Page 39 of Motivating Mira
“She wanted me to be the one to tell Marni’s father about her.”
Mira’s eyes widened. “Why you?”
I blew out a breath. “Because it turned out I actually knew Marni’s father.” I drew in a breath. “It’s Jesse.”
Mira’s hand left mine and flew to her mouth just as Silas dropped off our drinks and food on brightly colored plates.
“This looks good. Thank you,” I said acknowledging him, but he didn’t acknowledge me. And I got the very distinct feeling he was jealous of Marni’s and my one still-linked hand.
“Need anything else?” he asked Mira with a bright smile. She shook her head, and he turned to leave.
“Could I have…” I let my words trail off because he was gone as if he hadn’t heard me.
As soon as we were alone again, Mira clutched my arm, forcing me to pry my annoyed stare from Silas’s back.
“What happened?”
“He’s being a bad server,” I said pointing in the direction Silas left.
“Not Silas! What happened with Jesse and Beth? How?”
I smiled at her eagerness for the rest of the story, not because I was eager to finish it, but because she was adorable.
“According to the lawyer, Beth and Jesse hooked up at their high school prom. She didn’t find out she was pregnant until they’d gone to different universities for their premed degrees. She could have contacted him through his family, but I guess she knew he had big dreams to be a doctor and didn’t want to distract him. When they reunited in med school, he was struggling with his classes and she pushed him hard to get his grades up. I did too. But she did it because she was desperate for him to succeed so she hadn’t denied him his child in vain.”
“That’s twisted. I can see that she had good intentions, but she also took away his choice. No one should ever take away someone’s choice like that.”
“I agree.”
“So, what happened?”
“I was straight with Marni. Told her what her mom had asked me to do and that I’d had no idea who her father was until her mom’s lawyer had contacted me, but that I knew her father quite well. She’d heard plenty of stories about him over the years when Beth and I reminisced. But while Jesse had come to Beth’s funeral, they’d never met. Marni spent most of the time tucked in a corner with the nanny avoiding all the people who came to her mom’s funeral. Anyway, I packed a bag for Marni and one for me, and we came here to tell Jesse he was a dad.”
“Oh, that poor girl. Two bombs dropped on her. And how’d Jesse take it?”
I huffed a humorless laugh. “Well, that was over three months ago and I’m still here.” I shrugged. “So not well. I stayed because he had no clue how to actually be a dad even though he was the one of the two of us who had a decent role model for a father.” I licked my lips, picked up my drink, and took a long sip.
“And they both begged me to stay and help them adjust, so I did.”
“You uprooted your whole life for them? You’re amazing.”
I blinked at her. There was a look of admiration in her eyes that I didn’t fully deserve, so I continued. “That’s what everybody thinks. But no, I’m not.” I shrugged. “I’m pissed at Beth. She did this to Marni and Jesse, and put me in the middle, but as angry as I am, I’m also not ready to lose Marni after losing her mother.” I paused swallowing a lump forming in my throat. “Because regardless of everything, she’s still my family.”
“Of course she is,” Mira said, cocking her head, her expression soft with empathy.
“That wasn’t the only reason though…” I let my words trail off, scooped up a taco and took a bite.
Mira waited patiently for me to finish chewing before asking, “What was the other reason?”
I swallowed. “You.”
Her jaw went slack, but also, she looked a little confused. But she said nothing, only looked down quickly and grabbed a taco for herself. For a few minutes we ate, only commenting on how good the food was, and then, Mira spoke.
“So, seeing as you’re here, I take it things aren’t going well with Marni and Jesse?” Mira took a long sip of her margarita while once again she waited for me to finish chewing to answer.
“Marni’s thirteen.” I paused for dramatic effect and then added. “And Jesse’s an eternal frat boy suddenly thrown into a father role, so no. I’m a civilian in the middle of a battleground sans the Geneva Convention.” I chuckled. “Hence this very lovely date with a very lovely woman.”
“Is this a date?” she asked, concern etching her features. Wiping her fingers on her napkin, she continued, “Because… I don’t date.” Her words said one thing, but her body language earlier had spoken louder and clearer than her words now. She enjoyed our flirting. Then again, I hadn’t meant to be dating her either.
