On my way inside, Hanna had called. I already knew about their unique family situation.
What I hadn’t known was how beautiful Hanna was. Or nice. And fun. And sexy.
“You were totally smitten. The two of you stared at each other like you’d just found the secret to all of life’s mysteries when you introduced yourselves. It would have been awkward if it wasn’t so damn cute.”
“Okay, I draw the line at being called cute.”
“The way you were with each other was cute.”
She parks in the diner lot and we tuck ourselves into the corner booth. Queenie orders a milkshake and bacon and eggs, which seems like an odd combination, but it’s what she always gets.
“You’re really okay with this, aren’t you?” Queenie’s reaction is such a stark contrast to King’s explosive anger. Neither reaction was expected. I assumed Queenie would have a lot of questions, but I didn’t anticipate her excitement.
“Of course I am. Aren’t you?” Her brows pull together in a slight furrow.
“It would have been better if it were planned, and not a surprise. And I would have preferred if Hanna and I were in a different place in our relationship. And I was a few years younger.”
The server delivers her milkshake and my coffee. Queenie waits until we’re alone again before she responds. “You said yourself that you’ve spent a lot of time with her leading up to the wedding. You were friends to start with, and it evolved into more, right? Or at least that’s how it seems to me.”
I add cream and sugar to my coffee. “You’re not wrong. It did evolve from friendship to…more. But we both knew it couldn’t continue indefinitely. Besides, being friends and friendly with each other is a lot different than raising a baby together.”
Queenie laughs. “Oh my God, you are such an old man. You were hooking up. Just call it what it is.”
“Hooking up makes it sound like we met on one of those dating apps.” Which I’ve used a few times in the past. But with Hanna it wasn’t about scratching an itch. We connected.
“That’s what happened, though. You two figured out you had chemistry and acted on it. When did it change?”
“Do we really need to talk about this?” I don’t think this could get any more awkward than my daughter getting excited about me accidentally knocking up her momster-in-law.
“You’re having a baby together. Not talking about it isn’t really an option.”
I decide if there’s one person I can be completely honest with, and should be, it’s my daughter. “Your engagement party.”
“Oh my God! When Hanna stayed in the pool house instead of at our place?”
“That would be the time, yes.”
Queenie slaps my arm. “I knew she wasn’t sleeping in the pool house.” She props her chin on her clasped hands, elbows resting on the table. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Hanna didn’t want what was going on between her and me to affect your wedding, or King. And telling you would have put you in an impossible position.” But I wonder now, how different things would have been if we’d been honest from the start instead of trying to hide what was happening.
“That’s a tough place for you to be in,” Queenie observes.
I nod my agreement. “I care about Hanna. I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did before.”
“How do you mean?”
I sip my coffee, thinking about Hanna’s reaction to her potentially moving here. “Pushing my own agenda, like I did with your mother.”
“How did you push your own agenda?” She shifts in her seat, shoulders tightening as they always do at the mention of Kimmie. She’s always been sensitive when it comes to her mom, which is understandable, all things considered.
“With Kimmie, I’d been determined to make things work. But we were so young. I thought I’d be able to have my career and take care of you and your mom financially. It was naïve.”
“You couldn’t have known she was going to take off on us.” Queenie pokes at her shake.
“No, but I could have listened to her concerns instead of telling her everything was going to be fine.” Because at that age, I thought it would be. I was going to be making millions a year. But I didn’t take into consideration what it would look like for Kimmie. Basically, raising a kid alone while I traveled all over the world. Queenie had taken over my whole world as soon as she came into it, and it hadn’t left a lot of room for Kimmie.
“But this time you know what you’re up against, and you and Hanna like each other. And you’ll have King and me to help out,” Queenie points out.
“I know. And that’s good, but there are other things I need to take into account. Hanna and I both have careers and lives that are very separate from each other. My instinct is to do what I do at the negotiating table, but I’m not making a trade, and there are a lot of people I care about involved here.” I flip my spoon between my fingers, recognizing the truth and weight in that statement. “I might want Hanna to move here, but there’s selfishness in that, because she’ll have to give up her entire life and basically start over again. And considering her history and how things played out with King . . . I want to be careful. I want to do the right thing. I want to support Hanna and the decisions she makes; I want a role in my child’s life, and I want you and King to know that we never intended to go behind your back on any of this.”