Page 46 of Living for Truth
“Sure, we can stop by after we pick up Aly.”
“What do you meanwe? I thought you’d drop me off at home.”
“You haven’t eaten, Aly hasn’t eaten, so I figure we’d grab some comfort food and spend the day watching movies. She asked me earlier when she could meet you. We’ll just stop at the flower shop before we get lunch so you can check out the space. But if you don’t want to meet her—”
“I’d love to meet Aly if you’re okay with it.”
“I’m more than okay with it. I can’t wait for two of my favorite people to meet.” He gives me a lopsided grin, and that’s when I realize we’ve exited the freeway and made it to a nice suburb of Farmington. He turns down a manicured, tree-lined street and stops in front of a brown brick rambler-style house.
“Wow, this place is nice,” I mutter, suddenly extremely nervous. I’m meeting not only Aly but his sister, too.Shit.I hope they like me.
Chapter 21
Morgan
Idon’t think Alice was telling me the whole story when she called. I’m sure she left out some details because Aly hearing them again would just hurt her even more.
I make it a point not to talk negatively about Whitney around Aly, but right now I want to call and yell at her about being a heartless wench for ignoring our daughter.
Mother’s Day is next week, and Aly has been so excited about it, but there’s no telling how she’ll feel now. I won’t force her to go to lunch if she doesn't want to. If Aly never wanted to see Whitney again, I’d go to court and make it happen.
What a fucking mess.
Today was supposed to be about Hannah, and we werefinallygoing to kiss. I was going to lean in and finally know what those plush lips feel like. Then we would have a conversation about this maybe not beingfake anymore. We would see if she was ready to give a real relationship a try.
I had already planned to talk to her about meeting Aly, even though we aren’t seeing each other in an official capacity, so I guess this little hiccup in our plans isn’t so bad.
I think Aly is going to love Hannah. At least, I hope so. I’ll do whatever is best for my little girl, and if it means letting this woman go, I would break my own heart and do it.
I pray to whatever Gods exist that isn’t the case.
I didn’t plan on having Hannah meet Alice or anyone from my family this soon, though. They’re a lot. I love them, but they can be overwhelming.
As we get out of the RAV, my heart feels like it’s going to beat directly out of my chest. I grab Hannah’s hand and hold it as we make our way up the walkway to the front door. As soon as the doorbell rings, the barking starts.
Hannah jumps at the loud dogs but doesn’t seem scared, which is good. They’re harmless, mostly. They just get excited. Murphy, a senior shih tzu, has been known to pee in people’s shoes, but Alice is pretty good at getting him outside often enough that it hasn’t happened in a while.
“How many dogs does she have?” Hannah whispers. I don’t answer fast enough because Alice is opening the door and trying to shove three of the four beasts back into the house. Murphy stands between her legs, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he assesses us.
“Hi, oh—hi! I’m Alice. You must be Hannah. Don’t mind the guard dogs. They wouldn’t know how toprotect our house if someone was actually a threat. Come on in.” Alice steps aside, and I lead Hannah in to take the brunt of the sniffs.
“This is Murphy.” I scoop up the gray and white poof. “He’s the leader of the pack, aren’t you, Murph?” He yips at me in response and licks my hand before I set him down.
“Dad?” Aly says from the doorway, eyeing Hannah warily.
Fuck.This is probably not the best time for me to introduce them. I didn’t think this through hard enough. Aly is upset, and adding a new person to the mix isn’t great.
“Hey, Bub. This is Hannah. Hannah, this is Alyssa.”
Hannah straightens and waves. “Hey, Alyssa. Nice to meet you.”
Aly, polite as ever, waves back with a soft, “Hi.”
“Do you think you could point me to the restroom, please?” Hannah asks me, clearly trying to give me a minute alone with Aly. I appreciate her ability to read the situation.
“Down this hall, last door right before the kitchen,” I answer. Hannah nods and walks in the direction I told her.
“I’m sorry, Aly. I was with Hannah when Alice called, and I—”
