“Really,” I confirm. “How does that sound?”
“Great!” Lily cheers. “Can we invite Mom, too?”
My smile becomes fixed. I would be okay with never seeing Polly again, at this point.
“I’ll see what she says,” I promise instead.
Lily’s sake. This is all for Lily’s sake. As much as I want to, I can’t just tell Polly to stay away. Not only will she just keep going with her custody battle, where I can’t confront her, but it would devastate Lily now that she finally has her mom around to talk to.
“Thanks, Dad,” Lily beams, hugging me around the middle and then skipping away.
I take the chance to quickly peek into my room. Georgia has rolled over, but she’s still sleeping. I close my door and turn around.
Lily is standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her eyes narrowed, staring at me. Oops.
“What’s going on?” Lily asks suspiciously. “Is there someone in there?”
“No,” I counter. “I just, uh, heard the wind knock something over.”
Lily turns to look outside the kitchen window, at the tree that has branches curling around the grass. There’s not enough wind to stir even the smallest leaves.
Double damn.
Lily doesn’t say anything, however. She knows that I just lied to her, but she doesn’t call me out on it. Instead she just stares at me suspiciously before flouncing into the kitchen. I sigh and follow her; I need to keep an eye on her in case she starts investigating.
And then I would have to find some way to explain.
“Can we have some toast?” Lily asks, already grabbing a loaf of bread.
“Sounds good,” I comment. “What do you want on it?”
“Honey?” Lily asks hopefully.
“Honey toast, coming right up,” I joke, taking the bread she’s handing me.
Lily beams and takes a seat at the table. For a long moment, she just stares at me, thinking. Finally, however, she sits up straighter, and I’m unprepared for the first thing she says.
“So, why is Georgia in your room?” Lily asks casually.
I almost drop my knife.
“What?” I ask.
“I saw her when you opened the door,” Lily says.
“What, but…” I clear my throat. “It’s grown-up stuff. We just decided to have a sleepover.”
Lily grins. “So Georgia is here.”
I frown at her.
“You just said you saw her,” I point out.
“My teacher taught us about bluffing,” Lily says, beaming.
I’ve just been out played by my ten-year-old daughter. It was the oldest trick in the book too.
“I see,” I respond, rolling my eyes. “Then, yes, Georgia is here. But she’s asleep. I’ll tell her you wanted to say hi.”