Page 46 of Against The Tide

“But he’s mean,” she rasps with a twist to her face. “And he shouted and hit you.”

“He made a bad decision, and just because we had a fight, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you.”

“Jo says that when you love someone, you don’t hurt them.” Her eyes flicker to mine before glancing down her nose at the bubbly surface of the water. “He never goes to watch me swim, and he didn’t show up for the father-daughter picnic at my school. I had to sit with my teacher until you came to get me.”

“Sometimes adults forget things.”

“You never forget. Rhett promised to take me surfing, and he did it. Jo doesn’t yell at me when I’m clumsy. I want a daddy like Scout’s…Rowan plays with her all the time.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” I murmur, swallowing down the hurt and tears that threaten to overwhelm me.

“I don’t want to go back,” she tells me again.

“Okay.” I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I’ll do anything to make her happy, and if staying will do that… “We don’t have to go back.”

“Promise?”

“I promise I’ll do everything I can to make you happy, sweetie.”

“So we can get a house next to Doc’s on the beach? That way he can take me surfing all the time.”

“How about we slow down on the plans and go help Jo make the apple pies?”

“Okay, but I can go to Scout’s school?”

“I’ll look into it.”

“When we get our house, can we get our own puppy?

“Umm…Iris, slow down.”

“It’s only a puppy—we can take it for walks on the beach. Doc loves all the animals.”

“But it would be our puppy, so it would live with us, not with Doc.”

“I know, but it would mean he would come see us all the time like he comes to see Jo.”

“I think he would come and see you even if we didn’t have a puppy.”

“Silly Mommy. He would come and see you too, and tell you jokes and give you kisses.”

I go about bathing her while trying to contain the butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

This wasn’t how I imagined this conversation would go. Iris has always been perceptive, but I had no idea that she had been thinking so hard about things. I thought I’d done an okay job of smoothing over all of Carl’s carelessness and neglect, but it appears that I was wrong. And I’m going to make up for it as best as I can.

The kitchen island is lined with more apple pies than I’ve seen in my whole life. Each small pie looks beautiful with its lattice top and the heart and star shapes that Iris cut out to decorate the edges.

“I can’t believe he had the audacity to show up there,” Nora tells me over the phone as I cover the selection with one of Jo’s large net covers.

“I can,” I scoff as Callie’s loud growl sounds from their end. “Bullshit he wouldn’t!”

Let’s be honest, if he could participate in the bribery of funds and still walk around like he’s done nothing wrong…

“He’s gone now and Rhett didn’t hold back, so I doubt he’ll show up here anytime soon.” Or at least, I hope.

“Make sure you look after yourself and our girl,” she tells me. “I’ll call you soon, or maybe I’ll come visit. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Virginia.”

I can almost hear Callie begging me to put her off, but unlike her, I don’t have it in me. I don’t want to upset Nora, so I tell her, “You know where we are.”