I shrug. “I love the energy here, but it has been full-on over the holidays.” New York does Christmas on a grand scale—big displays, bright lights, Santas on every corner. And I’ve loved it, mostly, but I can’t deny it would be nice to get away from the frenzy of the crowds for a while. “I don’t miss home but I miss the quiet, sometimes.”
He thinks for a moment. “If you want a break from the city, I have a cabin you could use.”
“A cabin?”
“Yeah. It’s a family cabin, but hardly anyone else uses it. Mostly just me and Henry, sometimes my brother. It’s at Indian Lake.”
I mull this over as I scrub. Maybe I should get away. Some time out could help me sort my head out with everything.
“Where is Indian Lake?”
“In the Adirondacks.”
I let out a disappointed sigh. “Thanks for the offer. It’s a nice idea, but I have no way of getting there.”
Michael takes a few dishes and stacks them in a cupboard. “When would you go? I’m driving up to see Nana in the new year. I could drop you there on the way.”
“Henry wouldn’t mind?”
“He’ll be with his mom for the week.”
“He didn’t want to see your Nana?”
“Oh, he did.” Michael twists the dishtowel in his hands. “But that’s the week he’s supposed to be with his mom and she wouldn’t let him come.”
“She wouldn’tlethim?” I ask, handing him a glass.
He sighs. “It’s easier to go along with her than cause drama.”
I think back to the way he shrank at the dinner table, to the fact that he was battling for custody recently, and a question works its way to the tip of my tongue. “What… um, if it’s okay to ask, what happened with you and her?”
His hand stills on the glass, his brow pulling low. He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times before finally saying, “I’m not sure if I want to get into all that right now. I will explain it to you, but… not today. Not at Christmas.” His brow remains furrowed as he meets my gaze. “Is that okay?”
I nod, examining his face. Clearly I’ve hit a nerve here, and I’m not sure I want to press any further. I turn back to the sink, dumping some cutlery into the water. It wasn’t my place to ask, really. I’m about to apologize when he speaks again.
“Anyway, if you want a ride to the cabin, I’m happy to take you. It’s pretty remote—no cell service, no wifi. But it’s a good place to just get away.”
I smile at the thought. “Yeah, okay. That would be great. Thanks.”
Henry has fallen asleep on the sofa and Michael goes into the living room. He flicks the movie off and pulls a blanket up over him, kissing him on the head. It’s such a tiny thing, but it’s so tender it immediately endears him to me. He picks up the dishtowel again as I finish off the dishes and drain the sink.
“You’re a good dad,” I say.
Michael smiles modestly. “Thanks. I try, but I feel like I’m constantly screwing up.”
I root around in a drawer looking for cling film to cover some of the leftovers.
“You kind of helped me to see that I’ve not been the best dad, though.”
I pause, turning to him. “I have?”
“Yeah. You kept pointing out all these things I wasn’t doing, and I started to think—”
“Wait.” I straighten up, confused. “What are you talking about?”
He laughs. “I don’t think you meant to, but you made me see what I’d been forgetting. Like, I never gave Henry pizza, or took him trick-or-treating. And the ice-skating… Anyway, I realized that I’d been kind of uptight, too worried about doing therightthings, that I forgot the fun things are important too.”
“Oh,” I murmur. “Shit, I’m sorry. I never meant to—”
