“It’s okay, Fiona. You can talk to me about anything.” It tears me up seeing her upset.
“About the other day…” If she rings her fingers any harder, she’s going to dislocate one of them.
Now’s the time for me to apologize.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
What?
“It was wrong of me to assault you like that. Every day, I remind the kids to respect other people’s personal space and not to touch them without their consent. And then what do I do? Assault you when you’re going through a hard point in your life.”
Assault me? What in the world is she talking about? Did Canyon give her drugs to make her start dating him? Her eyes don’t look weird like a user, but that doesn’t mean anything.
“Me saying I’m sorry doesn’t excuse my actions, but I do want you to know that I’m genuinely sorry and completely understand if you choose not to forgive me. I talked to my therapist about it, and I’m going to do whatever work is necessary to ensure that it never happens again.”
Fiona is seeing a therapist? Why? And why is she talking about me to her therapist and not her stupid boyfriend?
Now I sound like a whiny teenage boy.
The only thing I do know is that she’s not making any sense at all.
“I won’t pressure you to forgive me, but if you can think of anything I might be able to do to make things right, I would appreciate you telling me.”
My life has entered an alternate reality where nothing makes sense, and the woman I love is dating an idiot like Canyon.
She just sits there quietly, staring at me, waiting for a response.
There is no good response to that insanity that she just spewed out. “Fea, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Her eyes get watery.
Is she going to cry? My kryptonite is a woman’s tears. Don’t you cry, woman.
“I’m talking about the other day. When I reached out to touch you, you pulled away and yelled at me. Which was a completely valid reaction. I’m not complaining about your response.” Her shoulders hunch, and a tear slips out.
Why? Why do they cry at the worst possible moments? I’m the one that needs to be apologizing.
“Is everything all right?” Hope appears at the table.
Fiona furtively brushes away the tear.
My nosy, meddling daughter kind of saved the day. “Everything is just fine. Fiona was just telling me about her new boyfriend.” Those two words taste foul on my lips.
Hope’s jaw drops open. “Fiona’s what?”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Fiona smile that large.
“My boyfriend, Canyon. Have you met him yet since you started working here? He comes in all the time for my cupcakes.”
***
Walking home with Hope, all I can think about is one thing.
Fiona has a boyfriend.
How could I have been so blind?
“Can you believe it, Dad? I can’t. Fiona never talked about Canyon before. Not once. You talk about people who you’re dating. That’s what girls do. We talk about them to excess and then talk about them some more just in case anyone missed that we’re in love. It makes no sense.”
