I wished Emerson could hear all of this herself.
“Anyway, my mom is great, and she deserves a great guy. So, keep making her happy.”
I’d just earned her blessing, and it was a weight off my shoulders. “Thank you, Lizzie. You’re very mature and selfless…you’re a lot like your mom.”
She shrugged in response.
I never anticipated this to go so well, for Lizzie to accept me so easily.
“Can we keep this between us?” She turned back to me.
“You don’t want to tell her?”
“I will. I’ll just wait until she talks to me about it.”
“Why don’t we tell her together when she comes to pick you up?”
She shrugged. “I guess we can do that.”
“Good. Because I don’t think I can hide this from her.”
“Alright.” She grabbed her pencil again. “You know, I’ve never felt weird not having a dad. I’ve always had Grandpa, and I just feel like I’ve always had enough.”
“I’m not trying to be your father, Lizzie.”
“Then what are you trying to be?”
I tried to find a good answer. “Your friend. Can we be friends?”
She smiled. “I thought we already were.”
I smiled back, feeling my heart increase three sizes the way it did with Emerson. “Yeah…we are.”Emerson knocked before she walked inside. “Hey.”
Lizzie’s back was to her, and she grinned.
Emerson walked to the table, acting like everything was normal, and placed her hand on the back of Lizzie’s chair. “How’d it go?”
I didn’t say anything, letting Lizzie handle this.
Emerson glanced back and forth between us, picking up on the silence. Then she looked at her daughter, who kept grinning, then gave a light chuckle. “What?”
Lizzie continued to laugh.
Emerson grew more confused. “What are you laughing about?”
“I’m laughing because you’re a terrible actress.” Lizzie grabbed her things and started to put them away.
Emerson looked to me for guidance.
All I could do was give her a shrug and watch her struggle.
Lizzie stood up and grabbed her backpack off the table. “Mom and Derek sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…” She grinned then walked off.
Emerson’s face went ghostly pale, and she couldn’t hide the shock that exploded into her features.
Lizzie laughed at her mother’s shocked expression. “Mom’s got a boyfriend…” She headed to the front door. “I’ll wait in the hall so the two of you can make out or whatever you do.” She shut the door behind her.
Emerson quickly turned back to me. “What…what the hell happened?”
I grinned and rose to my feet so I could look at her. “She read my book…and saw what I wrote to you.”
Emerson closed her eyes as the humiliation swept over her face. “Oh. My. God.”
“She asked me about it, and I told her the truth.”
She opened my eyes and looked at me. “Which is?”
“That I love you.” My biggest fear in this relationship had been Lizzie’s feelings toward me, and now that those fears were gone, I felt lighter than air. The idea of being a stepfather sounded like a nightmare, but with Lizzie, it didn’t seem that bad. “That we’ve been together for a while.”
“And she…was fine with it?”
“At first, she was upset because she thought I was giving her false praise to get her to like me, but when she understood I’ve always been genuine, she felt good about it. Then she told me that she’s happy about it, that I make you happy, and she likes me.”
Both of her hands moved over her chest like that meant the world to her, like there was nothing that made her happier. “Really?”
I nodded. “She said some other things I’m not allowed to share.”
“Like what?”
I shrugged. “I wish I could say, but I can’t. But she wants you to be happy.”
Her eyes softened in a whole new way.
“She loves you—a lot.”
“God…she’s the best thing that ever happened to me.” Her eyes watered, not because we could be together, but because she loved her daughter so much and her opinion meant the world to her.
My arm moved around her, and I held her close, resting my chin on her head, rubbing her back. I held her for a while, letting her work through the emotion her daughter had sprung on her without warning.
Lizzie came back. “Mom, I’m staaaaarving. Can you make out with your boyfriend later?”
Emerson pulled away and gave her a playful look. “I was gonna take you to get something to eat, but forget it now.”
Lizzie’s taunts stopped, and she sighed. “Fine, I’ll stop.” She walked back out again.
“Food is the best way I can get her to behave sometimes.” She pulled away from me and smiled, looking happier than she’d ever been.
“Can I join you?”
Now she looked even happier. “Yeah, that would be nice.”
“I’ll drive.”
“Uh, Lizzie isn’t sitting in my lap.”
I grinned as I grabbed my keys and wallet. “I’ve got a Range Rover too.”
“You do?” she asked in surprise.
“Yeah. For trips to the cabin.”16EmersonDerek and I sat side by side with Lizzie across from us in the booth, the three of us eating burgers because that was her favorite thing to eat. She grabbed her root beer and brought it to her lips so she could suck on the straw, her cup pretty much empty but I wouldn’t allow her to get a refill.