Me: I love my daughter, but the growing connection with you is one I don’t take lightly. I don’t want to give up on us. I hope we can eventually figure this out.
I inhale deeply, not sure what to say or do to make things better for Quinn or Olivia, but my daughter is the one here with me now, so I focus on her. Releasing a breath, I do the only thing that comes to mind. “I’m sorry you found out that way, baby girl.” My voice comes out gritty and low.
Her eyes cut to mine, and she sets down her fork with a clatter on the plate. I can tell she’s working out how she wants to respond before she opens her mouth. She’s always been like that—very cautious in everything she does. The only break in that pattern had been when she found Quinn and me together and spewed whatever came into her head.
She sighs, her mouth pulling into a frown. “I know you are.” She wets her lips and huffs, “I’m still mad. And so embarrassed.”
“I know. And I’m sorry for all of that. I—we didn’t set out to hurt you.”
“Does Mom know?”
I shake my head, taking in the wetness of unshed tears in her eyes. “No. But she’s not my wife anymore, sweetheart. When people divorce, the best thing is to try to move on. It’s been a year. Your mother and I are happier apart. I know that’s not what you want to hear. I do plan to talk to your mother, though.”
“May I be excused, please?”
My heavy sigh is full of pain and regret. “Sure.”
My eyes follow as she gets up, rinses off her dishes and puts them into the dishwasher. Without another word, she exits the room and climbs the stairs to her room.
When I finish my dinner, I grab a cider out of the fridge and drink it as I do the rest of the dishes. Then I have another while sitting at the island with my head in my hands.
Fucking hell. I have to contact Becky. I’m not making this mistake again. I want everything out in the open. No need to screw this up even worse than I already have.
I tap the screen of my phone a few times and put the call through.
“Hey. We don’t usually talk on Fridays. I’ve got a boatload of work to do tonight.”
“Hello to you, too.” I grit my teeth. “I’m sorry to interrupt your night.”
“What’s wrong?”
I roll my eyes, more at myself than at her. Everything. Everything is wrong. “Did I say something was wrong?”
“Liam. We were married for sixteen years. I know how your voice sounds when you’re upset or worried.”
I bow my head. “Right. Um. I want to tell you about something.” I pause, not quite knowing how to say this.
“Go a
head. Lay it on me.”
I roughly clear my throat. “I’ve been seeing someone.”
“Well that’s great, Liam. Why do you sound so depressed about it?” She pauses and sucks in her breath. “Wait, does Olivia not like her or something?” She’s sifting through papers in the background, multitasking as she’s known to do.
My teeth grind together a second before answering. “Well, no. She actually likes her a lot. Or she did, anyway.” I put my hand over my eyes as I tell her, “It’s Quinn Lockmore.”
“Quinn Loc—oh, the biology teacher?” She hesitates for a few seconds. “I’m not sure how I feel about that. What’d you do, ask her out after the parent-teacher conference?”
“No. I’d been seeing her before that. I had no idea she was Olivia’s teacher.”
A definite snort sounds from the other side of the phone. Then an all-out laugh. “Oh my God, stop. Are you kidding? You must have wet yourself when you walked into that meeting.”
I grimace, but her laughter is getting to me, and I chuckle a bit. “Yeah, it was a pretty big surprise. Anyway, I was finally going to tell Olivia when all hell broke loose. Some kids saw us on a date at a coffee shop and it all got worse from there … including Olivia walking in on us kissing. You can imagine in the world of social media how quickly news of me with her teacher spread.”
She clucks her tongue. “Sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have laughed. Olivia is upset?”
“You could say that. And the rumors flying around are affecting both Olivia and Quinn at school. It’s a huge mess.”