Cordelia settles her helmet against her side, her eyes burning passionately. “You know, I think this is a huge misunderstanding when it comes to dating a single dad. I’m glad I get to clear this up.” She tosses her hair. “Renthrow doesn’t love me and Gordie equally. He loves usdifferently.”
“Well, yeah. Gordie’s his daughter and you’re his girlfriend.”
Cordelia shakes her head as if I don’t get it. “One of the things Renthrow and I discussed, and I think he’ll be okay if I share this with you, is the way his previous marriage ended. And why. He said that if he had to do it again, he wouldn’t be so obsessed with his dreams of having a family. What he learned is that, going forward, he’ll put that amount of care and thought into his wife.”
My eyebrows climb. I knew Renthrow was divorced, but I’ve never heard the details about it.
“That’s not to say he doesn’t love Gordie or wishes she weren’t here?—”
“Trust me. I know,” I say with a nod.
Renthrow’s love for his daughter is a legend. I had the privilege of seeing one of the lunch boxes he makes for Gordie and, let’s just say, the guy should have his own cooking show.
“What Renthrow means,” Cordelia speaks firmly, “is that he’s discovered the importance of pouring into his partnerandhis daughter. If his daughter gets this much attention as his child,” she raises a hand, “his girlfriend should get this much attention as his partner,” she places her hand equally next to each other, “or more.”
“Why more?” I wonder.
Cordelia smirks. “Let me ask you this. When you were trying to convince Riley to date you, what did you tell her?”
“‘Please be my girlfriend, Riley’.”
“I mean what did you promise her? Probably something along the lines of the love songs from your playlist.”
“I guess so.” I nod.
“That means you probably told her that you’d give her all your attention, all your love, that she’d be the most important part of your world, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“More than hockey?”
I blink rapidly as I remember my bold declaration to Chris.
‘I care about Riley more than hockey’.
“The problem is, guys know exactly what to say when they want a woman, but they somehow forget all these grand promises when they actually get her.”
“Wow. You should have a podcast, Cordelia.”
“No, no. Not at all.” Cordelia laughs. “I love fixing cars too much. And honestly, I just switched camps. I used to blame everything on women because I tend to be really hard on myself.”
“What changed?”
“Renthrow showed me, by his actions, what it means to be a priority in a man’s life, even when he has a child. The more he loves me, the more I love him and Gordie. Heck, if Gordie was in trouble, I’d runpastRenthrow to get to her.”
We both laugh.
“He doesn’t turn his love into a competition. I don’t have to compete for his attention with Gordie. I don’t have to compete for his attention with hockey. And I want that for other women. I want that for Riley. She deserves it.”
Her words resonate in my heart. “I want Riley to have that too. I really do.”
“Okay.” Cordelia nods at Riley’s apartment and then stares pointedly at me. “So what are you going to do?”
Chapter Sixty
RILEY
It’s game day.
