Ambush

Chapter 47

I was sitting on the couch trying to hide how tired I was from Mary Catherine and Juliana. I was recovering, but the long days seemed to hit me hard in the evenings.

I never wanted to say anything to the family, because I cherished these evenings at home with the children. Working on school projects, talking sports, listening to their dreams and hopes. It was magical. Usually.

At the moment, I was in a serious conversation with Juliana. I know that an eighteen-year-old in New York can legally make her own choices. But that’s not what parenting is all about. I’m not naive. Sometimes you can’t be the fun dad who always cracks jokes. This was one of those times.

Juliana said, “You don’t even know Cade.”

I said, “You mean Carter?”

“I mean the man I’m currently dating.”

That stung a little bit. I didn’t like to think of my daughters dating. But I was realistic. She was a beautiful girl, and now she was going to be on TV. I had to watch what I was going to say.

“You mean the twenty-six-year-old man you are currently dating.” So much for watching what I said.

“I’m legally an adult. It doesn’t matter how old he is.”

Now Mary Catherine leaned in and said, “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Let’s take a break and talk about it tomorrow.”

With that, Juliana stood up quickly and said, “Fine.” She stormed out of the room and left me shaken.

I looked at Mary Catherine and just shook my head.

She put an arm around my shoulders and said, “She has a point. She is an adult. Maybe it would be better to give her a little space and not push too hard.”

“It’s just that I don’t like to see my children make mistakes. I’m trying to save them from going through the same things I did.”

“But we all make mistakes. I would think a man of your advanced years would know that by now.”

That made me smile. Only for a moment. Mary Catherine was absolutely right, but I was still a father worried about his daughter.

Mary Catherine said, “Is there something here I don’t understand? Or are you just trying to set a certain bar for the other girls as they get older and start to date?”

I dropped my head into my hands and admitted, “I just don’t want to make the same mistakes I made with Brian.”

“What mistakes? You’re a great father. You did everything you could to be a good father to Brian. Sometimes people make poor choices. They make mistakes. Hopefully they learn from them and move on. I think that’s the position you might have to take with Juliana.”

“I know. That makes sense. I was just considering my other options.”

“Such as?”

“Having one of my buddies arrest this young man and maybe losing him in Rikers Island for a few months. Is that a realistic possibility?”

Mary Catherine let out a short giggle and hugged me. Maybe things might work out after all, if I gave them a chance.