Page 84 of Ten Christmases Without You
“We’ll figure it out.”
She took in a jagged breath. “That answer’s not what I was looking for. You live and work in the wilderness. And I’m just getting a footing in New York. We can’t prolong the fact that ifwe move beyond this,” she waggled a finger between them, “one of us has to give up what we do.”
“You’re absolutely right. We do need to have a plan, but let’s work on that plan together.”
“I don’t want you to give up your job,” she said.
“I don’t want you to give up yours either. But do we have to?”
“How will you do fishing tours in New York? And how will I design for the runway from Wyoming?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them, a headache forming. Unexpectedly, tears welled up.
“This isn’t the end of the world,” he said, stroking her back. “Maybe we can do half the year in New York, and half the year in Wyoming.”
She shook her head. “That’s not the problem.”
His face crumpled. “I thought that’s what you were saying.”
“The issue is that I need you right now. And I don’t want to be worried about how we’re going to make it.”
“I’m here no matter what. And your dad’s doing better.”
She scooted her mug out the way. “There’s something else.”
“What is it?”
She told him about her dad’s dream of her mom. “I know we can’t put all our trust in some dream he had while drugged up in the hospital, but something about it seems true. Maybe I suspect the same thing my dad does. So much so that I have a paternity test upstairs.” She wiped a tear. “I’ve been trying to stay strong, but what if my whole life is different from what I thought it was?”
He offered a subtle, adoring smile. “Your life is exactly what it has always been. Only tomorrow will change, and that’s not set in stone anyway. Take the test. If it says you don’t have your dad’s genetics, then you know. But the guy who raised you, over there in that hospital bed? That’s your dad.”
She sniffled. “That helped. Thank you.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Helpingyou? That’s my favorite thing to do.” He stood up. “Come on. Let’s take the test right now.”
“Right now?”
“Why not? We’ll get it out of the way before everyone’s awake.”
“You make it all seem so easy.”
“None of it’s easy, but you just have to keep perspective.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said.
“Me too.”
They went upstairs together. She felt stronger knowing he was with her. She pulled the test kit box out of the bag.
“The collection process says the person taking the test will swab the inside of their cheeks with the provided Q-tip and then place it in the specified container.” She organized the supplies. “Easy. Then, after Dad does his swab, we just seal it up and mail it to a laboratory.”
She swabbed her cheeks, put the swab into the container, as directed, and placed it back into the box. Everything seemed so easy, but she had to wonder if the most difficult part of this whole thing was still to come.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Later that evening, after Emmy had spent time with her dad at the hospital, they’d done his end of the genetic testing, and she’d mailed the box off on the way home, they settled in at Madison’s.
Charlie was playing cards with Jack in the family room, and Emmy and her sister were chopping vegetables for dinner when Emmy’s phone pinged with a text.
