“She was a little suspect of me having a female best friend at first. I can’t blame her. But she and Blair get along well now. Over the years, she’s seen the kind of friendship we have.”
“That’s good.”
“Anyway…” he said. “I gotta start getting ready to go out tonight. You want to take a look at the car?”
“Yeah, of course.” I gestured for him to lead the way.
My mind whirled as he popped the hood and I helped him change his spark plugs.
Am I making a mistake by waiting to tell him?
Maybe getting closer to him will only make it more of a betrayal.
Who’s watching Nicholas while Blair goes out with them tonight?
Would Blair actually like this Adam guy?
How will I handle it when she inevitably gets a boyfriend?
It was a wonder I could focus at all on the task before me.
After we finished the plugs, I closed the hood and turned to Taylor. “Well, that’ll do it. Have fun tonight.”
“I will. Thanks again for stopping by. I appreciate it.” He paused. “Maybe you can work on teaching me how to fix these things myself so I don’t have to keep bugging you.”
My heart filled with pride. “I’d love to. You just let me know when you have time for some lessons.”
“I guess that can be a perk of having you close by again, huh?”
“And to think I thought you’d be annoyed to have me back in town.” I winked.
“Bye, Dad.” He gave me a quick hug, which I tried not to prolong, though I wanted to.
“Bye.” I turned and headed back to my car, still smiling, but also swallowing past a lump in my throat.
Taylor didn’t call me Dad all that often, and when he did, it made me emotional—especially now. I was desperate not to return to the way things had been with him in years past.
Guilt hung over me the entire ride home, and it worsened when I pulled up and saw Leah waiting in front of my place. Yet another person I was about to let down. But the situation with her Icouldcontrol.
“Hey,” I said as I exited my car.
She smiled. “I just stopped by and knocked before I realized you weren’t home. I came by to see if you were interested in grabbing dinner.”
Between confirming I was Nicholas’s dad, having to lie to Taylor today, and my lingering jealousy over Blair’s setup tonight, I had no energy to attempt to give this woman what she deserved. I couldn’t spend another second pretending everything was normal. I needed to let her go. I’d been dreading this, but it had to be done.
“Actually, Leah… Do you think we could go inside and talk?”
Her expression dimmed.
She knows.
How could she not with the way I’d been acting lately?
As she followed me inside, I wished this was the toughest talk I’d have to have this year. But it was only the tip of the iceberg.
***
After the devastation of breaking Leah’s heart and ending our relationship, I sat in my living room, staring at thewall for most of the evening. Always one to sense when I was down, my German shepherd, Khloe, stayed right by my side.
