make arrangements.
I look forward to hearing from you—although if you’ve decided you don’t want to talk to me anymore, I will respect that.
Lucas
It felt strange to sign his name in a text. The whole thing was oddly formal. But then again, the situation itself was odd. Maybe formality was what was called for.
He hoped to God she hadn’t decided that she didn’t want to talk to him. It seemed urgent, suddenly, that they get on the same page. Maybe it was reading this morning’s articles that had created that sense of urgency in him—he wasn’t sure. But whatever it was, he suddenly wanted very much to deal with this.
He hit send and sat back to wait.
Chapter 18
Elise
“How many times have you looked at that text message now?”
Elise looked up from her phone to find her mother staring at her, a mix of exasperation and sympathy written on her face.
“Aren’t you going to write him back?” Marilyn asked, hands on her hips.
The message had been waiting for Elise when she’d woken up the day before. Immediately, her resolve to keep the details of her disastrous interaction with Lucas to herself had crumbled. She had gone to her parents, told them everything, and showed them the message he’d sent.
Her father’s response had been swift. “He had his chance,” he said gruffly, one hand resting on Elise’s shoulder. “Now he thinks that after the way he treated you, he can just waltz back into your life? Absolutely not.”
Her mother had been more forgiving. “This isn’t just about what you need, honey,” she said. “It’s about your baby, too. Don’t think about what you want, think about what you want that baby to have.”
In the end, of course, both of her parents had reassured her that they would stand behind her, no matter what decision she made. It was comforting to know that they had her back.
But having her back didn’t mean that her mother was going to let the subject drop.
“I’m still thinking about what I want to say,” Elise said. “Besides, he made me wait long enough for an answer. I don’t mind making him wait a little.”
“You don’t want to be petty,” her mother cautioned. “Be the bigger person, for your baby’s sake.”
Elise nodded. She didn’t want to argue about it, but the truth was that she felt entitled to a day or two of pettiness. Lucas should wonder whether he had missed his chance to be a father.
Her mother sat down at the table with her. “Let’s work it out together,” she suggested. “What do you want to say to him?”
“I don’t know what I want to say.”
“What are you feeling?” her mother asked. “You can start there.”
“Not if I don’t want to push him away.” She imagined texting Lucas a diatribe about how rude and thoughtless he had been.
“You’re still angry, then?” her mother surmised.
“Wouldn’t you be?” Elise asked. “I was prepared to be so accommodating, you know? If he only wanted to see the baby once a year, I would have allowed that. If he wanted shared custody, I would have been willing to talk about it. The only response that wasn’t okay was throwing me out of the office without discussion.”
“You did sort of put him on the spot, though,” her mother said.
Elise stared. “You aren’t taking his side, are you?”
“Of course not,” her mother said. “You know I’m on your side, Elise. I’m always on your side. But I’m trying to help you see why he might have done what he did. It’s not defensible, but maybe it is understandable.”
“I can’t understand it,” Elise said.
“But you told me that he had been forced out of his job over what happened,” her mother pointed out. “You told me you felt guilty about that.”
Elise sighed. “I do,” she said. “I feel guilty about what happened to him, but at the same time, I’m still angry. Does that make me crazy?”
“Not at all,” her mother assured her. “And maybe that’s a place to start talking to him. Apologize for the way things happened in his office that day, but tell him you still resent the way you were treated.”
“Can I do that?” Elise asked. “He’s apologizing.”
“That doesn’t mean you need to forgive him right away,” her mother said. “If he has some work to do to earn your forgiveness, that’s okay.”
“But don’t I owe the baby better than that?” Elise asked.
“It will be better for the baby if you and Lucas have a civil relationship,” her mother said. “One