Page 36 of Single Dad Christmas

“Oh, we’ll talk about Taylor’s choices later,” Max grunted. He’d always hated Amy and had been very wary of the other woman’s influence on Taylor. “But in the meantime, you have to work out what you want. If you think that’s Louisa, in any capacity, then you can’t run around behind Taylor’s back indefinitely. And nor should you. She’s fifteen, not five. She can handle the thought of her dad dating some other woman.”

“I don’t know if she can.”

“She has to. You and Amy broke up, effectively, years ago. And with very good reason. Taylor can’t keep living in a fantasy land of her mother being a perfect angel.”

Noah considered that. “Amy’s not a bad person, Max.”

“No, she’s a sick person, and you have done everything you possibly can to help her get better, and to keep your daughter safe in the meantime. But you’re allowed to have a girlfriend, Noah. You’re allowed to have a life.” Max sighed into the phone. “If Taylor was still a little girl, I’d be all for the decisions you’re making to insulate her from reality. But she’s fifteen and capable of understanding the nuances of adulthood.”

The lights changed and Noah accelerated through the intersection, mulling on that. “I guess there’s sense to what you’re saying.”

“Damn straight. So, tell me more about Louisa.”

And Noah smiled because he didn’t know where to start. She was the first woman he’d actually felt this way for. He’d met Amy so young, and then they’d had Taylor. After he’d left Amy, he’d put all his energy into being a father, so in effect, Louisa was the first woman he’d actually cared for and wanted to pursue. “I like her,” he said, simply. “I like everything about her, from the way she is to the way she makes me feel. I don’t want to stop seeing her.”

“Then you need to talk to Taylor, and Louisa. And I’m here for you, man. Any time.”

Noah disconnected the call with a renewed sense of purpose, as he drove through the streets of Sydney, towards his home.

Taylor woke sometime after lunch,her skin ashen, hair a mess, eyes determinedly dodging Noah’s. He handed her another piece of vegemite toast and watched while she ate it, then drank some orange juice.

“Better?”

“Yeah,” her voice was a little hoarse. “I—thank you for last night.”

He arched a brow.

“For coming to get me. And being so cool about it. I freaked out.”

He nodded slowly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Her eyes met his and then fired away quickly. She shook her head. “It’s too hard to explain.”

“Nothing happened I need to know about?”

She bit into her lip and shook her head.

“Okay,” he accepted that at face value, though he suspected there was more to it. He didn’t want to push. No, that wasn’t right. Noah knew, instinctively, that if he were to push, Taylor would push back. Or shut down. He took a page out of Max’s book. “I’m here any time you want to talk.”

He half expected an acerbic rejoinder, but to his surprise, and relief, Taylor simply nodded tightly, her fingers toying with a crust of toast.

“So,” she said, glancing up at him again and then away. “Who is she?”

Noah felt all his senses tighten. He was on the edge of a precipice, and he had no idea what was beneath him. But he knew he had to jump, to take that risk.

“Her name’s Louisa.”

“Louisa,” Taylor said, with a hint of her now-standard acidity. He bristled to hear Louisa’s name spoken with anything like disrespect, but in fact, it only motivated him to keep going.

“Look, Tay, your mom is the only woman I’ve ever been serious about, but you’re the best thing about our relationship. We didn’t make each other happy, and our marriage broke down a really long time ago. If it weren’t for you, we probably wouldn’t have lasted about a year,” he said, being brutally honest.

Taylor stared at her toast crust like it was a new form of human.

“I haven’t been with anyone since her. I haven’t been interested in dating, because being your dad is kind of it for me right now. But then, I met Louisa, and it just happened really quickly.”

“What are you trying to tell me, Dad? Are you…is she moving in?”

He looked across the room and visions of Louisa here, in his house, treating it astheirhouse, made his blood fire withwarmth and speed, but he shook his head quickly.Ifthat were to happen, it was a million miles from where they were now.

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