Page 147 of Could Have Been Us
“How would it work?” he asks.
“What do you mean?”
“With Kinsley.”
I release a heavy sigh. “I really don’t know. My hope is that we—you, me, and Stella—could be there for her in whatever capacity works. You’re her dad, that’ll always be the case, but Stella and I could be there, too, as her friends. We love her, and getting time with her changed things. I don’t know how we could ever go back to pretending otherwise. It may not work or it might be the best thing in the world for us. I don’t know, but I have got a job, support, and friendship to offer you.”
Samuel’s eyes fill with tears, and he sniffs. “I don’t know what to say. I really don’t. I’ve been struggling a lot with what the hell I’m going to do. I can’t find a job, I want and need to stay sober, and I miss my wife. I don’t know how to raise a teenage girl.”
“Neither do I,” I say with a laugh. “But I know a woman who will move heaven and Earth to figure it out for us.”
He nods, takes a sip of his coffee, and then sighs. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask, well, and that you come this weekend.”
“That I can do.”
“Good.”
* * *
“Jack!” Kinsley runs toward me and then wraps her arms around me. “You’re here! Is Stella?”
I will never forget this moment, not even if my memory goes. Seeing my daughter run toward me with excitement, it is . . . well, it’s the best goddamn thing I’ve ever seen.
“No, kid, just me this time.”
“Is she okay?”
I nod. “She is, but I’m not sure I will be when she finds out I got to see you.”
“Why?”
“Because she misses you,” I say with a grin. I missed her too. I didn’t realize just how much until I caught sight of her. It’s been just over a week, and I swear it’s been years.
“I miss her too. Did you watch the end of the show?”
“No, we didn’t.”
She shakes her head. “It was stupid. And predictable. I guess math is supposed to be that though.”
The show we started watching was a dating game based on math equations. Everything was done by answering a questionnaire and seeing your score to match you with whoever was the same as you. Kinsley and I had a lot of fun trying to decipher their scoring of algorithms and basic equations. Stella did not give a shit about the math but liked the show.
“Did you figure it out?”
She grins. “Maybe.”
“You’re going to leave me hanging?” I ask.
Kinsley shrugs. “The fun of it is the math. I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.”
Jesus, she sounds just like Stella.
“Whatever. I drove down to let you and your dad know that I’m going to propose to Stella in a few days. I know you have school tomorrow, but . . . I was hoping maybe you’d be willing to skip it and come back to Willow Creek Valley for it? You could keep her busy while I work on the other stuff?”
Kinsley’s entire face lights up with a smile so bright she could blind me. “Really?”
I nod, and Samuel grins. “I guess you want to go?” he asks.
