Page 209 of The Vacation Mix-Up
“You have?” she asks, incredulous.
“Yes.”
She touches the envelope to her lips, her eyelids narrowing suspiciously before they spring apart. “You’ve met someone, haven’t you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I know it’s not, but?—”
“My love life is no longer your concern.”
“Love?” She smirks, but I catch the moment it falters. A split second of regret.
“You know what I mean,” I say, ignoring her lapse in façade. Whether she’s repentant or not over our marriage ending doesn’t matter to me anymore. It’s done and dusted. And we can never go back to what it was.
“How was your cruise?”
“Great. You should consider going on one.”
“Nah.” She brushes her hands together, cleaning the dust from her fingers. “Not my thing.”
“I didn’t think it was going to be my thing either, but it was.”
She points the envelope at me, her eyes shimmering almost as much as the glittery stuff on her eyelids. “You did meet someone. On the cruise!”
“Krys,” I warn, just as the bell above the door chimes again.
The jingle-jangle equally annoys and pleases me, because I’m glad the store is thriving, but I also don’t have time to stand around and talk to my ex-wife about my future.
“Fine. I won’t pry.” She moves around the bench until she’s standing before me, fixing my collar. “I just want you to be happy, Riley. That’s all. I wasn’t capable of giving that to you in the end. If someone else can, well….”
I remove her hands and hold them between us. “I am happy. I wasn’t for a long time, but I am now. Life changes. We both know that. And I’ve changed with it.”
She nods and drops her gaze to the ink on my arm. “I’m so sorry for losing her.”
“Hey!” I squeeze her hands tighter. “You didn’t lose her. It wasn’t your fault.”
She slips her fingers from mine and wipes a tear from her eye. “Deep down, I know that. Trust me, Dr. Hastings has drilled that into me more than enough times, but… it’s hard not to blame myself. I was her mother. It was my job to protect?—”
“It wasourjob. And we did everything we possibly could. It just… wasn’t meant to be.”
She scoffs and wipes her eye again. “You would’ve been a great father, Riley. Better than mine. If Immy had lived, she’d be the luckiest girl alive.”
My heart constricts at my daughter’s nickname and the love and softness in Krystal’s voice, so I pull her to me and cradle her head against my shoulder until the door chimes once again and reminds me I have work to do.
“Areyouhappy?” I ask, leaning back to hold her at arm’s length.
“As happy as I’m capable of.”
I nod. “That’s a start, at least.”
“Riley!” Roni calls out.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I call back.
“I’ll let you get back to play—” Krystal gives me a sneaky grin as she smooths down her suit. “To work.”
I smirk at her correction. “Thanks.”
