“Can I come in?” Mitch asked, his raspy voice stabbing into Emily’s ears like a thousand needles. She had no idea how she had even stayed married to him for eighteen years, let alone listened to his God-awful voice for that long.
“Is Callie with you?” Emily asked, tilting her head to the right as her eyebrows arched.
“No, she’s at home with the baby,” Mitch said, shoving his hands into his denim jean pockets.
“I forgot she has a bedtime.” Emily smiled, stepping away from the doorway, making room for him to enter.
“Yeah, Lexi usually falls asleep around seven or so, well, on a good night,” Mitch said, stepping into the foyer of Emily’s home, the door clicking shut behind him.
“I was actually talking about Callie,” Emily joked, crossing her arms over her white tank top as Mitch’s eyes narrowed on her.
“Funny,” Mitch said, forcing a smile, as he unzipped his black jacket and took it off, draping it on the coat rack attached to the wall beside the front door.
“What do you want, Mitch?” Emily asked as she turned, making her way through the doorway to the right and into the kitchen. Emily flipped the light switch on as the bulbs above shot on, the light filling the room.
“I came to talk to you about Blair,” Mitch said as he followed Emily into the kitchen. He removed his thick, black-rimmed glasses and held them in his hands, rubbing the lenses on the front of his black and blue plaid shirt. “She came back today, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, she landed this morning,” Emily said as she stepped to the stove in the corner and placed a tea kettle on the burner. “Tea?”
“Sure,” Mitch said as he lowered himself on a chair at the small, round dinner table in the center of the bright kitchen. “She hasn’t called.”
“Mitch, are you really that surprised? I mean, she hasn’t spoken to you in a year,” Emily said as she the flame danced beneath the teakettle.
“Well, I figured a year was long enough. Plus, she was in another country, for God’s sake. I figured maybe she’d want to see me.” Mitch shrugged as he ran his hands over his large nose and up through his long, brown hair.
“When she wants to see you, she’ll see you, Mitch. I can’t force her. I can’t make her talk to you,” Emily said as she walked to the kitchen table and sat down in the white dining chair across from him. “You’ve got to just give her time.”
“Well, I went by her apartment and she wasn’t there,” Mitch confessed, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back into the chair.
“Did you call first?”
“No, I figured I’d surprise her.” Mitch shrugged, rubbing his hand over his stubbly chin.
“Yeah, because that’s a great way to break the ice, just showing up at her door.” Emily rolled her eyes. Mitch never understood Blair. He didn’t know how to talk to her. He didn’t know her language. He never took the time to get to know his own daughter. He was too busy at the law firm or too busy bending Callie over his desk.
“Well, I know she won’t reach out, so I improvised. Her car wasn’t there, either. I knocked and knocked but there was no answer. I just didn’t know if you heard from her tonight.”
“She told she was going out to run errands and then going to dinner with Cole.”
“God, she’s still seeing that punk?” Mitch groaned, resting his elbows on the table.
“That punk treats your daughter well, Mitch. He’s a good kid.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know. She’s never introduced us,” Mitch retorted.
“Then how do you know he’s a punk?” Emily asked.
“Any guy who dates my daughter is a punk. It’s like an unwritten dad rule.” Mitch snickered as Emily rolled her eyes, standing up as the teakettle whistled on the stove.
“Well, when she’s ready for you to meet him, you’ll meet him,” Emily said as she pulled open a cabinet door and grabbed two white mugs from inside.
“Listen, I know I wasn’t the best husband. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I was, all right,” Mitch said as he stood up, inching toward Emily as she dropped a black tea bag into each of the mugs. “But I always tried to be the best father.”
“Where the hell was I during all of this?” Emily snickered sarcastically as she grabbed the teakettle and filled each mug, the hot water rising to the rim inside.
“I gave her everything she ever wanted. She never went without.”
“Yeah, because that’s what a daughter wants, Mitch. She didn’t want your money. She didn’t want the expensive gifts. I mean, for God’s sake, you got her a brand new iPhone for her tenth birthday. She didn’t want any of that shit. All she wanted was for you to be there,” Emily said as she turned, handing a mug to Mitch.
“I was there.”
“In what alternate universe are you living in, Mitch? You were barely home. You left at seven in the morning and usually wouldn’t get home until ten or eleven. You were there for what? Maybe to watch her sleep.” Emily sighed as she grabbed the other mug and carried it to the kitchen table.
“What the hell
