FULL NOVELXO Class Act: Chapter 32
curled up under the blanket with his knees almost up to his chest, that I felt a smidgen of guilt when he opened his eyes after my gentle prodding.
“Abe,” he murmured with a yawn.
“Good morning, baby. It’s time to get up, or you’ll be late for school.”
He groaned and stretched. “How long have you been up?”
“A couple of hours. I went out and got us breakfast.”
“You’re so thoughtful.” He frowned. “It’s our first morning waking up next to each other. I wanted to wake you with morning sex.”
I chuckled. “There will be many more mornings together for that. Come on. Hit the bathroom and meet me in the kitchen.”
Emery scrambled out from under the blankets, and I patted his ass when he walked by me. He grinned, looking more awake now than before.
It took him almost half an hour to join me, but the sleepy look was gone. His hair was curlier than I was used to, and he didn’t have on any makeup except for eyeliner. When he sat at the kitchen table, I slipped the bra strap that was peeking out back under his shirt. He’d matched it with a red skirt, a pair of black, thick knitted tights, and boots with three-inch heels.
“You look beautiful.” I handed him a cup of coffee.
His cheeks pinkened. “Thank you. Everything smells so good.”
We chatted while we ate breakfast—scrambled eggs with pancakes and donuts. Something sweet for a sweet boy.
“This is so much better than sneaking off to your office in the mornings,” he said.
“Yeah, if we don’t stop doing that soon, one of these days we’re going to get caught.”
“I’m usually careful.”
“I know. It’s fine. Now that we have our own place, we won’t have to sneak around at school to be together.”
“Hmm, don’t worry. I still might.”
Of course he would. I couldn’t even dissuade him. I enjoyed opening my office door to find him sitting in my chair. His presence always brightened my day, especially after a tough practice. Plus, he always wanted to keep my office neat and tidy.
“I’ll see if I can get the internet and cable people to come today.” I took a sip of my coffee. “And don’t worry. I’ll sign for deliveries only and not try to arrange anything without you.”
“Thank you. I want to do it.”
I already knew he would. He thrived on organizing and beautifying his environment. As if him being in a room weren’t enough to make it stunning.
Emery leaned over the table and kissed me. “I’m so excited about doing this with you.”
“Yeah, how are you going to explain this to Mandy?”
“We’re not talking so much right now, so we have time to come up with something.”
I hated that they weren’t talking. They’d been close since Emery started school. “Maybe we should try telling her the truth.”
“You want to?”
“The longer we keep this from her, the more hurt she’ll be.”
“You’re right, but let’s just take some time together living here first before we tell her. I want to be happy for a while without worrying about anything else.”
“You deserve to be happy. We can wait a bit.”
Emery left for school, and for the first time, I didn’t have to be uneasy about him. He had a place to live, I ensured he had money, and he was almost through with school. We were definitely moving along the right path.
I spent the morning doing minor repairs on our house, and the cable and internet people told me they could fit me in today. Everything was slowly coming together nicely. I ordered some more essentials online and made a note of when shipping would be appropriate, since I didn’t want our stuff left out on the porch when we weren’t home.
The living room sofa, chairs, and coffee table arrived on time in the morning. The delivery guys asked where I wanted them, but I’d promised Emery he would get to arrange the room, so I had them leave the furniture in the center. Since the rest we ordered wouldn’t arrive until later that evening, I locked up, grabbed my car keys, and headed home to change for my meeting.
Teresa’s car wasn’t parked in the garage. I breathed a sigh of relief and let myself into the house. She hadn’t responded to the voicemail I’d left her yesterday that I wouldn’t be sleeping at home.
I grabbed a duffel bag from our closet and threw in some T-shirts, sweatpants, underwear, and socks, then changed into a pair of dark jeans and a green shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Satisfied, I went back downstairs, but the sound of a chair scraping on the floor in the kitchen stopped me in the hall. Was Teresa here after all?
I walked back to the kitchen. What was Mandy doing here? She was in her robe, her hair unbrushed, and a hot dog on a plate before her. An opened bottle of beer stood next to it.
The duffel bag fell to the floor with a thud. She didn’t look up. She must have known I was home. Was that the reason for the beer?
“Mandy, why aren’t you at school?”
She snorted. “Why? You don’t care.”
“Mandy, don’t do this.”
She slapped her hands on the counter, and her nostrils flared. “Me? What am I doing, Dad? Aren’t you the one who walked out on us?”
“Honey, I never walked out on you. I can never walk out on you. Me divorcing your mother doesn’t have to affect our relationship.” I’d already said it a dozen times, and I would keep saying it until she believed it.
“How can it not? You didn’t even bother to come home last night.” She glared at the duffel bag. “Are you leaving for good?”
“No. They are just some things I need for when I…”
“When you stay with her.”
“Our relationship isn’t about… about them, you know.” I didn’t want to mislead her deliberately by using the wrong pronoun. “Mandy, listen to me. I love you, and nothing will change that.”
“You loved Mom too, but not anymore, right?”
“Of course I love her. Just not in the way that makes a romantic relationship work. Please don’t fight me on this.” I picked up the bottle of beer. “Is that the reason you’re drinking and not going to school? Because I expect better from you. If you have a problem, this isn’t the way to solve it. Haven’t you always been able to talk to me? So talk.” I sat across from her. “Ask me anything you want to know, but then I get to ask you a question of my own.”
“Who is she?” she asked.
Of course, that had to be the number one question. “Soon we’ll tell you, I promise, but now’s not the right time.”
“I thought you wanted to talk, but you won’t even answer one simple question!”
“Not that simple, Mandy. You’re already having a tough time handling this. I just don’t want to pile anything more on you right now. We can take our time to work through this. It’s not a temporary change.”
“So it’s someone I know, or you wouldn’t hide it from me. Is it your friend, Lynn?”
“No, sweetheart. Lynn’s not into men. You know that.”
“I don’t know shit anymore.”
“I understand you’re upset, but you watch your mouth, Mandy. I’ve always treated you with respect, and I expect nothing less from you, regardless of how you feel about me divorcing your mother.”
“Are you really going to divorce her?”
“Yes. We both need to be in healthy relationships, and this is not it. How can you blame me for wanting out?”
“Because you didn’t feel that way until this—this woman entered the picture.”
“Maybe because of them, I have the courage to do this. To say enough is enough, but our relationship has been degrading for a while. You know that.”
“If you loved me, you would try to work things out with Mom.”
Her words lanced through my heart. “Are you truly questioning my love for you, Mandy? After all I’ve done over the years to show you how much I do? Can you really doubt that I’ve done the best a father could do for you?”
She fell silent and lowered her gaze. Apparently, I hit a nerve. I shouldn’t take her words to heart. She was only lashing out in anger.
“I don’t want to be in the middle, Dad.” A sob tore from her, and tears trickled down her face. “I don’t want to be between you and Mom. Everybody expects me to take sides. If I take yours, I go against Mom. If I take Mom’s, I go against you. I just want things to go back to normal.”
She jumped to her feet, but before she could dash out of the kitchen, I caught her arm.
“Mandy, honey, there’s no reason for you to be in the center. None of it is about you. You don’t have to take sides. Just love your mother and be there for her. That doesn’t mean you have to hate me and not want anything to do with me. Do you hear me, Mandy? Just love us both and leave us to work through this mess, but be happy, go to class, think about your future. That’s all you have to worry about.”