“He said he wants to pick up from where we stopped.” I close my eyes, lying back on the bed, reliving his hoarse voice.
“What do you want?” she asks carefully.
“I worry, Em. He’s so in love with her. Can you even have that one true love twice in one lifetime? How do I know that his actions are not from his fear of a lonely life and truly because of his affection for me?” My eyes close, heart clenching with a mix of worry and hope.
“Love is not really about knowing all the answers. It’s about starting this journey with lots of hope, a pounding chest, and a thousand butterflies in your stomach. Listen to your heart, Clem. It knows best.”
“You sound like you have taken this journey,” I whisper. In all my time with Em, we mostly joked about guys. I know she isn’t seeing anyone right now, but her past love life is not known to me.
She takes a deep breath. “I have.” Her voice is serious, so different from my chirpy friend. “Someday you’ll get to know my story. But tonight, think about yours.”
“Mystical as ever!” I comment, trying to lighten the mood before we say goodbye.
“That’s my name, girl.” She chuckles and ends the call.
All my life, I’ve been asked to think about the consequences before doing something, but now, today, when I’m about to take one of the biggest steps in my life, I should listen to my heart?
Oh! What craziness is this?
33
KEITH
“What’s that smell?” Mere appears from her room, her nose crinkling in surprise.
“Food.” I place the china bowl topped with mac and cheese on the kitchen table. “I cooked.”
“You don’t cook.” She joins me and looks suspiciously at our dinner.
“I used to, many years ago.”
God, how long has it been?
There was a time I loved cooking, but once Melanie started making amazing food, my experiments in the kitchen became less and less frequent.
Today, Emily asked me to do one thing from my past when it was just me.
“Is it mac and cheese?” Mere brings two plates to the table. “It smells good, Dad,” she says, sniffing the bowl.
“We can order something else if you don’t like it.” I look over my shoulder before grabbing two water bottles from the fridge.
“What are you saying? I’m so excited to see you eat mac and cheese.” Her giggles relax some of my nervous muscles.
“Mac and cheese is a pleasure food. Many adults eat it.” I sit opposite her as she tops our plates with food.
“I’m happy to see you doing something for pleasure.” Mere’s gleaming eyes shine with mischief. Putting a forkful of food into her mouth, she asks mid-chew, “Did you do anything else for pleasure?” When I look at her in confusion, she points her fork at me. “Like…maybe calling Clementine?”
Mere and I have talked a lot about Clementine these past days. I know she’s aware there’s something between us, but she hasn’t called me out yet. Looks like today’s the day.
“How is calling Clementine a thing of pleasure?” It’s exactly that, but I want to hear my teen daughter’s thoughts.
“When you have a crush on the girl, won’t it be?” She wiggles her eyebrows and for a second, I see a glimpse of Melanie in her tease.
Before my heart goes into its usual melancholy state, Emily’s words rush to me. The extent of Melanie’s presence in your life depends on you, Keith.
“Why didn’t you tell me there was something going on between you two? That you were crushing on her?”
“And who’s your great crush?” I reply.