Page 54 of Savage Obsession

“I know, but I was wrong. I’m sorry. If there was anything I could do to turn the clock back, I would.” She cups our daughter’s chin in her hand. “You come first, you do know that, don’t you?”

“Could have fooled me,” Lily grumbles.

Julia digs in to defend herself. “It’s true. I just… I was an idiot. I got it wrong at first, but?—”

“Your mother made a mistake,” I interrupt before she can say too much about what actually happened to the slimeball. “Grown-ups can screw up, too, you know.”

“Like you did?” she hurls at me. “When you left us?”

I suppose I walked right into that. “It was… complicated back then. I did what I thought was best.”

“For you,” she spits. “No one ever thought about me. No one ever does.”

“I can see why it seems like that…” I begin, setting aside the self-centred perspective of a typical preteen. “Like I said, grown-ups make mistakes, and I know I should have kept in touch better than I did.” I don’t mention Julia’s part in that, I’m building bridges here, not tearing them down. “But I want to get to know you now, if you’ll let me.”

Her expression is sullen. “My mom doesn’t like you. She won’t let me?—”

“Your mom and me have an understanding, kochanie,” I reply gently. “From now on, it’s what’s best for you that matters.”

She looks at me. Properly looks at me, for the first time since she leapt off that other helicopter. “So, I can come and live with you? On Tenerife?”

“No!” Julia exclaims. She heads off any reply from me. “That’s not what he’s saying. You can visit him, and your father will come to see us in Warsaw…”

Her face falls. “So, no, then? It doesn’t really matter what I want.”

Julia is floundering. “We just… we want the best for you, that’s all. Warsaw is your home. You live with me.”

“Dad?” Lily looks to me for… for what? Support? An ally? A route to get her own way?

I may not be an expert on raising preteens but I know a manipulative little madam when I see one.

The truth is, though, I do want Lily with me on Tenerife. If she’d been hell-bent on returning to Warsaw, I’d have had to take that into account. I won’t force the issue with her, but having her with me on Tenerife would still have been my goal. At this stage, I’m far from certain just how Julia fits into my version of Happy Families, but things definitely can’t go back to the way they were.

“We’ll talk about it,” is the best I can come up with right on the spot.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Julia’s not backing down. “What about… schools? And her friends? Lily doesn’t even speak Spanish. Or English.”

Lily, too, is determined to get her way. “I can learn. And I do know some English. A bit, from school.”

This is clearly news to her mother, but she ploughs on. “It wouldn’t be right. You don’t even know him.”

“And whose fault is that?” Lily accuses, gearing up for a fight.

I intervene before too much more is said. We’re all on delicate ground as it is, without words hurled at each other in temper muddying the already cloudy waters.

“As I said, we’ll discuss this. Later.” I forestall Julia’s protest with one upraised palm. “I said, later.”

An awkward silence descends. I’m not sure if I actually prefer that to the raised voices but opt for a more constructive approach. “So, apart from English, what else do you do at school?”

Lily shrugs. “The usual boring stuff.”

“What do you like, then? What’s your favourite lesson?”

She considers briefly. “Sports. We do football, and I’m in the second team.”

“I see.” What I know of football would fit neatly on the back of a stamp. “I enjoy watching Formula One. And I like horses.”

I have her attention suddenly. “Horses? Me, too! I wanted a pony, but my mom wouldn’t let me.”

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