6. Chapter Six #3
Savannah spread her hands. “She said older guys are ‘fun’,” my daughter said, like she was trying to break bad news to me. “And you should go and have fun with Miki. I just… I wouldn’t expect anything serious, is all. Even if you want something serious, she might not."
I chuckled at that. “I’m not your mother,” I promised Savannah. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to be walking down the aisle any time soon. And I definitely won’t be pressuring you to be the maid of honor."
Savannah smiled. “I’d do it for you,” she said. “I just don’t want you jumping in the way you do, Dad. Girls my age… we’re not interested in settling down. We’ve got our whole lives in front of us.”
The irony couldn’t have been thicker. Bailey was the same age as Savannah, yet my daughter’s best friend would’ve agreed to become my second wife in a heartbeat. If only I’d let her.
If only it wouldn’t break Savannah’s heart.
That was even clearer now. She was putting a good face on it, but I could tell that my daughter had been taken aback at first to find out I was dating women so much younger than me. She hadn’t said it, but she was probably relieved Miki was at least a little older than she was.
Because she couldn’t really be okay with a thing like that.
And jumping from that to her best friend was… well.
“Just, you know, be kind and respectful, which you totally are,” she grinned.
“A gentleman. Don’t talk too much about the office, and don’t make a big deal out of the whole age gap thing because I know she’s not going to.
You know what?” She pointed. “Try this: treat her like she’s McKenna. Or Bailey!”
I nearly choked on my fucking drink.
“I know, that’s weird,” she said, misinterpreting completely. “But you’re so good at just… like, hanging out with my friends. Obviously Miki’s not Bailey—she’s someone you’re trying to date. But you should be friends with her before you try and get into her pants.”
I coughed explosively. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, and please bring condoms,” Savannah whispered, practically mouthing the last three words.
“Because I do not need a little brother or sister running around at my age. I swear, if Mom isn't trolling us with the whole nursery thing and is really going to start trying for a kid, I’m going to pull my freaking hair out…”
“Sweetheart,” I managed. “This is not an appropriate topic of discussion.”
“Sorry,” Savannah said. “I know, you and Miki, you’re not… I’m probably putting the cart way before the horse. I mean, this is a first date, for crying out loud…”
“It is,” I said, reasserting myself. “And I think my romantic life—the little that I even have one—is a topic you should not be discussing with me—”
“It’s just that I heard you were at the Armada on Saturday.”
I froze.
What!?
No one knew about the Armada except for me, Bailey, McKenna and Mark. I’d carefully removed it from the story of my date with ‘Josephine’.
“Yeah, apparently when you were so late coming home on Saturday it was because you were at a hotel?” Savannah asked. She’d been up until one, as I recalled her mentioning. “The nicest hotel in town?”
I cleared my throat. “Savannah, I wouldn’t read too much into that.”
She chuckled. “I’m not stupid, Dad. I know what it means when a guy and a girl end up at a hotel together at the end of their first date.” She gave me a long, even look. “Come on.”
I glanced away.
“I’m not judging you,” my daughter hastened to add. “I bet that stung, though, yeah? Having that great first date and then just—poof?”
I had to find a way around this. “I think Josephine probably got what she wanted,” I said.
Savannah leaned over and took my hand. “I’m sorry, Dad. Online dating really sucks sometimes.”
You have no idea how much, I thought, picturing Debbie’s con.
“Friday’s gonna be great,” she assured me. “And if Miki does what Josephine did… well, it’s her loss.” She smiled. “Maybe I can help you pick out what to wear. One of your charcoal suits, or that blue button-down you used to wear to my recitals…”
“I haven’t seen that shirt in a while,” I lied. “Probably lost in the wash.”
Savannah shrugged. “Well, whatever. I’m here for you, Dad. Promise.”
I wish you could be, I thought. But if you knew the truth, you wouldn’t.
The irony kept on getting thicker. I probably did need to buy condoms—but not for Friday. I was about to have a threesome with both of Savannah’s best friends, and she didn’t have the slightest idea about any of it. Or about Bailey.
She thought she was trying to help me come out of my shell. She didn’t realize I’d already ripped the thing to shreds—and that lately, I’d been coming into her best friend.
Jesus, Tom. What a thing to think.
Savannah trusted me. With her mother and so much else. Her world ran on me being the safe parent—the stable one, the one she could turn to in situations like this. She leaned on me.
The thought landed quietly: whatever else Bailey and I get to have, we will never get to have it in front of her.
That stung a little.
But sacrifice was what being a dad was all about.