Second Chances in New Port Stephen - Chapter 66

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Second Chances in New Port Stephen - Chapter 66

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December 25, Christmas Day
Nick was living in a daze.
On the one hand, he was doing a pretty good job at the dad stuff. Zoe was up before dawn,
bouncing on Nick’s bed with excitement for Santa’s visit. He made her a stack of mini chocolate
chip pancakes, which she ate exactly one bite of before declaring, “I can open my first present
now.” Zoe tore the wrapping off the picture book about venerated journalist (and Nick’s middle-
school crush from Channel One News) Lisa Ling.
“She’s a reporter too! Like Connie Chung!” she said, pointing at the face on the cover.
Nick took lots of pictures.
But while he was going through the Christmas morning motions, he couldn’t shake the feeling
that things with Eli had ended on a strange note the night before. Right after Eli’s departure, Zoe
had woken up with a bad dream about the boat parade, and Nick had spent over an hour
soothing her back to sleep. Eli had texted him in the midst of it, which meant Nick had tried to
handle both with divided attention until realizing he couldn’t. He’d left Eli’s last text unread as
he coaxed Zoe to drink a cup of warm water and close her eyes. After everything that had
happened, Nick had fallen into bed exhausted—and alone.
There’d been something so businesslike about the way Eli had gotten dressed and left. Like what
they’d done wasn’t a big deal. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe he was
being too sensitive. He didn’t exactly have a ton of experience with hookups, if that’s what it
had been.
“Dad?” Zoe’s voice brought him back to the present. She tugged at his pajama pants leg, her
other hand bristling with dinosaur finger puppets. (Nick and Laurie had agreed: one gift at
Nick’s, the rest at Kay’s. But surely stocking stuffers didn’t count as a real gift.) “What did Santa
bring you for Christmas?”
“Oh, sweetie.” Nick abandoned his coffee mug on the counter and bent to pick her up. She still
fit on his hip, barely. “I’m a grown-up. I don’t need toys or presents. I have everything I need
because I have you.” He made Donald Duck squawking noises against her cheek as she shrieked
with laughter.
But when the giggles died down, Zoe said, “Being a grown-up isn’t very fun, huh?”
Wow. Nick was going to think about that one all fucking day.
He bundled Zoe into her green-and-red-checked Christmas outfit and headed over to his ex-
mother-in-law’s.

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