Page 82 of Parentmoon

Too soon, we both find release.

Shortly afterwards, Dallas falls to my side and easily drifts asleep with his arm protectively over my midsection. The sliding glass door glides open and whispered voices float upward.

And I smile to myself in the darkness of the space, feeling like just for a moment, the four of us are a family.

Chapter 21

In the morning, Michael and Dallas leave early to go fishing while Keli and I linger over breakfast, then have a massage and get manicures and pedicures. We can’t go swimming or lounge in the heat of the day yet, so we hang out in the shade of a screened in room to the side of the resort bar.

“Did you call your mom and tell her about tomorrow?”

Keli sits on a rattan sofa with bright orange cushions and looks up at me while blowing on her wet nails. “No.” She blows over her fingers again. “Mama would not approve of eloping. She’d turn this into something about her or find a way to get down here, which Daddy would not appreciate. I’d rather deal with her aftermath than have her ruin my day beforehand.”

I smile knowingly, cautious in how I address Katherine around Keli. “But don’t you want your mom here for your special day?”

Keli glances up at me. “My mom doesn’t see weddings as special moments. How could she? She’s had four of them. It’s an excuse for a party and gifts. If a wedding was sacred to her, like it is to Daddy, she wouldn’t have had so many. She would take those vows she spoke before God seriously and work on her marriages, not spend her way through them, then dump the poor man after a few years.”

Keli rarely mentions the various stepfathers she’s had over the course of her younger life.

Hoping to keep the question light, I ask, “Why didn’t you live with Dallas again?”

“Mama always said it was because having a child would cramp Daddy’s style. He liked women.” Keli’s head snaps up from blowing on her nails again and her eyes widen. “Although, he hasn’t been with anyone for a long time. He likes you, Jo.”

I wave off her concern, not needing her to explain her father’s dating history or try to make me feel like I’m someone special to him. Fun. That’s what we’re having.

“Daddy said he never had me live with him because Mama needed me more. Unlike the revolving door of men in her life, I was the one constant. When I was older, I learned that Daddy threatened Mama once. Told her if any of those men took a second glance in my direction, I’d be removed from her faster than she could blink her false lashes. Mama was smart, though. She picked men centered on her and not giving a care to her kid.”

Keli’s past is sad but similar to Michael’s, where he lacked attention from Craig. Craig was a father when it was convenient for him. He didn’t value that parenting was twenty-four-seven, not just every other weekend, or once in a while, when he felt like being a dad.

“I’m sorry Katherine was like that. A child needs stability in her life.”

Keli gazes at me. “That’s why Michael and I want to do it right. We know we won’t be perfect but we’ve each had one good parent in our lives. I know you’ve been a terrific mom because Michael tells me how much he loves you and look at the man he’s turned out to be. You get credit for that, Jo.”

My face heats. “I don’t know about that. Michael has always been responsible and smart.”

Keli shakes her head. “He learned some of that from you. And as for me, Daddy was the constant for me. He might have spoiled me, but he also was stern when he needed to be.”

I laugh, good naturedly teasing her. “When has Dallas ever told you no?”

“He didn’t give me a car when I was sixteen, telling me I didn’t need that kind of freedom. He thought it would lead to trouble.” Keli rolls her eyes, then drops her voice and throws an extra drawl in it, a perfect imitation of her dad. “A car is a privilege you haven’t earned yet, baby girl.” She laughs at herself.

“You just fool around in other people’s cars, then.” She drops her gaze. “Not that I did that, though.”

“Of course not,” I playfully scoff.

“Daddy was a rabble-rouser, so he thought I’d be. But I was a good girl and made good grades in school. I was more cautious than either of my parents when I was a child. Maybe because of them. Michael has been the one to bring out the devil in me.” She winks.

Holding up both hands, I joke, “I want no credit for that.”

“He’s a good man at heart, just like Daddy. And Michael is good for me. Daddy could be good for you.”

I laugh harder and point a finger at her. “I see that devil in you, girlie.” Her dad and I won’t be anything more than what we are. Two single parents celebrating our children’s wedding.

What were we before Michael and Keli reunited, though? Were we grieving their separation by connecting with each other or was it something else?

I glance away from Keli, looking through the screens and out at the pool. A man like Dallas would be good for me, but there isn’t a future for us. The future belongs to Keli and Michael. Dallas and I will orbit around them and their baby.

“You’d be good for Daddy, too.”