Mostly, though, I wanted to stop trembling with the fear that Simon decided I wasn’t worth the effort to woo once again.

16

Simon

My talk with Ella’s father relieved none of my concerns. I’d brought him to the pub, explaining my idea over a lunch of fish and chips and lager and lime.

“Marsha said she overheard your conversation with that young woman.” Dave pushed back his plate, tossing the white paper napkin on top.

“Angelica?”

“The young lady at the hospital.”

“She’s my . . . well, right now my crisis-management specialist, I guess. But she’s my new point of contact at the studio.” I wiped my hands on my napkin and took a long sip of my beer.

“Hmmm.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Seems like you’ve spent more time with that woman than with Ella.”

“First off, Ella doesn’t want to see me. Second, you don’t want me near Ella.”

Dave rubbed his hand down his chin. “It’s not that, exactly.”

“Oh?”

Dave wrapped his thick fingers around the pint glass. “Look, I appreciate the effort you’re making with Jeremiah. He’s a good boy and deserves to feel safe and loved.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” I met my father-in-law’s gaze, letting him see all the raw hurt I carried in my soul. “I don’t want to leave Ella, Dave.” I relaxed my fisted hands, smoothed them down my thighs. I cleared my throat. “I want to be the husband she deserves. The father my children need and can be proud of.”

Dave glanced around the pub, his face holding the same level of consternation it had when Ella brought him to my first big international festival in Liverpool two years ago. “I understand numbers. Those make sense. This desire to create, to express yourself, seems like it just causes lots of selfishness.”

I rubbed my palms over my cheeks. “I’m going to do right by my family. I’d like your blessing, of course, but I need to show Ella how much she means to me.”

“Ella needs support. Emotional and financial.”

I brought my gaze back up to his. “You’re talking about Philip Wagner.”

Dave shook his head. “No. I’m talking about my relationship with Marsha. She wanted to leave me, you know.”

I clasped my hands together next to my half-filled plate and waited.

“She’d had an affair.” He cleared his throat. “Took me years to get past it. Ella deserves better than I had. Than you’ve given her. If you can’t do that for her, maybe it’s best you just let things go. We’d love to have her home.”