Page 76 of Prudence
I glanced at Milly, at once impressed by her daughter’s maturity but also guilty that I’d given in to my selfish need to have her before I’d told Gigi about us.
Self-recriminations ran through my head while Milly responded, “You’re right.” She placed her hand on my arm,staring up at me. “Do you want to go speak with her now or wait until you get home tomorrow?”
I swallowed thickly, deciding in that moment that I wasn’t going to put off the difficult conversation any longer. “I’ll talk to her now.”
Milly nodded, respect in her eyes as I took her hand in mine for a kiss before turning back to Deirdre. “Just so you know, I’m in love with your mother, and I intend to treat her like the queen she is.”
A smile pulled at Deirdre’s lips before she forced it flat and rolled her eyes, folding her arms. “Good, because you’ll have me to deal with if you don’t.” She continued to her room, and Milly laughed quietly while I turned to cast her a fond a smile.
“I’ll come find you when I’m finished speaking to Gigi.”
She sent me a look of encouragement, and I left her to go face my daughter.
Paying a quick visit to the bathroom, I cleaned myself. A few minutes later, I found Gigi in a small den just off the kitchen, browsing an extensive collection of DVDs that spanned several shelves. Deirdre’s father must’ve been a collector because I didn’t know anyone who still kept this many DVDs in their house anymore.
“Hey, Dad. Sorry we came back early. I know you didn’t want us walking anywhere on our own in London, but we were only coming from the other end of the street. Shelly has an early dance session in the morning, so we cut things short.”
“That’s fine,” I said, approaching her to run a hand over her hair. “Just call or text in future, yeah?”
“I did text. Didn’t you get it?”
I grimaced. I’d been so swept up in Milly that I hadn’t checked my phone in over two hours. Pulling it from my back pocket, I saw there was a text waiting. “I must’ve missed it. Canwe sit for a minute?” I motioned to the small couch next to the shelves. “I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”
She eyed me warily, noting my serious tone. She set down the DVDs she’d stacked in her arms, mostly stuff from the ’90s—she and Deirdre were watching all the old movies they’d missed out on. I lowered into the space next to her when she sat.
“Is this about Granddad? I’ve been so worried about him lately.”
“It’s not about your granddad,” I said, placing my hand gently atop hers. “He’s fine.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “So, what, then?”
There didn’t seem to be any gentle way to ease into the topic. I drew in a deep breath and told her simply, “I wanted you to know that I’ve started seeing someone.”
Gigi stared at me for a long moment, her mouth opening and closing for a second, before a glossy sheen filled her eyes. “Oh.”
She fell quiet, and I feared she was taking things even worse than expected.
“Listen, I understand that you might’ve had some thoughts about me and your mother getting back together one day, but unfortunately, that won’t happen. We’re still friends, and we have a lot of respect for one another, and we love you and Pablo more than anything. You’re the most important thing to us, and we’ll always be there for both of you, just not as a couple.”
“It’s okay. Aunt Nuala already told me,” Gigi said, her gaze downcast. There was a quiver in her voice as a tear dropped down her cheek. “I know that things didn’t work out with you and Mam, but a small part of me just hoped …” she trailed off, and I placed my hand between her shoulder blades, rubbing soothing circles.
“It’s a perfectly natural thing to hope for,” I told her softly.
“I just don’t want things to change. What if this woman takes you away from us? What if you have another baby and love it more than me and my brother?”
“Not possible. My love for you will never change, Gigi, and no one will ever take me away from you, okay? I’ll always be here. No matter what age you are, you’ll have your dad to catch you when you fall.”
“You say that now, but I haven’t even met this woman yet. She could hate me.” She sniffled. “She might convince you to send me away to boarding school, and I’ll never see Deirdre or any of my other friends again.”
“No one will ever convince me to send you away, and besides, you have met her.”
Gigi blinked. “I have?”
“It’s Milly. Deirdre’s mother and I, we—”
“Wait a second,” she held up a hand, the sadness in her eyes suddenly dissipating as she peered at me in surprise. “Millyis the woman you’re seeing?”
I nodded slowly and could hardly believe it when a smile slowly crept over her face. “Oh, my goodness.” She placed both hands over her mouth before a giddy laugh escaped.
