wasn't telling me we had to move, so this was a win. A very shitty one.
Chapter Sixty-One
Unfortunately, my talk with Faith only helped so much. She stopped slamming things and storming around. Sadly, she didn't start talking to either Violet or Ash. They were getting the cold shoulder, and hard. Faith didn't even want to eat dinner with me if they were in the room. I made it clear that wasn't an option, but the silence at the table wasn't helping anyone.
