Amalia nodded. “There’s nothing left for her here.”
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. My stomach tossed and turned as I looked down at the food before me.
“I can’t understand why she thinks she has nothing left for her here. I can’t understand why you’re letting what I think get in the way of your happiness.”
“Amalia, I know you don’t want me to date her.”
She chuckled and shrugged a shoulder. “That didn’t Mateoer to you the first time, so why does it Mateoer to you now?”
“You are the most important person in my life.”
“I want you to be happy, Dad. If Gina is the one who makes you happy, then I don’t want to be the person that stands in the way of that. You’re going to have a child together. She loves you, and you love her. I don’t want to ruin that.”
“You’re not ruining it.”
Amalia nodded with a small smile. “You’re right. I’m not. She’s staying at the beach house. I gave her the keys for the weekend. She wanted a place to think about her next move.”
“Are you sure that you would be okay with us together?”
“It’s weird,” Amalia said, shuddering a little. “I don’t know if it’s ever not going to be weird, but you two are the people I love the most. I want both of you to be happy, and if that’s with each other, that’s how it is.”
“Kid, when did you grow up into such an amazing young woman? Your mom would be so proud of you.”
“I know,” Amalia said. She gave me a cheeky smile as I got up from the table. “But I will be moving to the city after Fashion Week. I need a place of my own, and you two will need the space for a baby.”
“You know this doesn’t mean I’m replacing you or what your mom and I had, right?”
“I know. Besides, this means I get to stay at the beach house by myself whenever I return to town. So I’m the one who wins with this entire arrangement.”
I laughed and rounded the table to kiss the top of her head. “I’m going to go to the beach house.”
“And that’s as much detail about anything that either of you can give me. So make sure she knows that too. I want to know nothing about her sex life.”
“Love you, Amalia.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
After hugging her quickly, I headed for my car.
I had a mess to fix and wouldn’t waste time waiting around.
***
Gina was sitting by the fire pit when I got to the beach house. She had a blanket wrapped around her legs, and her hair blew in the breeze. A small smile was on her face as if she was entirely at peace.
“A little birdie told me that I could find you out here,” I said, sticking my hands in my pockets as I approached her. Gina looked up at me, and that smile faded. “I can go if you want me to.”
“It’s your house.”
“I should be honest with you about the breakup. There was more going on than I told you about.”
“I already know that Amalia asked you to end it.” Gina sighed and pulled her blanket a little higher.
“Well, that was the only other thing I had to tell you then.” I perched myself on the arm of the chair next to her. “I love you, Gina, and I want to make this work between us.”
“And the fact that we’re in two very different places in our lives doesn’t bother you?”
“It bothers me. A lot. That’s because I worry that you’ll wake up and regret this one morning.”