It’s not a promise. It doesn’t mean this is the start of something new. But it’s more hopeful than anything I’ve had before.
So I lay my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. Tomorrow will be a new day to face and, for the first time, I think things might actually work out.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ethan
I shuffle out of my room, still in my pajamas. I look around furtively, wondering where Lily is. It’s Monday and she needs to be at school. When I woke, I panicked briefly about needing to go to work, but then I remembered the message my supervisor had sent yesterday, telling us to take the day off because he wasn’t able to open the site for us.
I wonder if Georgia needs to go to work. I didn’t have the heart to wake her, though, so I hope she’s not meant to be rushing to her office.
“Dad?”
I look up. Lily is yawning, straightening her clothes. Her hair is a rat’s nest, though, and I snort as I head over to her, pulling her hair into a neat ponytail.
“Was Georgia here last night?” Lily
asks.
I pause.
“Why do you ask?” I say.
“I heard her talking to Allison,” Lily explains. “Does that mean you and Georgia aren’t fighting anymore?”
I think about last night and cough.
“No, we’re not fighting anymore,” I say. “We fixed things, like I told you we would. We both apologized for acting stupid, too.”
“Good,” Lily says seriously. Then she lights up. “Did Georgia stay? Is she in the spare room?”
“No, she’s not in the spare room,” I say, avoiding her first question.
I don’t want to try and explain to my ten-year-old daughter that Georgia spent the night in my room. She’ll ask questions that I either can’t or don’t want to answer.
“Oh,” Lily says, disappointed.
“Anyway, ready to go?” I ask hopefully; the sooner I get Lily out of the house, the better. Georgia and I really need to talk.
Lily frowns at me.
“It’s too early,” she says.
I glance at my watch. She’s right. We don’t need to leave for another forty-five minutes.
“Are you alright, Dad?” Lily asks suspiciously. “You’re being weird.”
“Everything is fine,” I say, pasting a smile on my face.
I really hope Georgia doesn’t wake up and wander out here, forgetting that Lily is around. That would be really awkward.
“Right…” Lily says. “Is Mom coming next weekend?”
I blink at her, uncomprehending. Then it hits me. Polly. Right. I didn’t think about her at all last night. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t still scheming behind my back to take my daughter away from me. I still need to come up with some way to deal with her.
“Uh, probably on Sunday,” I say. “Georgia is taking you and me to the carnival.”
“Carnival?” Lily yelps, eyes wide. I look at my bedroom door nervously, hoping Georgia didn’t wake. “Really?”