Page 90 of Inevitable
“They do that in junior high?” I asked, surprised.
She nodded. “I’m going into high school, Dad. I’m not a child anymore.”
Sometimes I had to wonder if my daughter was ever really a child.
Still, she was only thirteen…
“I care about your mom, Wren, and she cares about me.”
How did a guy keep things simple enough for a teenager to understand?
“Then why can’t you just be together?” she asked.
Fuck!I could really use Emma’s calming, motherly presence right now.
I was an amateur at this whole fatherhood thing.
“You and your mother’s lives are here in Cherry Cove. My life is in San Diego.”
“It’s notthatcomplicated,” she reasoned. “It’s not like we live in a different country. We could move to San Diego so we would be with you. I could get into the gifted program there in high school. Grandma is there, and I have friends there.”
“You’d want to do that?” I asked hoarsely. “Just like that?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Just like that.”
“Wouldn’t you miss your friends and your school?”
Something that felt a lot like hope started to form in my gut.
“A little,” she admitted. “But I like my friends there, too, and I don’t like the winters here. It’s cold and depressing. I’d happily trade what I have here to be with you all the time. I don’t want you to go. We just found each other.”
My gut wrenched when I saw my daughter’s lower lip start to quiver and tears fill those gray eyes that were so much like my own.
Therewas my girl.
She might act like a mini adult sometimes, but those adolescent emotions were still there.
I got my ass up from the recliner, sat next to my daughter, and hugged her.
She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me back so tightly that I could barely breathe.
Hell, I’d happily suffocate if that was what my girl needed.
I kissed the top of her head. “Adulthood sucks sometimes, Wren. I don’t want to go, but I have responsibilities in California. We have to make hard choices that aren’t always easy. I want your mom to be happy, too.”
Maybe that wasn’t the appropriate thing to say, but it was the truth.
My daughter finally released me and stared at me solemnly.
“I know that,” she said tearfully. “I think Mom has thought about moving to San Diego, but it’s expensive there. She’s beentrying to save for my college expenses, but I think I could get a job in another year.”
“Not happening,” I said flatly. “You’re going to focus on your education. I’ll take care of all of your expenses. I’m your father.”
She frowned. “It’s going to be expensive. I want to get my doctorate. I want to be a marine scientist.”
I knew that. Wren and I had discussed it several times.
My daughter was already certified as a junior scuba diver, and her mother had gotten her adult certification, too.
