Chapter Three
Finn
“God dammit, Savannah don’t do this to her!” I whispered yelled into the phone.
“I’m not doing anything to her Finn, you are. You’re the one who keeps lying to her, not me. Tell her the truth, maybe she’ll stop expecting shit from me then.” I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle her.
“You said you would be here this morning, for her first day of high school. You remember that conversation last night? Don’t do this to her, she needs her momma today.
” Even one as lousy as you is what I wanted to say, but I didn’t.
Paisley wanted her mom and I would do everything in my power to make that happen. Even if it meant keeping my mouth shut.
“Yeah, well I was out late last night. She’ll be fine, it’s just high school.
That was the best time of my life. Boys wanted to date me and girls wanted to be me.
” Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly as I tried not to lose my shit.
Paisley was not Savannah; she didn’t have the same confidence her mom had in high school.
One of the things that drew me to her my junior year and had us getting married right out of high school.
If it wasn’t for Paisley, I’d say it was the biggest mistake of my life.
Luckily for her I loved my daughter too much to say that.
“Paisley isn’t you; she wants her momma here for her first day. Please at least give her that. This is a big step in her life, she’s starting a new school and its high school.” Savannah blows out a long breath into the phone groaning.
“I’m not coming Finn, live with it.” So help me god one of these days this woman will get all the karma she deserves for the shit she is doing. There are days I wish I could just tell her to fuck off, but she’s Paisley’s mom which means I have to play nice.
“Savannah, please.” I’m not above begging if it makes my kid happy, Paisley has been through enough I just want the first day of school to go smoothly. Unfortunately, my ex-wife isn’t cooperating.
“God, Finn, you are so pathetic. Do you even hear yourself?” Her voice dripped with venom.
“Savannah, come in your pajamas if you have to, just be here for Paisley. Please. This is about her, not us.” Please for the love of God make her see reason. I don’t know what I’ll tell Paisley if she doesn’t show up.
“Seriously Finn, trying to use the guilt trip on me. The world isn’t going to end if I’m not there today.
She’ll forget I wasn’t even there once she gets to school.
Hell she’ll probably be so busy fending off boys she won’t have time to think about anything.
” Was she serious? Just thinking about boys trying to date my daughter makes my heart clench.
We aren’t there yet, she’s not ready yet, I’m not ready yet.
“She’s there to learn not to fend off boys Savannah. I need you to do this for her, she needs to know her mom cares.” There’s a loud sigh on the other side of the line.
“Hold on.” I can hear whispering through the phone; there’s a man's voice mixed with hers. Was she seriously about to blow off her daughter for a fucking guy? I don’t give a shit what she does to me, but Paisley deserves better.
“Five minutes, I’ll stay for five minutes and then I have to leave. I got shit to do Finn and I don’t have time to babysit our daughter.” Counting backwards from a hundred keeps me from screaming obscenities through the phone at her.
“Thank you.” I manage to get through my clenched teeth as I remind myself that I am doing this for Paisley.
“I’m about to get her up so she can start getting ready, give us about an hour. If you have time you are welcome to drop her off.” Savannah lets out another exasperated sigh.
“I will be there in an hour; I’m staying for five minutes Finn no more. Don’t push your luck.” Before I can reply she hangs up, leaving nothing but silence in her wake. I don’t know what’s happened to the woman I married, but this new Savannah is a fucking bitch.
The rest of the morning goes off without a hitch.
I wake up Paisley, and while she is getting ready, I start breakfast. Pulling out what I need to make pancakes, I start to mix everything in a bowl.
Learning how to cook for me and Paisley has been an interesting journey.
There have been more than a few pizza nights thanks to dad burning dinner.
Luckily, I’m a fast learner, because we would probably be living off take out if I wasn’t.
Being forced to learn how to cook really made me appreciate all the cooking Savannah did.
Not that she did anything fancy, but she kept us fed.
When I wasn’t deployed, we’d sit down every night for dinner together and talk about our day.
I don’t know what happened to that woman, maybe my accident really was too much for her to handle.
Then again, she admitted to cheating on me while I was deployed before my accident.
Was she really that unhappy our whole marriage?
If she had been then she fooled me for years.
She never complained, never acted like she was unhappy with the way things were.
I know we had Paisley really soon after we got married, but she seemed happy staying home with her.
Once Paisley was in school, I even suggested she might like to start going to college, but she never tried.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I jump when Paisley slams her book bag on one of the kitchen chairs.
Turning around I take in her first day of school outfit.
Thank goodness she is in normal clothes, just a pair of jeans, a blue comic book character t-shirt, her blue shoes with the straps, and her black hoodie.
I can’t believe my baby girl is going into high school, it feels like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital.
“Pay attention dad, you’re burning the pancakes. Ugh! Mom is going to be here any minute and breakfast isn’t done. Don’t mess this up for me dad, I want a normal first day of school breakfast.” Shaking myself out of my stupor I turn my attention back to the food.
“Sorry, I zoned out there for a minute. Give your old dad a break, his little girl is going into high school today. I’m feeling old before my time.” I can hear her sigh behind me, and I know she’s probably rolling her eyes into the back of her head.
“You are old, get over it. What time did mom say she was going to be here?” Throwing the bacon in the skillet I start a new set of pancakes. Looking at the clock I know it will be tight to get everything on the table by the time her mom gets there. If her mom shows up on time that is.
“She should be here in a few minutes, I told her to give us about an hour so you could get ready and I could cook breakfast. Can you set the table for me?” I’m starting to stack pancakes on a serving plate when the doorbell rings.
Paisley runs to answer the door while I finish plating the food.
Taking a fortifying breath, I prepare for the inevitable confrontation that’s about to go down.
Savannah walks in wearing barely any clothing, some kind of skimpy dress and sky-high heels, like she just left the club.
Her eyes find mine as soon as she enters the room and the death glare I am getting makes me wonder again if I ever really knew the real her.
Paisley is chattering away about her mom taking her school after breakfast and Savannah’s eyes narrow on me.
I just shrug my shoulders in response. It’s not like I told Paisley that she would take her to school, Paisley just assumed, and I wasn’t going to correct her.
“Honey, I’d love nothing more than to take you to school, but I have things I need to do today.
I’m sure your dad can take you instead.” Looking out the window I notice a shiny sports car sitting in my driveway, along with a shiny new man sitting in the driver's seat. I’m tempted to ask her if the thing she has to do wants some pancakes, but I bite my tongue.
“No worries Paisley, I’ll drop you off.” Paisley looks disappointed, but quickly plasters on a smile for her mom.
“I understand. I’ll come over this weekend and I can tell you all about my first week.
” Savannah visibly cringes, but nods in agreement.
I can already tell she’ll be making an excuse as to why Paisley can’t come over to visit this weekend.
Leaving them to talk in private I make my way down the hall to get ready.
Maybe some time alone together is what Savannah needs to reconnect with our daughter.
Paisley needs her mom in her life, and I’m bound and determined to make that happen for her.