Page 79 of Of Literature and Lattes
Ryan nodded and Jeremy heard him resume his conversation. A laugh reached into the office space as Jeremy grabbed his keys and headed out the alley door.
As he drove the half hour to Park Ridge, one thought filled his mind. He had, perhaps, poked a sleeping bear. He wasn’t sure if he would change what he had done, but he wondered if he should have warned Krista first. She hated surprises and she fought when backed into a corner.
And Madeline could be wrong, he thought. He’d never read his divorce papers. Maybe they were different. Maybe Krista could do whatever she wanted. Maybe she didn’t need to present him with her move in writing. And if he made her mad... he might as well have purchased the two one-way tickets to North Carolina himself.
Krista answered the door dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. “What are you doing here? Becca’s not with you until Thursday.”
“I need to talk to you.”
Something in his voice must have cued her, because she narrowed her eyes and stepped outside. Her gray-blue eyes always took on a stormy tone when she got annoyed, and they morphed to steel gray now. And she always stepped outside when a fight was about to go down. She never wanted her parents to hear a note of conflict.
“What’s going on, Jeremy?” She asked the question with slow, crisp diction.
He tried to warm to the subject. “I really don’t want you to move.”
She sighed and slumped as if weighed down by some force he couldn’t see. “Look around, Jeremy... Becca and I live with my parents. When I left you and she was young, it was the right thing. I was a mess. I was twenty-one, a college dropout with no job and no money. But I’m twenty-eight now. I’ve worked hard. And I never thought I’d still be here. That this would be my life. Don’t you get that?”
“Then move out. Stay in the Chicago area, but move out of here.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“North Carolina is?”
“Yes.” She sputtered out the word. Laden with derision, it fell between them. She pointed back to the house. Red brick with black shutters, it stood sturdy like a two-story fortress behind her. “My dad’s so proud of me he cracked open a bottle of champagne. My mom almost cried... It’s a good job, Jeremy, a really good job.”
“There will be others.” At her questioning look, he clarified. “Other good jobs. Better jobs.”
“Not in front of me right now... I’m not trying to hurt you, but this is happening.”
“I talked to a lawyer today.” He blurted the words.
“You did what?” Krista stilled. Almost. Jeremy noticed her jaw working right beneath her earlobe.
“I did it to help. To ask if you could legally take Becca away or what I could do to keep you from moving, because I want to be in Becca’s life. I want regular times to see her, not have to call and get her whenever it’s convenient. A father doesn’t do that. You said it yourself. I need to show up and I want to. When I get back on my feet, I’ll pay for some of what she needs. School. Extra tutors. Books. Whatever she needs...” His words drifted away.
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I had to. I don’t want to be cut out, Krista. Knowing what you know about me, about my parents, how can you think, especially now, that I could live like that again?”
Krista opened her mouth just as Becca ran out the door behind her mom.
“Daddy, I saw your car.” She launched past Krista. He lifted her up and hugged her tight. Something between them had changed that day at the park two weeks ago. And it only got better the Thursday before as they ran all around town forming the book club, arranging the pastries, and stuffing Andante with pillows. But the real highlight was welcoming Ryan back that afternoon. It had been Becca’s idea to put candles in a blueberry muffin and make Ryan’s return a celebration. In fact, she’d made that entire day a celebration, his new beginning, and he couldn’t go back. She was a part of everything right in his life.
“Daddy’s not staying.” Krista laid her hand on Becca’s back.
“You can’t?” Becca leaned away, her face inches from his.
Jeremy slid on his best smile, kissed her cheek, and set her down. “Not today, Bug. I just came to say hi.”
“Hi.”
“Hi to you too.” He kissed the top of her head.
“You head inside, Becca, and I’ll be right in to finish the cookies.”
Becca happily slapped her flip-flops up the few stairs as Krista turned back to Jeremy. “Call off the lawyer, Jeremy, please.”
“I can’t do that, Krista. I’ve recently learned there are a few things worth fighting for. Becca’s one of them.”
