“But Daddy, he was a little bitch,” she insisted.
“Where did you even learn that word?” he asked, baffled.
“Eleanor said it to Caroline’s mom, but she said don’t tell you because you might fire her,” she said. Caroline was one of Lorelai’s friends that used to come over for playdates. Mom hated Caroline’s mother, too.
Dad smiled a little but tried to be serious when he spoke to my sister. “Yes, but it’s not kind or appropriate. Especially for a girl your age.”
“Which part isn’t kind? ‘Little’ or ‘bitch’?” she asked, seeming truly confused.
“The second part,” he told her.
“So ‘bitch’?” she asked.
I laughed. “Yeah, Lorelai. Don’t say that. But thank you for having my back.”
“I’ll always have your back, Karla. You’re my best friend.”
My heart skipped a few beats. “You’re my best friend, too, kiddo.” Sitting in that car with the three of them felt nothing like being in the car with Missy and Colton. I felt safe again.
We drove home in silence, other than Lorelai talking about how smelly I was. As Lorelai, Ellie, and I were walking into the house, Dad spoke from behind us, stopping us in our tracks.
“I owe you an apology,” he said, making us all turn to look his way.
His eyes were locked on me.
“What?” I asked.
“I let you down, and for that, I owe you an apology.”
What did he have to be sorry about? He hadn’t done anything wrong. “Dad... I’m the one who sneaked out without telling you.” I rubbed my shoulder and broke eye contact with him. “If anyone’s sorry, it should be me.”
He shook his head. “No. I haven’t been here for you this past year. I checked out and fell into work just to keep from facing the fact of what I took away from you. What I took away from us all. And I am sorry, Karla. If I would’ve been around, maybe tonight wouldn’t have happened. Maybe you wouldn’t have felt abandoned or lonely... I, um, I know you won’t forgive me right away. Truth is, I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But I want you to know that I’m here now. OK? I screwed up, and I abandoned you, I abandoned this family, and I am sorry, but I’m here. So even when you feel lonely, I just want you to know that you aren’t alone. I’m here, Karla. I’m back, and I won’t leave you again.”
I bit my bottom lip and wrapped my arms around my body as I told him my quietest truth. “I hated you, you know. For leaving. I needed you, and you weren’t here.”
He walked toward me. “I know. I can’t change the mistakes I made, but I promise you from this point on, I will spend each day trying to make it up to you.”
I looked down at the ground as my body trembled. “Youpromisepromise?” I asked. “You won’t keep working all the time?”
He held his pinky finger out toward me. “Pinky promise,” he whispered.
I linked my pinky with his.
Dad nodded over to Lorelai and held his other pinky out toward her. “You, too, Lorelai.”
She hurried over to him and locked pinkies with Dad and me, making a small circle. “What about Eleanor, Daddy?” she asked, looking at Ellie.
Ellie stepped back, as if she felt out of place. She shook her head. “Oh, no, Lorelai. I think it’s just a family pinky promise.”
I gave her a halfway grin and shrugged a little as I dropped my hand from Lorelai’s and held my pinky out toward Ellie. I saw the emotion hit her eyes, and I sighed. “I swear to God, if you start crying, I’m taking my pinky back,” I warned.
“Sorry.” Ellie laughed, wiping at her eyes and hurrying over to the circle. She linked her pinkies with Lorelai’s and mine, and we all held on as Dad spoke.
“From this point on, we work as a unit, OK? We’re a team, and we are here for each other all the time. Through thick and thin. If we fall, we fall together. If we break, we shatter as one. That’s who we are. That’s our promise. Promise?” he asked.
“Promise,” Lorelai replied.
“Promise,” I echoed.
