Page 48 of High Water

“Your dad didn’t go missing for over a decade and show up unannounced in your grandparents’ kitchen. If he had, I assure you my look would have been very much the same.”

Well, not quite the same. No man’s ever had the same sway as Bishop did. I’ve always written it off as first love and nostalgia, but now that I’ve felt the creep of it coming back in, I’m not so sure. But that’s a conversation I barely want to have with myself, and certainly not with my daughter.

“What if I don’t want to get to know him? I already have a dad. I don’t need another.”

“That’s a decision for you to make. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to, but I think you should think it through. Maybe talk to Dr. Stark about it and get her thoughts if you don’t want to talk to me.”

“But? I feel like there’s a but coming on.”

“But he’s not going anywhere. He’s going to be in our lives, pretty regularly. In fact, there’s more I need to tell you.” I take a deep breath, steadying my nerves, and then continue. “Bishop and I are getting married. We’ve realized over the last couple of months that we’ve fallen in love again, and we want to be together. I’d like all of us to be together and have a chance to be a family.”

Fallon gives me a horrified look. I’ve never seen her stay so deathly silent for so long. Finally, she lets out a loud screech and jumps up off the couch.

“You can’t be serious! You’re going to marry him? He’s barely been around. Is that where you’ve been going? Sneaking off with him?” It’s like the tables have turned, and suddenly, she’s the parent, and I’m the misbehaving teenager.

“We weren’t sneaking around, but we have been spending time together, yes. And yes, we’re getting married. He proposed, and I said yes.”

“Why are you in a rush? You just got divorced, Mom!”

“Your great-grandmother, his grandmother, isn’t doing so well. She’s quite old and in an assisted living facility. Her biggest wish was to see him back with his family—back with us. And we want to give her that chance.” It was halfway true, at least.

“You’re doing all of this because of some old lady you barely know?”

“It’s important to Bishop, and therefore, it’s important to me. She wants to meet us and know us better.”

“I don’t care what she wants. What about what I want? Because I definitely don’t want you to get married to him. I don’t care if he’s my father or not.”

“Unfortunately, Fallon, that is a decision you don’t get to make. You can choose to take your relationship with him as slowly as you want. No one is rushing you, and he very much wants to respect your feelings in all of this.”

“By proposing to my mom without even talking to me first?”

“I’m truly sorry if that hurts you. That was never our intention. Sometimes, Fal, when you’re in love, you don’t always think rationally. Bishop is still new to this whole parent thing. If he thought that would help or make you feel more included, he would have asked you first. I’m sure of it. I don’t want you to feel left out, and I’d love for you to be as involved in the wedding as you’re interested in being. You can help me pick out a dress and the cake. Whatever you want.”

“I don’t want to pick out anything. When is this even happening?”

“In a few weeks, once we have the license to get married and can talk to Uncle Grant about getting a room rented.”

“A few weeks? Is she on her deathbed?”

“Fallon!” I scold her. “I know you’re upset, but that’s no reason to be insensitive.”

“I don’t think it’s insensitive to try to understand why the hell you’re racing down an aisle with someone who disappeared on us years ago. You just got divorced. Are you sure this isn’t a midlife crisis? Derek’s mom said his dad went through one after they got divorced. He married some twenty-year-old and moved to the Bahamas. I feel like this is your version of that. Except it’s Colorado and some guy you knew in college.”

God, this girl already knows how to cut with her words. I hope I didn’t teach her that, but then I know everyone says she’s a miniature version of me. Here’s hoping Bishop’s calm and patient demeanor starts to wear off on her because Ethan was every bit as sharp as I was, and sometimes I worry we’ve passed all that ruthlessness on to Fallon.

“It’s not a midlife crisis. I understand it’s a decision you don’t appreciate and don’t value the same way I do. That’s something we can continue talking about, and if you want us both to meet with Dr. Stark⁠—”

“I don’t care about Dr. Stark! I care that you’re ruining our lives! God! You’re the worst! I just want to go live with Dad. Can I live with Dad? I’d rather be back in Boston anyway. Then he and I can do our thing, and you and Bishop can do yours.”

The idea of sending her back to Boston full-time breaks my heart. I can’t even begin to imagine how I’d get through it. But I can’t make this about me and my fears right now.

“You know your dad’s schedule is too busy for you to be there full-time. You can’t be alone at home when he’s on the road. If you want to spend more time there, we can talk about that, but⁠—”

“Then let me go live with Grandma and Grandpa. They have rooms, and they have a staff! I wouldn’t be alone there, and I could stay with Dad when he’s home.”

“Fallon, we talked about this before the divorce… I want us to be here in Colorado—close to family. Your uncles want to be part of your life. I want you to have the opportunity to know Bishop as your father. I know right now you’re upset, but I think once you have some time to think about all this and work through your feelings, you might start to change your mind.”

“Was Uncle Levi in on this plot to bring Bishop back into our lives? Because if he was, I don’t ever want to see him again.”