After seeing off his dinner guests, Dave locked the door for the night and turned to turn the lights off downstairs and head up for bed. He stopped in his tracks when she saw Lucy sitting on the steps in front of him. She was glaring at him inquisitively.
"What's wrong, Luce?" He sat down on the stair step next to her.
"What's the deal, Dad? Tell me about her. Don't lie."
It still made Dave's heart jump to hear Lucy called him dad. He still remembered the conversation they had, twenty-two months after Rita died, when Lucy decided that—while her biological father was a nice man, and she was happy to find him—it was Dave who was her 'dad.' He couldn't lie and say he hadn't had quite a few tears well up when she first said it to him, first called him her now, here they were: her grilling him about the woman who had come into their home that night.
After he had gotten over his own shock at inviting Alex over for dinner (even if it was for "business") he had grown more concerned about how the kids would react. Even then, he had determined he wouldn't cancel out of cowardice and the night had gone on. If he was honest with himself now, he was happy he hadn't. Alex had handled her self magnificently with his children, handling their inquisition without breaking a sweat.
"The truth is, Lucy, I am doing photography work for Alex. She runs a business doing publicity and promotional work for small businesses. She needed a photographer, Anna introduced us. We needed to meet and I was going to be busy all day long, so I invited her to dinner, so we could go over things afterwards. It's as simple as that."
Lucy wasn't very convinced. "But do you like her?" she asked, continuing to push him for answers.
"Well she seems to be a decent human being. If I had to choose between like and dislike, I'd say I like her, yes." Dave purposefully avoided the connotation of her question a little longer.
Lucy shot him another one of her teenage glares. "You know that is not what I mean, Dad."
"I've known her three days, Lucy! How can I possibly know what I think?" Dave was exasperated, but he tried not to raise his voice.
Lucy continued to question. "Do you find her attractive?"
Dave groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Do I have to have this discussion with you?"
"I'm not going upstairs till we do." Lucy was holding firm.
Dave sighed, repeating her question to delay a bit longer. "Do I find her attractive?" He paused. "She's an attractive woman—yes," he stumbled through, finding the whole conversation awkward with the seventeen-year-old girl sitting before him. He was still thinking through all this himself. Three days, it had only been three days. He wasn't rushing into another relationship, not like he had with Sarah. But his hesitancy in answering the question had nothing to do with how attractive he found her, because yes, he did find her attractive. He was hesitant in sharing these feelings with the girl he considered his own daughter. Rita's daughter. "She seems to be a truly kind woman, Lucy. Did you see something different tonight? Am I missing something? We are going to be working together more, so she might be around again, but I am not in this for a romantic relationship."
"She was fine—I guess." Dave knew he wasn't going to get more of an approval than that from Lucy right now.
"I can't say what's going to happen down the road, Lucy. But for now, it's work, okay?" Dave took the hand she had resting on her knee and squeezed it gently.
Her next statement was half question, half accusation. "It's been two years."
"Yes, yes it has. Two years." He sighed, released her hand and put his arm around her, leaning her into his chest. "I love you, Lucy. Go to bed."
"Love you too, Dad. Goodnight." She got up out of his arms and walked back up the stairs. A moment later he heard her door shut.
He sat, staring off into the space in front of him for a while. Two years since Rita died. A year and a half since he walked away from Sarah and she moved on. Three days since he met Alex. Those three thoughts kept repeating in his head. He slowly got up, methodically walking through the house, shutting off lights before heading upstairs. After washing up, he went in and closed the door to his bedroom, changing into pajamas and sitting down on his bed. He picked up his phone and glanced at the text message there:
Alex: Thanks for dinner. I enjoyed the evening.
Dave: Thanks for coming, it was nice. Sorry about the interrogation from my children.
Alex: No problem. Sounded like they are concerned for their dad. That's a good thing. :) Good night, now.
Dave: Good night.
A couple days after Alex came to dinner, Dave ended up signing on to work with Alex on both the upcoming projects she had been offered. Things were going well for his photography business, but it made smart business sense to him not to pigeon hole himself into one style of photography. And it meant getting to know the mysterious woman who deflected the interrogation of his children with ease.
It was that same day that Lucy came running in from school waving a piece of paper in the air. "Dad, Dad! You have got to see this!"
"Whoa, whoa, Luce, what is it?" He tried to calm her down and avoid getting swiped by the paper being pushed into his face.
"I looked up Alex Stanton on the internet today during break. Dad, you have to see this!" She was out of breath and holding the paper up in his face.
He pushed it down and glared at her. "You did what!? And where did you get on the internet at school?"
"The library, Dad." She rolled her eyes. "It's allowed if it's legitimate news and research sites. And this was. Just look, Dad!" She pushed the paper into his chest.
He straightened the paper out and looked at the headline.
"WIFE SPEAKS OUT AFTER DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENT LEAVES HUSBAND AND CHILDREN DEAD"
His jaw dropped open as he read the headline then looked down and saw below it a picture of Alexandra Stanton. He steadied himself against the stairwell banister, sliding down to sit on the stairs. Lucy was speaking loudly at him, summarizing the article, but there was a loud buzzing in his ears that came with shock.
"She was married with two children, Dad. They were fourteen and nine. They were killed by a drunk driver in the middle of the afternoon."
Dave glanced over the article, seeing bits of the sentences, statements here and there, not able to fully take it in. The article was from what appeared to be a small-town newspaper in the US, presumably the one she had lived in. He saw the husband's name, John, and the children – Elaina and Blake. She had lost them. Instantly. Killed by reckless driving.
"Dad." Lucy shook his shoulder to get his attention. "Dad, do you see the date? Look at when it happened."
Dave's sight skimmed over the article again. There it was, near the beginning. "It was…"
"It was two months before mom died," Lucy finished his sentence.
The buzzing noise in his ears came back. The emotions were rising, it had been a while since they were so close to the surface. The grief never left, but it stayed quiet, most of the time. But this was so—he cleared his throat and sniffed, holding the tears at bay as he jumped up quickly and turned to head upstairs, going straight into his room and closing the door behind him, leaving Lucy behind, staring at him as he left. He sat on the edge of the bed, holding the crumpled paper in his hand. Tears began slowly down his cheeks and a small whimper escaped. He had lost so much when he lost Rita. And here was a woman who had lost that and more. For a moment he let himself think about what it would have been like if he had not just lost her, but the kids too. Even just one of them, but not all his children. To be left so terribly alone. A sob escaped, and he grasped his hand over his mouth.
After a few minutes of staring down at the photo on the paper, he cleared his throat and pulled his phone out of his pocket. After tapping at the screen a few times, he put it up to his ear and listened to it ring through till he heard the woman on the other end pick up and answer.
"Anna, I was wondering if you could pop by? I just need to talk with you about something." He listened to her speak on the other end of the line. "Yeah, it's to do with something Lucy brought home from school. I just need some clarity and thought you might be able to help." He paused while she replied. "Okay, yes, I'll see you then."
An hour later, Dave sat opposite Anna at the table. The printed article that Lucy had brought home sat in front of her. She glanced between it and Dave, he alternated between staring at her and out the window. When she had come in earlier, he ushered her into the dining room, explained Lucy had brought something home from school and slid it across the table to her. She had read through the article, but she already knew the story. She had heard it straight from Alex almost six months ago when they had become friends.
Lucy slipped in quietly, she had tears running down her cheeks. "Dad, I just wanted to learn more about her. I was worried about you. I was being mean. I was hoping I would find something bad about her." Her tears grew stronger. "I had no idea—"
Dave jumped up and pulled Lucy into a hug. He was so close to his own tears again. He sighed and took a deep breath. "Lucy, I understand you thought you were helping." He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "I need you to go back out with your brothers and sister now. Your aunt and I must discuss some things. Do not tell your brothers or sister about this right now."
Lucy wiped her tears, nodded, turned, and quietly went back out the way she had come. The kids were outside playing, and she was keeping an eye on them. When he heard the backdoor close, he turned back to Anna.
"Dave, it wasn't my place to tell you—" Anna began, but Dave quickly interrupted.
"But, you told her about Rita?" His tone was calm, but she could see under the surface he felt anything but that.
"She knew about Rita before she ever met you. We had become friends. We shared our grief with each other. Me for my sister, her for her husband and children. She had no idea you were Rita's partner until the morning you had her over for dinner. I introduced you to her for work, but she had assumed some things based on my behavior. That I was trying to set you two up—" Dave's eyebrow raised at that moment. She wasn't the only one who had guessed that much. "So, she was terribly confused after she found out you had children, at that point she assumed you were married and she was trying to figure out why I would have tried to set her up with you. I had to explain it to her. As soon as I told her you were Rita's partner, all the pieces fell into place for her. But it had only been days since you first met, I don't think she felt comfortable walking into your home and talking about her own past."
Dave glared at her and spoke sternly, "I do not hold Alex responsible for any of this… confusion. I have two questions for you. The first one is this, were you trying to set us up that night at your party?"
"No, Dave, honestly. When I called you over that night to meet her, it wasn't what I was thinking about. She needed a photographer. But after I saw you two standing there together talking to each other, I suddenly realized how much more you had in common. I can't say then that the thought didn't occur to me, at that moment. But I haven't done a thing to encourage anything, Dave. I have left the two of you to yourselves to figure it out." She paused for a moment. Dave was quietly tapping the table, staring out the window, thinking through her confession. "Dave, she was heart broken when she realized what had happened to you," she added the last statement, compassionately.
"Yes, well," He sniffed and looked at her, the tears welled up in his eyes, he rubbed at them a bit, and ran his hand over his face. "I can honestly say that feeling is mutual, now."
"And your second question was?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"There is evidence of your past all around you, Dave. The children. Taking calls from their school during work. A father present, but no mother. Someone walks in the house and there are family pictures all over the place. Evidence everywhere of what has happened to you. The point is, she needed to know before she walked in here, what to expect or else she would have been bowled over by her own grief in that moment. She has none of those things. She can hide it if she wants to. She keeps a picture hidden in her wallet. I've never been to her house, no idea about there. She obviously moved all the way here from America to Scotland to get away from the reminders of her past, of her grief. It's up to her to share that with whom she wants. And I promised her I would leave it to her to share. Call me what you will, Dave, but I do keep my promises. To family and to friends."
Dave nodded slowly and reached across the table, squeezing Anna's hand briefly. "Yes, yes you do, Anna. I haven't always made it easy for you, have I? Of course—" He gave a small smile and continued, "—you haven't always made it easy for me either."
"Lots of water under that bridge." She paused, looking him over and back down at the paper, she slid it back over to him. "What will you do, now that you know?"
Dave laced his fingers together and leaned his chin onto his hands with a sigh. "I really have no idea."
"I suppose the right thing to say would be to 'follow your heart?'" Anna shrugged.
Dave cringed as he spoke, "Eh, I don't know about that. We've both seen where me following my 'heart' gets me. One word: Sarah."
Anna sighed, and drew out her first words, "Well you know how I felt about that then. I was fairly certain it was a different body part guiding your actions. But you did care deeply about her, and I suppose she did for you too."
"Well now," Dave said a bit surprised, "that was hard for you to admit just now, wasn't it?" He shrugged and nodded. "You are probably right on all accounts, however." He tapped his finger on the table for a moment before looking back at her. "Will you stay? While I tell the rest of the kids about this? I think they should know before anything else happens."
Anna nodded. "Of course, whatever you need."
Dave got up and walked to the backdoor, opening it and yelled out, "Kids come in please! Family meeting at the table!"
A few minutes later, all four children, looking a bit flush from a game of tag in the back garden, were seated around the table. Dave looked from Anna to Lucy then towards the other children.
"Today Lucy found out some news about our friend Alex, who came and visited us for dinner the other night. She looked her up on the internet in an attempt to learn more about her." Dave looked back at Lucy. "She found an article about Alex from two years ago when she still lived in the United States. It seems that Alex was once married with two children. A daughter who was fourteen, and a son who was nine." He moved his eyes between his own children as he spoke, wanting to gauge their actions to the upcoming information. He began speaking again, this time slowly, "There was a tragic accident," he paused. "Her husband and both her children were killed." As he expected, the kids looked shocked.
Lucy decided to speak up at that moment. "It happened two months before we lost mum." That revelation sucked the wind out of all four kids and there was whimpering and sniffling from around the table, as they, with varying degrees of success, tried to hold back tears.
Dave quickly scooted his chair out and opened his arms. "Alright now, everybody come here." All four kids crowded into his lap and they held each other in a big group hug. He waved Anna and she awkwardly joined in from a standing position.
"Dad, what are you going to do?" Paul spoke up, and they all pulled back, staying huddled around together.
"Well, I think Alex had the right idea when she was here for dinner. I think it would be nice for us all to be friends with her, don't you?" All four children nodded in agreement. "Alright then, that's decided. Off you go, now. Say bye to Anna, I'm sure she needs to get back—then back outside a wee bit longer before we have dinner."
Later that evening after dinner, Dave was sitting on the couch, Ewan, Paul, and Evie were crowded around him, snuggling, and Lucy sat on the floor leaned against him. They were watching TV, enjoying a Friday night with no school the next day.
"Dad." Ewan turned to him on the couch. "I think you need to talk to Alex tonight."
Dave was a bit confused at the urgency his son had, "Why is that?"
Ewan looked down, bashfully. "I feel bad about how we treated her at dinner the other night. I don't want her to think—" He sighed and looked back up at his dad. "—I just think she should know we care. That we want to be her friends, like you said."
"Well, you were a bit overprotective of your old dad, I'll say that." Dave scrubbed his hands through Ewan's hair. "But Alex didn't think any less of you for it."
"Still Dad, Ewan's right," Paul piped up in agreement with his brother. "You should go talk to her, now."
"I can't go now, boys. It's late." Dave was surprised by the boys' insistence.
"It's not that late, Dad! It's just after 8 o'clock!" Lucy piped in now.
"Yeah, Dad, you should go see Alex!" Now it was Evie's turn.
"My goodness, such unity from the four of you! I never thought I'd see it." Dave got up and took the now empty bowl of popcorn back to the kitchen. He set it in the kitchen sink and sighed before pulling his phone out.
Dave: Anna, do you know what Alex is up to tonight?
Anna: She works till 9 o'clock tonight. Why?
Dave: My children are bullying me into finding her. Tonight. All four of them in agreement. It's as if the planets have aligned for that to happen. I feel I'd be remiss not to listen.
Anna: Right you are. Good luck.
Dave walked back into the hallway and took his coat off the hook, slipping it on as he spoke, "Alright. Lucy, you are in charge. Be responsible. You can stay up one more hour then it's to bed with all of you. Lucy, you call me if there is even a hint of trouble, you understand? Lock the door after me."
Lucy jumped up and ran to give Dave a hug. "Good luck, Dad."
Dave grabbed his keys and helmet from the table by the door. Lucy shut the door behind him and turned the lock.
At 9:10 p.m. Alex walked out of The Brew and spotted him across the street. He was leaned against the stone wall that lined the pavement, his motorcycle was parked a few feet away, just behind her car. She stopped, and they stared at each other a few moments before she glanced away to look down the street both ways, then turned back and ran across the street.
She saw the look in his eyes as she came closer. They were bloodshot red (for the second time that day, though she didn't know that).
"Oh, God." She looked down, stuffing her hands into her coat pockets, then looked back up into his eyes. "You found out, didn't you?"
"Yeah." He sniffed and looked away a moment. "Lucy was performing some independent covert ops apparently—she looked you up on the internet."
"I see." She glanced down again.
"Needless to say, her search for dirt went a bit wrong. She's terribly sorry for being nosy." Dave kept eye contact with her.
"It's—it's okay really. I suppose you've talked to Anna?"
"Yes, we had a talk this afternoon. Can we take a walk through the park?" He nodded his head down the street.
"Sure." She nodded and turned to walk with him. They walked a bit before she spoke up. "I practically made Anna tell me. I don't want you to think she was being a gossip, sharing about your private life—and then after I found out, there were several times I wanted to say something—but it didn't seem to be the right time. And, I didn't want to cause you pain by having you relive your own past because of mine."
"Your own pain is equally as important to recognize here, Alex. You said at dinner on Tuesday night that you wanted to be my friend. The feeling is mutual, and I guess that means we both acknowledge our pasts and help each other out, right? I can't imagine what it must have been like for you. I mean, losing a spouse, yes—I know that feeling all too well. But losing your children too? Alex, it's a horrible thing." Dave shook his head at the thought.
They turned and headed into the park, walking down the pathway. "Dave, can we make a promise now—to not ever act like one of us has endured more or less pain and grief? No comparisons of who lost more. I'd say—we both have lost so much, Dave. Too much."
"Agreed." Dave nodded and turned his head to smile at her. "I feel better already, you know."
"Good, I'm glad. Me too." Alex smiled too. "Do you want to keep walking? Will you tell me a little about Rita?"
"Sure, okay." He took a deep breath and began sharing about how they had met, decided to become serious, having children together, but Rita's insistence that she didn't need or want to be married to express their commitment to each other. He skimmed over the years quickly and held it together well until he got to the end of their story together. He cleared his throat in his typical attempt to ward off his tears and emotional high. "I know you've heard about what happened from Anna."
She nodded, and they walked in silence for a while longer before he spoke up again. "So, your turn. Tell me about John, Elaina, and Blake."
"Okay—well then—we were married fifteen years when it happened. Laney was in ninth grade, Blake was in fourth. We met…" She continued in their story for another ten minutes. In that time, they had walked a circle and were headed back towards the entrance to the park.
After she finished, also leaving off the end details since Dave had learned most of that, he spoke up. "So, I neglected to tell you earlier that it was my children who pushed me to come here tonight. I wasn't sure what the right time was to talk to you. But after they all found out, they were determined. I've not seen then come together in such a unified fashion since they begged me for a dog. They practically pushed me out the door." Dave chuckled.
"Oh, I see! If I had known pity would get me on their side, perhaps I would have shared my story before Detective Lucy could dig it up." Alex smirked, not out of bitterness, but finding humor in the sad situation.
"Oh, no, no." Dave pushed against her shoulder as they walked down the pavement towards the car and motorcycle. "Nothing like that."
"Yes, I know, just kidding." She said and they chuckled together. They stopped walking as they stepped up to Alex's car. "Thanks for coming, Dave," she said, "I'm glad the kids pushed you out the door."
"Yeah, me too." He smiled, looked down at his watch, and his mouth turned down in a frown. "Oh, I have got to get home. I left Lucy in charge, and at least one, if not all of the kids is probably going to be up waiting to hear how things went."
"Okay then." she said as she reached into her messenger bag to dig for her keys. She looked up when she felt his hand on her shoulder and she smiled up at him. He pulled her into his chest and gave her a hug, which she returned as he squeezed her gently. He released her, and she turned to push the button on the key fob and unlock the car while he walked over to unlock his helmet from the back of his motorcycle.
He turned back to her as she opened the door. "Say, do you have work tomorrow? Ewan has a game, we're all going to cheer him on. If you'd like to join us, I think the kids would like to see you again. Tanya will be there with Sam, so you could meet them. Tanya's been wanting to meet you and learn more about your business since I told her about you on Tuesday. We could discuss those new projects afterwards?"
A wide smile grew on her face. "I'm not on the schedule tomorrow, that sounds great."
"Meet us at the house then, at 1 o'clock tomorrow afternoon."
"Alright, see you then." She smiled, nodded, and got into the car. He got onto his motorcycle and started it but waited till she started her car and drove off before pulling out as well.
Dave slipped back into the house and surprisingly found the house quiet and all but the small lamp on the entry table turned off. He pulled his jacket off and slung it back onto its hook, dropping his helmet and keys on the table. He crept up the stairs and peaked into Evie's room, then the boys, impressed to find them asleep. He started to slip into his room when he heard a door squeak open. He peered across the hall to find Lucy peeking out of her door. She opened it the rest of the way and slipped out, whispering to him. "How'd it go?"
"Really well. You mind if she joins us at Ewan's game tomorrow? I thought it would be a fun time for all of us, maybe? You think everyone else will be okay with that?"
"Yeah, that's great, Dad—I really am looking forward to getting to know her more. She really was nice the other night. I was such a brat." Lucy shook her head at herself.
"Water under the bridge, Luce. Time for bed, now. But hey, good job with the kids tonight," he whispered back to her and nodded to the other kids' bedroom doors. "I'm very impressed."
Lucy smiled wide and came over, giving Dave a kiss on the cheek and a hug before walking back to her room and closing the door.
Dave followed his normal bedtime routine, getting washed up and into pajamas and went to bed. He checked his phone and chuckled at the text.
Alex: I have no idea what to wear tomorrow. I've never been to a football game. What colors should I wear, I know that's important?
He continued to smile as he typed back, received a response, and put his phone back down on the bedside table. He turned off the light, lay his head down on his pillow, and fell asleep with that smile on his face.