It hit me then how nice it felt to be with a woman who had a natural love for life. I compared Ella to Penelope who had sulked almost three quarters of our married life. Ella met every day as if it was a gift while Penelope had behaved as if life was something to be endured and suffered until she received a party invitation. Then she became animated.
I had my car keys with me and was ready to leave.
Molly walked between us and held both our hands.
It felt like we were a real family.
“Can we have the sunroof open please?” Ella asked.
“Yes ma’am,” I said. “Your wish is my command.” I did as she asked. “Anything else, my ladies?”
Molly giggled from the back.
I tried to play it cool but I couldn’t keep the huge grin from my face.
It looked like a gorgeous day for a drive. The sun spilled into the car casting a golden glow on the girls. The wind blew in and messed up Ella’s hair which made Ella put all of it into a mad bun on the top of her head. Then she turned around to make comical faces at Molly, which made Molly fall over laughing.
Every so often, I stared at them through the rear-view mirror as my transformed daughter and I felt light, as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
I searched my mind to identify and name the emotion I was feeling. I found it. Happy. I felt… happy. I hadn’t felt this way in a long time. My marriage to Penelope had been a miserable mistake. I could admit that now. But it wasn’t a mistake I regretted because it had given me Molly.
I’d been humiliated and angry when she left me for another man, but as time went by, I relished the peace in our lives. Had Molly not been affected so badly by her mother’s leaving, I would have celebrated her leaving us because for the first time in years, I had peace in my life.
Our destination was a farm on the outskirts of the city. It took forty-five minutes to get there.
Ella sang silly songs and made us both laugh with her antics.
The man who married Ella would be a lucky man indeed.
A stab of jealousy pierced through me, surprising me with its intensity. I shook my head as if clearing it of the fog of possessive fury. A part of me, the caveman part, wanted to keep Ella for myself, but the rational side of me recognized how unfair that would be‒I couldn’t offer her what she needed‒what she deserved.
Ella had the heart of an angel, and was such a good person. She deserved a man who could love and cherish her completely. Marry her and be willing to start again. I was not that man.
Once, I had been that man. I wish we had met then. Instead, I had met Penelope, a woman as selfish as they came. We wanted different things in life. When she found out I wasn’t the party guy she needed, she had left.
Which would have been fine, if not for what it had done to Molly. I couldn’t give Molly another mother who might walk out on her again. I’d vowed to myself that I’d never place her in such a vulnerable situation again.
“We’re here!” Ella announced breaking into my reverie.
I drove the car down the graveled road to the farmhouse and killed the engine.
The door of the farmhouse swung open and a man in a straw hat stepped out. “How y’all doing?” he shouted coming to the car. “You must be the folks my Maggie told me about, coming for the puppy.”
Luke
I glanced at Ella and smiled. She smiled back. Then I got out of the car and opened the back door for Molly.
“My, what a pretty girl. I bet you’re excited about your new puppy!” the man exclaimed.
Molly shifted a questioning, wide-eyed, disbelieving glance at me.
The look nearly broke my heart. I nodded. “Yes, we’re getting a puppy for you.”
“I’m getting a puppy?” Molly echoed in disbelief.
“That’s right.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I'm getting a puppy?”
I crouched next to her. “Yes, my darling. You’re getting a puppy.”
Suddenly, her mouth opened wide and crying soundlessly, she threw her arms around my neck.
“Don’t cry, Molly. Please don’t cry,” I whispered, distraught to see her crying like this.
Ella crouched next to me. “It’s okay, Luke. She’s just happy. These are happy tears.”
I scooped my daughter up in my arms and carried her towards the farmhouse.
The family of ten was all in the large kitchen, having their four o’clock snacks. Eight children with identical blond hair looked up from their meal.
A pang of envy came over me as I observed their simple, yet full life. You could tell they all loved each other. They had the kind of family that most people dreamed of but never got to experience.
I glanced over at Ella and I knew marriage to her would be like that. She laughed a lot and loved easily.
“Is this the very special little girl that has come for her puppy then,” the mother asked with a smile.
“It is,” I said.
One of the bigger girls stood and called to Molly to go outside.
Molly cast a worried glance at me.
I nodded at her reassuringly then I put Molly on the ground and we followed at a more leisurely pace behind the girls.
The dogs were housed in comfortable kennels at the back of the house.
“We’re giving away only one, but you can choose which one you want,” the girl said with a warm smile.
It warmed my heart to see strangers being kind to Molly. It made me question what kind of person Penelope really was to take off without a backward glance. She had treated Molly like a burden that she’d been happy to drop. In the early days, I had lain awake most nights wondering if she ever thought of Molly at all.
