“I know you’re not, and I’ll try not to think of you that way, but you’ll always be my daughter, in some ways the little girl who used to count on me for everything.”
That netted him an eye roll. “It’s still Mom’s fault that we had to come here. If she hadn’t moved out, then we’d all still be living in the city together. Sometimes I think maybe she’ll change her mind and come back to Vancouver, and then we can all be a family again.”
“You really don’t like it here? I thought you were settling in, starting to make new friends.”
“I am. I miss my old friends, though. And the city.”
Honestly, there were things he missed, too, but Serenity Bay was already starting to feel like home. He hoped Kate would eventually feel that way as well.
“I’m sorry if it seemed as though I wasn’t involving you in my decision to move here, but I thought it would be good for us, both of us, to have a fresh start. And just to be clear, your mom and I won’t be getting back together.”
Ever. Even if by some miracle Georgette were to have a change of heart, a reunion was never going to happen.
“It’s just you and me, kid. The divorce wasn’t your mom’s fault. We were equally responsible. All I want now is for your mom to be happy with her new life, and for us to be happy with ours.”
He was finally ready to move on, and moving on with his new neighbor felt right, especially now that she’d forgiven him for being such a jerk when he found out Kate was hanging out at her store after school. It was too soon to share those feelings with Kate, though.
“So where do we go from here?” he asked.
“Am I still grounded?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m rescinding that.”
She brightened noticeably.
“With conditions,” he added quickly. “You’re not off the hook entirely.”
“But I’m not grounded?”
“No.”
“And I can go to the freshman dance on Friday night?”
Ah, yes. The dance. He’d been asked to chaperone but had declined because he knew Kate wouldn’t want him there. Now he tried not to think about the fact that freshman boys also went to dances, and few things interested them more than freshman girls.
“Who else is going?”
“Casey and Alycia and some of the...some of our friends.”
“Some of the boys” is what she’d been about to say. Henry and Dexter, if he had to guess. He’d been trying not to monitor her activities at school, but he wasn’t blind.
“Of course you can go. And you’ll be happy to know I won’t be one of the chaperones.”
She trained her gaze on him, steady and straight as an arrow. “You should. Casey’s mom is chaperoning.”
That was unexpected—on both counts—and suddenly a high school dance had a whole lot of appeal. There was still a smattering of freshman boy in every man. He was no exception, and since Sarah would be there...
“You won’t mind if I go?”
“Not if you’re there as one of the teachers and not trying to be a cool dad or anything.”
He laughed at that. “Okay. I’ll be sure to leave my cool at home.”
“Dad, that’s lame.” She was right, but she laughed, too.
“I assume that Casey will be giving her mother the same instructions.”
“Sarah is cool.”
And he was not. Well, he could live with that. “Speaking of Sarah...she and I had lots of time to talk tonight. She told me how much you’ve helped her at the store.”
Kate stared down at the half sandwich on her plate.
“You really like being there, don’t you?”
She nodded and picked up the sandwich.
“Since you’re not grounded, I was thinking we might work out a compromise.”
Instead of taking a bite, she set the sandwich down. “What kind of compromise?”
“That you could still work there two afternoons a week on the days I have soccer practice, and maybe the occasional Saturday.”
“Really? Are you serious?”
“Yes, but...it’s contingent on a couple of things. You have to keep up with your schoolwork, and your grades need to improve, too.”
She looked a little deflated.
“You’re a smart kid with a lot of talent, and I’m sorry I haven’t given you enough credit for that, but school’s important, too. I’ll do what I can to help. We’ll even hire a tutor if your teachers think it’s necessary.”
“Okay, I will. I promise. And I can ask Casey if she’ll help me with science. She gets straight A’s in that class.”
“As long as it’s okay with her mother.”