“Same as always,” he said. “Work before me.Work before us.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Probably not,” he said. “Not unless you can convince the travel agency to refund my tickets. But I promise you can’t.”
“What? She canceled?” Daddy just nodded.
My heart sank for him. He had spent months planning this getaway. To think that Mom would just cancel on him last minute like this was unbelievable.
He had been planning and looking forward to this for months, How could she?
“How do you know they won’t refund you?” I asked.
“I am going to call them and check tomorrow,” he replied. I don’t think that I had ever heard him sound so sad. “But I am pretty sure that the whole package is non–refundable. I could try to find. somebody to buy the tickets off of me, but I doubt anybody will. It’s next weekend.”
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“Well,” I said. “Why not go yourself?” I asked. “On a couple’s retreat?” he asked.
“Sure,” I replied. “You have been looking forward to this. Don’t let her ruin it for you.”
“It wouldn’t be the same,” he said. “It would be lonely, and I am going to get enough of lonely with you going off to college next year.
He wasn’t wrong. I had taken a year off after graduation, but next fall I would be moving hours away from him so that I could start college. We sat in silence for a few minutes as the evening grew darker and darker.
“I could come with you, Daddy,” I said.
“You don’t want to do that,” came his response after a while. “It’s a couples retreat, Hon Everything there is going to be all mushy as if we were a couple. You would be embarrassed.”
“A free island getaway? Are you kidding me?” I asked. I was sitting in the chair next to him now. “You’re right. That sounds horrible.”
“They’re going to think we are husband and wife,” he said. I could tell he was coming around to the idea of taking me along but wanted to make sure that I knew what I was getting myself
into.
“So what if they do. I can pretend to be your wife for a weekend.” I said.
“You sure?” He asked.
“Yeah, Daddy. It’ll be fun.” I nudged him with my elbow. “Just don’t go getting any ideas.
Secretly, I wished that maybe he would.
