Chapter 46 Lexi
LEXI
After I’d shaken off the flu, life began to settle back into its usual rhythm.
Jonah stopped by often to visit Evie and me, sharing an easy, laughter-filled dinner at home.
One Monday morning, more than ten days after I’d caught the flu, I woke up to an unexpected text from Dylan.
DYLAN
Can we meet?
I frowned at the message, wondering if he was still half asleep. Rubbing my temple, I texted him back a curt reply while waking Evie to get ready for the day.
LEXI
Do you mean you want to spend time with Evie?
With Evie’s hand in mine, we shuffled to the bathroom for our morning routine. The smell of her minty toothpaste filled the small space as she hummed through brushing her teeth. My mind, however, lingered on the text.
Halfway through breakfast, my phone buzzed again.
DYLAN
Yes, and you.
My stomach dropped.
Why does Dylan want to meet me?
I clenched my phone in one hand and shoveled cereal into my mouth with the other, though my appetite had completely vanished.
Evie chattered away about her favorite stuffed animal, oblivious to my sudden tension.
We finished breakfast, rushed to get dressed, and I held her small, warm hand as we walked to the subway. My mind churned with questions.
I’d barely dropped Evie off at her preschool when the teacher stopped me to let me know that Evie had a special, handmade card for her dad for Father’s Day, and if I could please make sure it was delivered to her Dad.
Shit, it’s almost the third week of June already.
As I waved good-bye to Evie, she called out, “Can you call Dad and ask him to meet us today?”
Oh God, Evie deserved memories with her father, even if Dylan didn’t care for them.
I knew having a child as a single parent was going to be hard.
I was prepared for it. But Evie sure as hell hadn’t signed up for the lows of growing up without a father.
It made my chest ache when I realized she deserved stability.
By afternoon, I caved.
Evie needed a strong bond with her dad, even if he wasn’t in my life anymore. So, I called Dylan, and to my surprise, he agreed to meet her that evening.
Dylan showed up twenty minutes late. When I opened the door, he was staring at his phone. He didn’t look up until I cleared my throat.
He pressed his hand on my arm and squeezed it warmly, letting it linger. “Hey, Lex. You look good.”
I glanced at his touch on my arm, wondering why I didn’t feel any of the warmth he was supposedly feeling. The nickname irritated me. He’d lost the right to call me that.
I pulled my arm away. “She’s in her room. I’ll call her downstairs.” I gestured for him to sit on the couch, putting distance between us.
“She ready?” he asked, but his eyes were still on me, not looking toward Evie’s room.
“She’s been ready for half an hour.” I moved toward the hallway. “Evie! Your dad’s here!”
She came running, her whole face eager with cautious excitement. “Daddy!”
My chest squeezed watching her sit next to him with disbelief and burgeoning happiness. Now that she was getting older, she was asking me more and more questions about her Dad. And he was finally here.
Dylan patted her head absently, his phone still in his other hand. But he glanced at me as he did it, like he wanted me to see him being fatherly.
“So what are we doing?” He directed the question at me, not her.
“Tea party!” Evie said quietly, tugging at his arm to show him the setup on the floor next to the dining table. “Come see my new tea set!”
Dylan’s nose wrinkled. “A tea party? Come on, that’s boring.” He looked at me again, a smile playing at his lips. “How about we all watch something together? Like old times?”
My stomach turned. This wasn’t about Evie at all.
“But Daddy, I set everything up.”
“Later, okay? I’m tired. Let’s just relax.” He was already moving toward the couch, patting the spot next to him which was closer to where I was standing.
I watched Evie’s face fall, her excitement crumbling.
A memory came to mind. Jonah had spent forty-five minutes having a tea party with her, his large frame sitting next to her smaller one, sipping air from a plastic cup while Evie served him pretend tea.
He’d asked her questions about each stuffed animal guest and never once looked at his phone.
Dylan grabbed the remote and flipped to a basketball game. Evie climbed onto the couch beside him, clutching Olaf.
“Where’d you get that?” Dylan nodded at the stuffed toy without really looking.
“Mom’s friend gave it to me!” Evie’s voice brightened. “He’s so nice, Daddy. He took me to the playground—”
Dylan’s attention snapped to me. “Mom’s friend?” His tone was casual, but his jaw tightened. “You dating someone, Lex?”
I couldn’t tell him the truth right now. I didn’t want to ruin this evening. “Do you really think I’ve got the time to date, Dylan?”
That sentence mollified him a little. He turned to the TV, his eyes distant and unfocused. Then he swiveled back to face me.
“Is your boss working you too hard? I’ve heard he’s a real taskmaster.” He paused, his jaw tightening. “Do you know he’s going around telling people that you belong to him just because you’re his employee?”
“Did he?” I asked, hoping my face wasn’t turning red.
“Yes. Your boss doesn’t know shit about you, Lexi. It’s time you tell him that. Let him realize that you don’t belong to him, even if you’re his employee.”
“I’ll do that,” I said quietly. I’d let Dylan think he still had a say, if only to get him to be nicer to Evie.
“Daddy, look!” Evie held up the Father’s day card she’d made him, her face beaming. “These are for you. I made them myself.”
“Yeah, that’s cool, sweetie.” He barely glanced at it before setting the card next to him on the couch and turning back to the TV. “Hey, can you keep it down? Game’s on.”
Evie’s mouth closed. She hugged Olaf tighter, her shoulders sinking down.
I felt anger and sadness battle it out in my chest. This was the kind of dad Evie got.
One who was twenty minutes late and half-present when he finally showed up.
A dad who used her as an excuse to worm his way back into my life.
Dylan didn’t ask her what she wanted to do.
He didn’t sit down to play with her or make her feel like she mattered more than the TV or his life.
Jonah wasn’t her father. But in the handful of times they’d spent together, he’d shown her more attention than Dylan had in her entire life. And he’d never once acted like spending time with her was a means to an end.