Take a Chance

"Good," she thought.

Nothing was unusual until she clicked on the light in her father's home office, because there, sitting behind his desk, was her father. Oh, Fuck! She nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Daddy!"

"Hi, Sara."

"Uh. What are you doing home? I thought you were going to be gone two more days."

"Well, Daughter, I live here. At least for the moment. I think the real question though..." she was already starting to tear up, "...is where have you and your mother been sleeping."

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Now she was really bawling. It was no act either. She loved her daddy and didn't know what was about to happen. She knew this day was coming, but not like this. She had hoped she would have graduated before this day came.

As angry as he was at his wife, he was cautiously optimistic that his daughter would always love him, but he suspected he was about to learn if that was true or not. He held open his arms for his daughter, and she ran to him, scootching onto his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging onto him for dear life.

He just let her go on for several minutes until she finally had herself under control. She whispered, "I'm so sorry, Daddy. I never wanted you to get hurt."

"It's a little late for that, but clearly I've upset whatever your mother had planned, so I'm hoping someone will tell me the truth for a change. Will you, Pumpkin? No matter how bad you might think I'll be hurt, I really need for someone I trust to tell me where things stand."

She nodded her head into his chest and said, "Will you sit with me in the family room by the Christmas tree? I would be more comfortable in there."

"Okay."

They took up their regular spots, he in his chair and a half and her on the love seat.

She asked, "Where do you want me to begin?"

"I guess what I'm most interested in is what are you planning on doing? Then, it might be nice to know when did she and Robert become a couple and when did she plan to have me served?...assuming you know."

"You know about Robert? Oh, God. Okay. I think I know those answers. I'm going to go back to where I think it began. You had been gone so much before COVID hit. You were home a lot before my freshman year, but when school started that year, it was like you disappeared -- China, Cambodia, Dubai, Spain, Mexico. You were literally circling the earth. I loved Facetiming you, but it wasn't the same as your being here.

"Mom was her usual self, so I started hanging around over at Kelly's. During the fall, Dr. Janus invited me to stay and eat dinner with them several times, and I accepted. He and Kelly asked mom on multiple occasions to join us. I think that was what started it. When you were gone, the four of us were usually there. We didn't sleep there, then, but we spent a lot of time there. You and Mom have always loved Kelly, so all of us spending time together didn't seem that unusual.

"Then, I noticed on some of the nights that Kelly and I returned late from going out or studying, mom was still there. It didn't take long to realize that they had something going on. I gave mom both barrels because I was furious at what she was doing behind your back. Kelly did the same to Dr. Janus."

Jerry said, "apparently not furious enough to tell your clueless father."

That brought back the waterworks, and it took Sara several seconds to compose herself.

"I wanted to Daddy, but she told me that this way I could keep seeing you when you came home. If I told you and the two of you got divorced, she would get me, and I would hardly ever see you. Not that you were home much anyway. I didn't like it, but you and mom hardly ever talk about anything meaningful anyway. I swear the two of you have just been roommates for years.

"This seemed like the easiest way because it meant that whenever you were home, I was here with you. I've missed you so much. This is going to sound terrible, and I feel guilty for even thinking this way, but COVID did do one great thing for me. I got to spend an entire year with my father. I know we were cooped up inside most of the time, but you were HERE. WITH ME!"

Now Jerry felt even more guilty. It was clear that he handled the situation with his wife poorly. He had no one to blame for that. He had missed his daughter, too, but being in the same house with Linda...well, he had sucked it up for as long as he could before he started traveling.

"I begged her to give me this last Christmas with you. Then you would go back on the road, and she would serve you when you returned home. She said that she doesn't want anything from you. She wouldn't give me the details, but she admitted your staying away was her fault and she planned to let you keep most everything, except for a few ornaments and some kitchen things. I'm not sure why that is except that Robert does quite well, so she doesn't need anything from you."

She saw him wince at her saying that.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Daddy. I didn't mean it that way. I know you do very well. It's just that with him being a surgeon, I just always thought that well...you know. That maybe he did a little better, so mom wouldn't need to try to screw you in a divorce. At least that is what she promised me."

Just then Sara's phone started playing Dierks Bentley's, I Hold On -- a song they both could relate to. Jerry smiled at that. She looked at her dad and returned his smile. She loved her dad.

The text was from her mother, "What's taking you so long? Are you okay?"

Sara held her finger to her lip to tell her dad to be silent and called her mom on speaker, "I'm almost done, Mom. After I sent him the files, I started looking for something different to wear to school."

"Dinner's almost ready. You can make do until you are back there in a few days. Hurry up."

"Okay. I will." Then she disconnected the call.

She looked at her father, "What are you going to do, Daddy?"

"You still haven't told me when you started staying there while I was gone."

He could see her blush before she said, "A few months before you came home for COVID."

It was Jerry's turn to flame red. He was dumbfounded. "How did they manage during COVID?"

"He wasn't home very much. When he was, he did her shopping, and she would show up for what he purchased plus a booty call."

"And you and Kelly knew all this? Why keep up the charade? Why keep me in the dark?"

"Because as long as you were married to Mom, I stayed here every night that you were here. Every. Single. Night. I love you and have missed you and told Mom that if she tried to take me away from you that I would make her life a living Hell. So she sucked it up during COVID and began to make her exit plans for after this Christmas. I don't know what's going to happen now. I doubt you will want her to come back home for Christmas."

Jerry scoffed at that idea.

"Pumpkin, I think the question is what are you going to do? I'll be here every night that you can be. I had planned to work more from home for the rest of your senior year. I don't know what I'll do after you graduate, but for the next six months, I'm not planning to be gone but maybe five to ten nights."

"Per month?" she asked.

"In total. I've missed you, too."

She was tearing up again, "You aren't just saying that, are you?"

"I've never lied to you, Sara. I've not always been able to get home as soon as I wanted to, but I've never lied to you."

"Oh."

"I suspect that she will need to change the divorce papers to state joint custody because I plan to be here. Besides, you are old enough that you can pick what you want to do. So at this point, I think you need to think about what you want."

He could see her struggling.

"You don't have to make a decision tonight. Just know that I want you here as much as possible okay. I need you, too."

Sara walked over and sat next to her father and squeezed him as tightly as she could. "I need you too, Daddy. I want you to think about something for me. Kelly needs help, too. You probably don't want to hear this because she's Robert's daughter, but she's like the sister I never had. So please try to be understanding. She's glad that Mom makes her Dad happy, but she's as pissed off as I am over how they went about this. She thinks her Mom would be pissed, too."

That was a new wrinkle.

"I'll try to understand, Pumpkin. Head on back and calm yourself. You're going to have to tell her that you saw me."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think you'll be able to compose yourself enough to fake your way through it."

"I don't think I could with you, but I've had plenty of practice with her."

He sighed, "Well, I hope you never get good at it with me."

"Me too. Will you think about something for me?"

"Sure."

"Could Kelly stay over some?"

"I doubt her Dad will allow it, but you know I love her too, right. She's always been welcome here."

"Thank you. I love you, so much." She squeezed him again, tightly.

"I love you, too. Tell Kelly that she sang beautifully last night."

Sara exclaimed, "You were there?!"

"MmmHmm. I thought you were the best one, but you know that already. I came home early just to see your last Christmas performance. I call you Pumpkin because of that Halloween costume thirteen years ago, but you've always been my angel."

"Were those my lilies on the ground last night?"

"I'm sorry, Sara. When I saw your mother and Robert together...I just...I...I had to get out of there or they would have had to take me to jail for breaking Robert's hands."

Her smiled had turned into a frown. "I understand, but I'm glad you came. It means a lot that you would come home early for me."

"It's always been for you. I would do anything for you. You're the only reason I'm still living in this house."

"Goodnight, Daddy. I would do anything for you, too."

Later that night he received a text. "I faked her out tonight. I'm going to talk to Kelly, and we'll tell Mom and Robert tomorrow night."

Jerry wondered if Linda would really just walk away from everything when the courts would easily give her half.

* * * * *

The next day, Friday, he went into his office at work and asked a few colleagues who had been divorced about a family lawyer. Later, he arranged an appointment for the middle of next week. Just to protect himself, he moved some money around and grabbed several thousand in cash.

Later that night he received a call from Sara, "I told mom that you came back early and that I told you everything. She wants to talk to you."

"I'll send her a text. I'm not really in the mood to talk to her just yet."

"I understand. She took it okay. She's not upset or angry or anything. I think she's happy that it's almost over."

"That isn't exactly high praise for me, is it?"

"She said you were probably only sticking around for me. It isn't as if you and she were going to counseling to try and make things work out. Which means that this could work out okay for both of you."

"We'll see. Have you thought about your staying here?"

"I'm still talking to Kelly. I'll call you this weekend, okay?"

"Okay. Just know that I want you here as much as possible."

"I know. Me too. Bye, Daddy."

"Bye, Pumpkin."

That night as he played on the piano, he should have been mourning the final stages of his marriage. Instead, he was thinking about the next six months with his daughter. He also thought about Annie.

* * * * *

Saturday was the day he was supposed to arrive home, which meant Sara was supposed to be there. He guessed everything was up in the air for the moment. Christmas was still two weeks away, so he hoped he could convince Sara to come home soon.

He received a text from Linda asking, "If you give me a date, time, and location of your choosing, I'll have the divorce documents served at your convenience."

"Monday evening. 6:00 pm. Here @ home."

"Okay. I'm sorry, Jerry."

He didn't reply to that. The depth of her sorrow would be shown in the divorce documents.

On Sunday morning he received a text from Sara, "Meet me at our grocery store in an hour to buy groceries. I'm coming home tonight for a little over a week. I'll tell you more when I see you."

He was thrilled to hear that.

At the grocery store, he saw Sara drive up, and Kelly was in the car, too. Upon seeing her, he quickly walked over to help her out of the car. She gave him a big hug.

"Hi, Mr. Anderson. Thank you for thinking about me the other night. I'm sorry I didn't get to see you."

He thought to himself, "Her mother must have been a special lady because she raised a great girl."

"Hi Kelly, you sang wonderfully the other night. Did you come because you were worried that Sara wouldn't be able to provide enough direction?"

"Nope. I'm here to make sure that you and Sara buy the things that I like."

He gave her a confused look and turned to Sara who was grinning. "That was the deal we made with Mom and her Dad. We're sisters, and where I go, she goes."

Flustered, Jerry fumbled out, "But, but...won't your dad throw a fit. Could he call the cops? Jeez, I mean..."

"Dad? Trust me, okay? Trust us. We'll give you the details when we get home. It's going to be fine. Well...I'm assuming that you don't mind Kelly being with us."

"Of course. I love having her at our house." Turning to Kelly he said, "I hope you know that."

"Thanks, Mr. A. I do. I've always known that."

* * * * *

They had a lot of fun shopping. The girls already had a tentative menu outlined. Jerry wasn't going to protest anything they wanted to buy. They could clean out the store for all he cared. It looked like he was going to get to spend time with his baby, and that was all that mattered to him. Kelly was a nice bonus.

They spent a wonderful day together. The girls were in honors and AP classes, so they had homework to do in the afternoon, but they enjoyed cooking dinner together. Jerry cleaned up, and later, he played on the piano while they sang. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings he could remember.

Sara told him that they were going to alternate weeks between his house and Kelly's house, with a bias towards extra time with him, since he had been away so much at the beginning of the school year.

On Monday he was served as expected. The papers seemed to match what Sara had said. Linda was basically walking away with a few small items she wanted and her 401k. She just wanted out. That was okay because it was what he wanted, too. Clearly, it helped him that she had been seeing and planning to marry a surgeon. He wondered if she would feel the same way if she were dating a bank teller. Then, knowing Linda, he scoffed, "No way she would be dating a bank teller."

One thing was certain, though, Linda wanted their marriage to be over, and Jerry was going to make out quite well as a result.

He asked the girls if they had plans for Friday night and they didn't, so he surprised them by taking them to the Austin Symphony's Christmas Concert. Parking is usually a pain and since he didn't want Kelly walking a long way, he hired a limo. For the concert, he was wearing a dapper suit and the girls were in nice dresses, so afterwards they went to a high-end restaurant to celebrate. The girls ate up all the attention.

Christmas was split between the two homes, but Kelly and Sara were inseparable. Kelly even went with Jerry and Sara to visit his parents, who lived near Fredericksburg in the middle of Texas Hill Country, the weekend after Christmas.

It was easily the happiest holiday season that he'd had since his and Linda's problems began all those years ago.

During the girls' last several months of school, life went well. The divorce was finalized, and Linda and Robert made plans to get married. The girls' schooling was good, and both girls were accepted into the University of Texas in Austin. Jerry's work was productive, and true to his word, he had only a few domestic trips, none overseas.

He tried to do something special for the girls at least once a month when they were with him -- concerts, opera, and he even took them out to a ranch in the hill country one weekend for skeet shooting lessons, BBQ, and stargazing. They ate it up.

Robert and Linda planned to take the girls to England after graduation as a gift. When they told Jerry, he asked, "I'm really not trying to play keep-up-with-the-Joneses with Robert and Linda, but would you be okay if I took you somewhere? You know I do have a bit of experience when it comes to traveling."

Sara scoffed at the last remark given how much he had been gone, "Do you have any place in mind?"

"What would the two of you think about a couple of weeks in Australia?"

* * * * *

Chapter 3

At the end of the girls' graduation ceremony, before the girls arrived, Linda approached Jerry. It was the first time they had spoken face to face since before his trip to Malaysia and Singapore.

She said, "Now that things have calmed down, would you be willing to talk with me for a few minutes? I know that we'll never be close, even with both girls caught in the middle, but I would appreciate just a few minutes of your time.

He nodded his agreement. The girls were happy seeing the two of them talking at all and hugged all three of their parents.

Several days later, Linda joined Jerry on what was now his back deck.

She started, "I want to thank you for not trying to blow everything up last Christmas and letting the divorce proceed smoothly. I could have handled that better, and it was at least the second time that I let you down. I'm in a good place now, so thank you."

He had thought about this conversation several times. He could be really ugly, or he could focus on what was best for the girls. He wanted to do the former. He chose to do the latter.

He said, "It hurt; you know. Discovering the first affair and then the second one. Twice? Was I that big of a bastard?"

"No. You weren't. After you caught me the first time, no matter what I tried, you made it very clear that we were only staying together for Sara. I thought several times about filing for divorce and requesting primary custody or even joint custody, but you didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve that. She has always looked up to you, and she needed you in her life. So our lives sucked for a few years while we tried to do what was best for her."

He scoffed, "I'm not sure that what we did was what was best for her, but it meant we both got to maximize our time with her. Thank you for that."

"Robert and I were preparing for me to divorce you just before COVID hit. I always wanted it to be as amicable as possible, which is why I asked for so little. COVID forced us to wait a little longer. He really was trying to protect Kelly...and me."

Jerry said, "Does he know about you and your two-year-long affair with Duncan Hunter? Please tell me you're not keeping secrets."

"I told Robert all about it; my affair, your sitting on the hood of my car when we exited that hotel room, and what the affair did to us and Sara. He knows what he's getting, and I know what I'm getting in return. He isn't exactly squeaky clean either. I believe we are both trying to do better and enter this relationship with honesty."

Jerry nodded his head and muttered, "Good."

Jerry thought for a moment before saying, "You know, I didn't piece this together until a few months ago one night after Kelly and Sara returned to you. I wasn't even really trying, and then it popped into my head. During COVID, those nights we had sex when Kelly was staying at her home, does Robert know about that? Were you waiting until Kelly was there, so she wouldn't know anything or maybe accidentally tell him?"

He could see that he struck a nerve. He saw the anxiousness spread across her face, and suddenly she was fearful.

"I'll take that as a 'no.' Don't worry. I won't say anything. Besides, it's too confusing to determine who you were really married to at the time."