My dad opens the door and comes into my room. “Were you sleeping?”
“Yeah, it was a long day.” I check the clock. It’s after six. I didn’t plan to sleep that long. I was only going to nap for an hour.
He sits down on my bed. “Can we talk?”
“Um, okay,” I say, not liking the sound of that. I move so I’m sitting next to him. “What’s going on?”
He looks down at his hands in his lap, and I notice his wedding ring is off. It’s never off.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about your mom lately.”
“What about her?”
“About something she said before she passed.” He swallows. “About me moving on.”
I wait for him to continue.
“She told me she didn’t want me to be alone.” He looks at me, smiling. “And I said ‘I’m not alone. I have our baby girl’, but she said that wasn’t enough. That I needed a partner becausesomeday you’d move away and I’d be alone again.” He looks back at his hands, looking down at the spot where his ring used to be. It’s now a thick white line, the rest of his hands a dark tan from the sun.
“Dad, what are you saying?”
He turns to me. “I met someone. Actually, I’ve known her for a while now. We go to the same coffee shop every morning. She’s an early bird, like me. We’re usually the only two people there at five in the morning.”
“Yeah, you’ve told me about her. She’s divorced, no kids. Is that who you’re talking about?”
“Yes.” He nods. “Her name is Susan. She’s a very nice woman, around my age. Anyway, we’ve been friends for a few months now, and, well, the other day I kind of... asked her out on a date.”
“Oh.” I take a moment to process this. My dad wants to date? I shouldn’t be surprised by that, but I am because he’s never talked about dating anyone until now.
“I should’ve said something sooner, but I didn’t want to upset you. You’ve never seen me with anyone but your mom, and I wasn’t sure if you’d be okay with this.”
“Dad, of course I’m okay with it. I didn’t expect you to be alone your whole life. I’m happy you found someone.”
He smiles, and there’s this light to his eyes that I don’t remember seeing before. “I really like her, honey. I hope you do too.”
“When do I get to meet her?”
“Well, that’s the other thing I wanted to tell you. I’d planned to have you meet her next week but I’m seeing her tonight and I was wondering if you’d be okay with meeting her now. I know it’s soon but—”
“I’d love to meet her. When will she be here?”
“In about twenty minutes, depending on traffic.” There’s a knock on the door, and my dad gets up from the bed. “She’s early. Ella, if you’re not ready for this, I understand. You can always meet her some other time.”
“Dad, stop worrying and go answer the door. I’ll be out there in a minute.”
He leaves and I go to the mirror to fix my hair after sleeping on it.
I’m getting ready to meet my dad’s date. My dad is dating.
Seriously, what is going on? If this day gets any stranger, I’m going to assume it’s all a dream and hope I wake up soon.
Chapter 25
Ella
I go to the living room and see a pretty blonde woman standing next to my dad. She looks fit, like she works out a lot. Her hair is short, and she’s not wearing much makeup. She has on jeans and a casual button-up shirt. She’s exactly the type of woman I could see being with my dad. He’d never date someone who shows up in a fancy dress and heels, her face coated with makeup. That’s just not his type.
“You must be Ella,” Susan says, walking up to me to shake my hand.
