Chapter 4 - The Dinner Table Interrogation
The restaurant was an upscale Italian bistro near downtown Columbus—a place far grander than anywhere I usually took Lily.
Rachel was already seated when we arrived. She wore a tailored beige suit, her hair immaculately styled, looking like a woman straight out of a corporate magazine. When she saw Lily, a look of genuine surprise passed over her face, quickly replaced by a practiced smile.
"Look at you!" Rachel exclaimed, stepping forward to hug Lily.
Lily froze, her arms stiff at her sides, allowing the embrace without returning it. She looked up at Rachel with cautious, watchful eyes.
"Hi, Rachel," Lily said quietly. She didn't call her 'Mom.'
Rachel’s smile flickered, a subtle crack in her polished demeanor. "Rachel? Sweetie, I'm your mother."
"You haven't been here," Lily said simply, taking her seat across from her.
I sat next to Lily, remaining silent as promised, though every nerve in my body was on high alert.
Throughout the meal, Rachel tried to command the narrative. She spoke about her life in Phoenix, her promotion at the marketing firm, the pool behind her house, and the trip to Hawaii she was planning. She was treating an eight-year-old child like an executive client she was trying to pitch.
"I was thinking," Rachel said, cutting into her sea bass. "Maybe this summer you could come out to Phoenix for a month. We could go to the spa, visit the Grand Canyon..."
Lily set her fork down carefully. "I have summer camp with Leo."
Rachel paused, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at me. "Who is Leo?"
"He's my friend," Lily said, her voice growing stronger. "And his mom, Emily, makes the best chicken parmesan. Dad and I go over to their house every Friday."
Rachel turned her gaze fully onto me, a sharp, judgment-laden look. "So you've replaced me? You brought another woman into my daughter's life?"
Before I could answer, Lily stood up from her chair. She wasn't throwing a tantrum; her voice was remarkably controlled for a child her age.
"Dad didn't replace you," Lily said, looking Rachel dead in the eye. "You left. Emily didn't replace you either. She just showed up when you weren't here."
The dining room fell silent around us. Rachel sat paralyzed, her fork hovering in mid-air, face flushed with embarrassment.
"Can we go home now, Dad?" Lily asked, turning to me. "I want to finish my drawing with Leo."
I stood up, laid a fifty-dollar bill on the table to cover our meals, and looked at my ex-wife. "She answered your question, Rachel. Have a safe flight back to Phoenix."
May you like
We walked out into the cool night air. When we reached the car, Lily didn't cry. She just climbed into the passenger seat, reached for my hand, and whispered, "Can we go to Emily's house?"
"Yeah, baby," I said, turning the key in the ignition. "We're going home."
