I’ll give her a gesture, I think. I rummage through my closet to try to find a necktie. I haven’t worn one since Ty’s wedding. Hell, I don’t even wear a tie when I have an art opening. Those shows are all about me anyway. Fuck anyone who tells me what to wear. But this morning isn’t about me. It’s about Emma and I need to make every effort to do this right.
I find the tie from Ty’s wedding. I frown, noticing that it doesn’t really match the pants I picked out and, soon enough, I find myself wearing the entire rig I put on for my brother’s ceremony. We all bought grey suits to match our eyes. I actually dig how I look in this vest and decide I’m going to start wearing these more often. The tie can go to hell, though.
I sigh and climb in my fancy family car, that I hope like hell will soon carry my family. Emma still hasn’t told her parents about the baby and through my entire drive to her father’s office, I remind myself of this fact. “Don’t mention the baby. Don’t mention the baby.” It becomes a mantra as I sit through tunnel traffic and again as I wait for security to run my ID.
I grin at the receptionist who calls up to the senator’s office to see if he will take an unannounced visit from his not-quite-son-in-law. The guy at reception is young and clean cut, looking much more comfortable in his suit than I do. He frowns, noticing the ink peeking out the edges of my cuffs, staring at my long hair. Fuck him. He finally hangs up the phone and sighs. “The senator says you should come on up, and grab yourself a complimentary coffee if you wish.”
“Did he tell you that or did he ask you to get the coffee for me,” I ask. The guy rolls his eyes at me. “I like it black,” I shout after him, making my way into Emma’s dad’s office.
“Stag,” he says, rising and walking around the desk to shake my hand. We have a civil relationship, if not friendly. He leans back on the desk and crosses his arms. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until Christmas Day.”
“Nice to see you, too, Ed,” I say, sitting down. And then I sigh. I didn’t come here to be snarky with him. “I’ll cut right to the chase.”
“I’m listening,” he says, arms folded, still leaning on the desk, now towering over me. This fucking sucks.
“I’d like to marry your daughter, sir.” I sigh.
He looks at me confused, and says, “I was under the impression you were already planning to do that.”
I chew on the inside of my lip and lean back in my chair. “It’s true. But I didn’t speak to you about it, and I don’t like that,” I tell him. He opens his mouth to talk and I hold up my hand. “I don’t think I need your permission. That’s not why I’m here. Emma’s a strong willed woman and she’ll do whatever the hell she feels like regardless.”
He smiles at that. “She sure will, won’t she.” He walks around to his side of the desk and sits. “Well. So. You’ve been taking your time about marrying her, I’d say.”
I nod. I exhale through my nose and lean forward. “I’m worried I missed my window.”
He rubs a hand over his chin and frowns deeper. “I’ll admit that I don’t talk to her much about these sorts of things,” he says. “But I’ve seen how she looks at you, Stag. And I’ve seen how you look at her. I don’t think that look is going anywhere.”
I tap my fingers on the edge of his desk before responding. “Things have been…complicated with us lately. My brothers are all—you know my sister-in-law is a judge now.” He nods. “They’re having a baby. My other brother hired a new strategy director or something.”
“Well,” Ed says, pointing toward the lobby, where one of my larger installations is displayed. “I think you’re doing alright for yourself, too, Stag. You know I don’t really know anything about art, per se, but your name shows up all over this damn city.” He laughs. “I’ve promised your work more than once as an incentive. Your work is a hot commodity, it would seem.”
This is probably the closest Emma’s father will come to telling me he approves of me, so I decide to run with it. “I need Emma to know I’m serious about us. About her. About family. All of it. I thought maybe if I came to you, she’d see that.”
The admin comes in with my coffee and plunks it on the desk so it sloshes a bit. “Jared,” Ed barks. “The next time my son-in-law shows up, you get him his coffee faster. And you knock before you come in this office, young man.” The kid turns red and shuffles out. I want to feel bad for him, but I’m clinging now to the hope that Emma’s family can help me win back her heart.
“So tell me what’s really going on,” Ed says. “Emma’s been thriving since she’s been with you, much as it pains me to admit. She’s healthy. She’s working hard. I know she won that prize. And I also know something else is up, because she hasn’t come to see her mother in a month.”
I sip my coffee and think about how to proceed. I decide to tell him about the seizure, that it rattled her, and how I tried to drag her to the courthouse. This makes him straight up laugh out loud. “But, Ed, what do I do now? What comes next?”
He keeps on laughing and leans back in his chair. “Her mother proposed to me, you know. Not even a proposal, really. She told me it’d been long enough and we should get married already.” Ed looks out the window. “I’m afraid I can’t be much help to you figuring out how to untangle this mess, Stag.” He meets my eye then and says, “But I will say I’m rooting for you to figure it out.”