Eleanor & Grey(70)

“I won’t say no to that,” Landon agreed. “Make it anything but EastHouse—that shit tastes like piss,” he joked, making me chuckle as I flipped him off. It might’ve been the first time I laughed in months.

Everyone interacted with me as if I hadn’t been a recluse over the past year. They welcomed me back in with laughter and smiles and hugs. I got so many hugs that day.

On a weekend that was supposed to be hard, they all made it that much easier.

Seeing Lorelai having the time of her life warmed me up inside. I swore she was riding the pony for the hundredth time, but Karla opted to stay in her bedroom the whole time.

After the party died down I headed to Karla’s bedroom with a slice of the unicorn cake. My stomach was in knots as I knocked on her door.

She looked up from her computer and raised the headphones she wore. “What?” she muttered, staring at me as if I was the biggest nuisance in the world.

“I, uh, I brought you some cake,” I told her, walking into her room.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why?”

“I just thought you’d want some.” I set it down beside her, and her intense stare didn’t ease. “It would’ve been nice if you were at the party today. Everyone was asking about you.”

“Yeah, well,” she mumbled, going back to her computer screen.

“Karla, I was thinking—”

“Look, can we not do this?” she barked, taking off her headphones. “I don’t know what got into you or if the guilt of being a bad father for the past year has finally caught up with you, but I really don’t have time for it. I mean, yesterday was Lorelai’s birthday and you sent us away. Yesterday was the anniversary of Mom’s death, and you didn’t even spend it with your daughters. So, I’m sure everyone is happy-go-lucky to see you out and about and acting semi-human again, but please excuse me if I’m not interested in whatever it is that’s going on with you at the moment.”

My mouth gaped open, but no words left me. It was as if she’d slammed her fists into my gut and left me breathless. What was even worse about what she’d said was how true it was. I hadn’t been there for her or her sister for the past year.

“Mom would’ve never abandoned us,” she whispered, her voice shaky, and for the first time in a long time, she showed something other than anger—she showed her pain.

“Karla…” I started, reaching out to her, but she yanked her arm away.

“Just go, Dad,” she hissed, putting her headphones back on. “And take the stupid cake with you.”

I took a deep breath and picked up the plate. I wanted to say something else. I wanted to express myself in a way that would maybe make her understand what I’d been going through, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know how to even begin fixing the damage I’d caused her, the damage I’d caused my family.

I walked away and closed her bedroom door behind me. As I walked down the hallway, I heard voices and looked into the bathroom to see Lorelai washing her hands with Eleanor’s assistance. She was covered in chocolate and frosting, and the two of them were giggling like they were the best of friends.

“I think we got it all,” Eleanor commented, tapping Lorelai’s nose.

“Okay, good. I’m going to go get some more cake!” Lorelai hurried out of the room. She paused in front of me when she saw me standing there, and her eyes lit up. “Hey, Daddy!”

“Hey, you,” I said, giving her a small smile.

She rushed over, wrapped her arms around my legs, and pulled me into a hug. “Thanks for the best birthday party ever and the ponies and the cake and the burgers and…and…you’re the best dad ever.” She squeezed me tighter, and then when she let me go, she grabbed the plate in my hand and shouted, “And thanks for the cake!”

Eleanor was about to stop her from running off, but I shook my head. “It’s fine. We’ll deal with the sugar low when it comes.”

She nodded and leaned against the bathroom door frame, looking toward me. “Are you okay? You look upset.” She stood up a bit. “Are you upset about the party? I just thought…”

“No, not at all. This was amazing, Eleanor. You’ve been nothing but amazing to my family, to me, and words cannot express how thankful I am for that.”

“Then what is it? What’s wrong?”

“I, um…Karla’s never going to forgive me, and honestly, she shouldn’t,” I confessed. “I abandoned her and her sister when they needed me the most, and nothing I can do can remedy that fact. I walked away and left her drowning.”

“She’s just hurting, Greyson, with good reason, but she loves you.”

“I don’t even know if she does anymore.”

“She does,” she disagreed.

“How can you even be sure of that?”

“That many years of love don’t disappear because of one tragic year. You just have to give her time to come around again, and for now, you have to do one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Keep showing up, no matter what. She’s going to push, she’s going to scream, and she’s going to make you want to go, but you can’t walk away again, Grey. You have to keep showing up for her, even on the hard days,” she said. “Especially on the hard days. Which is why I got us tickets to go to a baseball game in two weeks. I already talked to Allison and she’s going to clear your schedule for the evening game. I also invited my cousin, Shay—I hope that’s okay. Plus, I talked Karla into going saying it was for Lorelai’s birthday. It just takes a few steps at a time to walk toward change.”