I sigh. “I love everything success has brought him. And it’s not that I envy him what he’s achieved—I’m so proud of him. But I wish he would’ve included me so we could figure it out together.”
“There’s one thing I know with Tyler—he’s not careless with anything, least of all with you. If he’s kept you out of something, he’s considered it. Agonized over it. For better or for worse.”
Haley doesn’t talk much about her relationship with my dad or insert herself in mine with Tyler, but I respect her. She knows what it’s like to be caught in the middle of this surreal life.
“You know,” she goes on, “when your dad was starting his label, I was pregnant with Mason. He was supposed to do a promotional thing in LA. It was important and had been scheduled ages ahead of time. I called him and told him to come back.”
I blink in surprise. “I can’t picture you doing that.”
“I thought I was okay without him, but I wasn’t. So, I told him,” she says. “He dropped everything and came back for us.”
I turn that over. Even though he’s working on other things, I know he’d drop them if I truly asked him to.
But Haley’s right that Tyler’s growing and he has to deal with new opportunities. I’ve seen that growth in him even in the past year, when he’s matured as an artist, a friend, a partner.
And I don’t want the first act of our marriage to be me holding him back from becoming the man he’s meant to be.