As I was leaving my office my cell phone rang. It was Tricia. I answered it. “Hi Tricia.”

“Hi daddy. I just talked to Jodie. She told me you gave her your Lexus.”

Suddenly concerned that I'd misjudged Tricia’s feelings about giving Jodie a gift of that magnitude, I said, “Yes, but don't worry, “I'll find a way to...”

“Daddy, I'm not upset. I'm glad you did it. Jodie's a first year teacher, so is Teddy. They can use all the help you can give them. I earn a good income. My BMW is a nice car.”

“Yes Tricia, it is.”

“I called to tell you that I thought it was a really sweet thing to do. Daddy, Jodie is so excited. She's never had a nice car.”

“She's just out of college.”

“Yes she is, but she's working hard and being careful with her money. The car is a nice perk for her.”

“I'm glad you feel that way Tricia. I hope you know that I'll try to find a way to do something nice for you too.”

“Of course I know that daddy. You love both of us. We've always known that.”

“I'm glad you feel that way Tricia.”

“But daddy there is something you can do for me.”

Assuming that Tricia wanted me to help her get in touch with Paul, I said, “Tricia I know what you want and I understand why you want me to help you, but I can't do it. Right now Amy and Mel are taking care of Paul. We have to leave him alone.”

“Daddy, I do understand that, I really do. It's taken time, probably more than it should have, but now I get it. I screwed up. I screwed up bad. I hurt Paul and regardless of what I do or say I realize that he might never be willing to forgive me.”

“I'm sorry Tricia.” I didn't know what else to say.

“Thank you.” Tricia paused. After a moment she said, “Daddy I need to talk to you.”

“Of course.”

“Could we talk this afternoon?”

“Certainly, where would you like to meet?”

“where are you now?”

“I'm at Iverson's Garage.”

“Could I meet you at Morton's Cafe?”

“On Grand Avenue?”

“Yes.”

“I can be there in twenty minutes.”

“I'll need thirty.”

“I'll see you there.”

“Thank you daddy.”

Fifteen minutes later I was parking my Escape in front of Morton's Cafe. It was 2:30. While there were several open parking spaces, the icy, dirty, late January snow that had been pushed up on the curb by the snow plows made parallel parking a challenge.

As I got out of my Escape I felt the teeth of the frigid north wind bite into me. For a moment I wondered why I'd returned to Minnesota during the heart of the winter. I quickly remembered. Jeanne, Tricia and Jodie were here. They were the centers of my existence. Regardless of the season, as long as my wife and daughters were in Minnesota, I would be here too.

Careful not to slip on the ice, I walked down two parked cars to a gap that had been cut through the frozen snow pile that formed a barrier that divided the sidewalk from the street. Once I was on the well shoveled side walk I hurried to the cafe, opened the door and stepped inside.

The warmth of the cafe was a welcome respite from the January chill. Taking off my hat and unbuttoning my winter coat, I looked around. A heavy set dark haired man, dressed in a white cooks uniform, his arms covered with tattoos, sat at the lunch counter chatting with a plump blond waitress who was casually filling ketchup bottles from a gallon jug. They were the only two people in the cafe. Hearing me at the door, they both turned and looked at me.

I said, “I'm meeting my daughter for coffee. Where would you like us to sit?”

Smiling, the blond waitress said, “Honey, you can pick any table you want or you can join us at the counter.”

I walked over to a table away from the counter. As I sat down, I answered, “If I was alone I'd happily join you, but as I said, I'm meeting my daughter. We'd better sit over here.”

The waitress stepped out from behind the counter. Walking over to me, she said, “I'm Rhonda. What can I get you? Marv made a chicken salad this morning. It was pretty popular at lunch, but I'm sure we still have at least two orders left.” Marv was watching from his seat at the counter.

“Rhonda, I'm Michael.” I nodded to Marv. He nodded to me. Introductions complete, I said, “A cup of coffee will be fine for me. When my daughter gets here she can order what she wants.”

“Michael, Marv makes a really good apple pie.”

I looked at Marv. He once again nodded. I said, “All right, I like really good apple pie. I'll try a slice.”

“Can I put a scoop of cinnamon ice cream on it?”

“Really? That sounds almost illicit.” I was beginning to like both Rhonda and Marv.

With a twinkle in her eye, Rhonda said, “Honey it's worse than illicit. It's a full fledged sin.”

Chuckling, I said, “I don't plan to repent until next December so I have a full year of unbridled sin ahead of me. Definitely put a scoop of cinnamon ice cream on it.”

I glanced at Marv. He was chuckling.

Rhonda said, “Honey, if you don't plan to repent until next December I think we should get together. I'm not planning to repent for several more years.”

I took another look at Rhonda. She was my age with a body that some would call thick and others would describe as voluptuous or Rubinesque. While I happened to like Rubinesque, I was still concerned about Marv. I said, “I enjoy sinning, but I wouldn't want to offend anyone working at this cafe.”

Staring into my eyes, Rhonda unfastened the two top buttons of her blouse, leaned over and gave me a better view of her charms. “Michael honey, Marv and I occasionally sin together, but only occasionally. He has a wife and I have a husband. We're discreet about our parties. For Marv's sake we have to be. Can you be discreet too?”

Smiling, I said, “I can, but what about your husband?”

“Robbie? We don't have to be discreet with him. He enjoys sharing me. He just wants to hear about it afterward. What about Mrs. Michael? Do we have to worry about her?”

Grinning, I said, “No we don't. My wife openly enjoys other men.”

“And you don't mind?”

I actually find it exciting.”

“You and my husband have a lot in common. Does your wife mind if you occasionally fool around?”

“No, in fact she's encouraging me to do it.”

“I makes her feel a little better about her playing around.”

“I think that's part of it, but she also believes that sex can just be fun.”

“Your wife and I have a lot in common.”

Suddenly the door to the cafe opened letting in a burst of cold air. Marv, Rhonda and I all turned. Tricia was standing in the doorway.

Rhonda whispered, “Your daughter?”

“Yes.”

“You don't play with her, do you.”

“Definitely not.”

“Good, she's a cutie.”

“Thank you.”

“I'll get your pie and ice cream and before you leave, let's exchange telephone numbers.”

“I'd like that.”

“So would I.” Rhonda hurried back to the lunch counter.

Tricia was staring at me from the door to the cafe. She looked worried. I stood up and smiled at her. She smiled back, but it was still obvious that she was nervous. I walked over to her, took her in my arms and hugged her.

As soon as I hugged her she put her arms around me and whispered, “Daddy I am so sorry.”

We held each other for a moment and then I said, “Come on, let's sit down.”

Tricia meekly answered, “Okay.”

I led her over to my table. She took off her coat. After laying it across a chair she sat down.

As I sat down, I said, “It's nice to see you.”

“It's nice to see you too daddy.”

“They're bringing me a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie with a cinnamon ice cream. Can I get one for you too?”

“I'd love a diet Coke.” Tricia laughed. “I'd love a slice of pie and ice cream too, but I'd better not. If Paul ever does come home I don't want to weigh three hundred pounds when he gets here.”

“I'll share mine with you.”

“A taste would be nice.”

Rhonda brought my pie and coffee. As she was setting it down I said, “Rhonda, could you bring Tricia a Diet Coke?”

Walking around behind me, Rhonda ran her fingers through my hair and answered, “For you Sweetie, anything.” She kissed the bald spot on the back of my head and added, “I'll be right back with it.”

As soon as Rhonda was gone, Tricia exclaimed, “Daddy that woman was flirting with you!”

“Yes Tricia, I believe she was.”

“But?”

“But what? Your mother has a boyfriend and last August you told me that these days everyone has a fuck buddy. Are you suggesting that I shouldn't even be allowed to flirt with other women? Isn't that a bit hypocritical?”

Tricia sighed. “Yes daddy, of course it is. I'm sorry.”

We stared at each other. After a moment Tricia shook her head and said, “Daddy, I'm so sorry.”

In a gentle voice I asked, “About Paul?”

“Yes, but Paul's only part of it. I feel like I let you down.”

“How?”

Tricia whispered, “In so many ways.”

“Do you want to tell me?”

“Yes, that's why I asked to meet you this afternoon.”

Rhonda brought Tricia's Diet Coke. Realizing that we were in the midst of a serious conversation she set the soda down in front of Tricia and hurried away without comment.

As soon as she was gone, Tricia said, “Daddy, I'm so sorry about how we treated you when all of this started.”

“What do you mean?”

“Most of all it was my attitude. I was so full of myself. I encouraged mom to just lay it on you.”

“I see.”

“I should have understood. I should have known that she needed to prepare you, but I was too arrogant to see that.”

“You're being very hard on yourself.”

“It's what I deserve.”

“I'm not sure it mattered. Your mother went through a process that led her to announcing that she was going to start dating other men. It was a personal process for her. While including me in that process might have helped me, I'm not certain that's true. Your mother and I have spent a lot of time talking about this. I think I had to go through a similar process of my own.”

“That morning, the morning after mother's first date, you were obviously upset, I mean, you'd left her. Jodie and I were so cold. We should have been more supportive.”

“While I admit that I was surprised by your attitude, I don't think there was anything you could have done to make it easier for me.” I shrugged. “And frankly, you were just telling me what you believed. You were being honest. I hope you'll always be honest with me.”

“You're being generous. I'm not sure I deserve it.”

“We all deserve generosity. We all deserve the benefit of the doubt.”

“I wonder if Paul will ever feel that way.”

“I don't know.”

“Daddy, I feel awful about the way I treated him.”

I slowly nodded.

Tricia said, “Can I try to explain what happened?”

“You don't need to do that. You're my daughter. I'll always love you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that, but I'd still like to try to explain it.”

“Okay.”

Tricia took a moment to think. Finally she said, “I met Paul during my senior year at Kelroy.” Kelroy was the private college that both Tricia and Jodie attended.

“There was this guy at Kelroy, his name was Kyle Landry. He was in my class. His parents had money. During the winter of our senior year they bought a house for him.”

“That's a nice present.”

“It was, it was a really nice house. That winter and spring Kyle had a party almost every Friday night. It was never a big party. Sometimes there were only eight of us, other nights there might be as many as sixteen. They weren't wild, noisy parties. There was always beer and wine, but nobody got drunk.” Tricia quickly glanced around the empty cafe. Rhonda and Marv were chatting at the lunch counter. Seeing that they weren't paying any attention to us, she whispered, “They were sex parties.”

I nodded.

“The house had a finished basement. The social party was always upstairs in the living room, dining room and kitchen. The basement was for sex. If you wanted to do it with someone, you'd just ask him if he wanted to go downstairs with you, or he might ask you. It was okay to say no, but nobody did. The whole point of the parties was to enjoy different people.”

Tricia took a sip of her Diet Coke. After she set the glass down she said, “One Friday night in March there was a bigger party. It was during the NCAA basketball tournament. There were at least two dozen people there. They had two large flat screen televisions set up in the living room. There was a group watching the games.”

I asked, “Was there still a sex party in the basement?”

“Oh yes and it was fun because there were several new guys there.” Tricia smiled. “That's when I met Paul.”

“He was there watching the games.”

“Yes, his roommate, Chad was a regular at Kyle's Friday night parties. Paul was a big college basketball fan so Chad brought him to the party that night.”

“But that was the first time he brought Paul.”

“He'd invited him to earlier parties, but Paul was shy.”

“Paul knew the Friday night parties were sex parties.”

“Definitely.”

“Had you been downstairs with Paul's roommate, Chad?”

“Yes daddy, many times. We were good friends.”

“Did Paul know that?”

“Yes, he did.”

“So how did you meet Paul?”

“I noticed him sitting in the living room right away. I'd seen him around the campus. I knew he was Chad's roommate. Whenever I saw him I'd say, hi. He'd always nervously wave back. It was really endearing. I didn't know how to tell him, but liked him.”

I smiled.

Tricia continued. “While I always thought he was cute, I also knew how shy he was. I was actually surprised to see him at the party. Anyway, he was intently watching the basketball game, so left him alone and hooked up with another guy. We chatted for a little while and then we went downstairs. The guy was really fun. We were down there for over an hour and a half. By the time we got back upstairs the basketball games were over. The living room was almost empty. Some of the people were gone, most of the others were down in the basement.”

“The basement must have been crowded.”

“Believe me, it was.”

“When you got back upstairs, was Paul still there?”

“He was, sitting all by himself on the couch.”

“What did you do?”

“After I kissed my recent playmate goodnight, I sat down on the couch next to Paul. He's shy and it took a few minutes before he relaxed with me, but then we both had a wonderful time talking. Paul is funny and smart.”

“Did you invite him to go downstairs with you?”

Tricia smiled. “It's strange to hear you ask me that question.”

“Would you prefer that I didn't?”

“No, it's part of my life and now it's part of mom's life too, so I guess that makes it part of your life as well.

I guess there really isn't any reason to pretend that we aren't who we are.”

“I agree, we should be able to talk about it.” Shaking my head, I added, “But I hope we're never at the same party together.”

Tricia laughed. “That would be... it just wouldn't be right.”

“I agree.”

There was a pause and then Tricia said, “Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes I did invite him to go downstairs with me.”

“Did he accept your invitation?”

“He was a little nervous, but yes he did. It was fun. He was a novice, so he needed a little instruction. I spent a lot of the time teaching him about oral sex.”

I nodded. This was an uncomfortable conversation for me. I wasn't sure what else to do.

“He also let me take charge. Daddy, that was a new experience for me. Most guys, at least the guys I knew, were really macho. They had to be in charge. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a macho guy, but it was fun to be in charge for a change. I liked it.”

“Your mother says the same thing.”

“When is she in charge? Not with you?”

“No, your mother and I are pretty much equals. She occasionally plays with Ruth's husband, David.”

“Your Ruth?”

“That's right.”

“I had no idea.”

“Apparently your mother has learned to be discreet.”

“She's grown a lot during the past five months.” Tricia smiled. “Both of you have.” and then laughing, she added, “I guess I have too.”

“We've all grown.”

Tricia sat up straight. “Wait a minute!”

“What?”

“Are you telling me that Ruth's husband David is submissive?”

“Apparently I'm not as discreet as your mother.”

“You are, aren't you! David is a sub! Oh my god!”

Suddenly embarrassed by my indiscretion, I shrugged.

Sensing my discomfort, Tricia said, “Don't worry, I'll be cool. I won't tell anyone and I certainly won't judge them. Hell I've spent the last two years as a cuckolding dom.”

I smiled. Tricia smiled back. After a moment I asked, “So do you want to tell me how you became a cuckolding dom? I think that's why were sitting here.”

“I do want to tell you. I need to tell you. I feel like I've disappointed you.” Tricia shook her head. “No, I feel like I've disappointed myself. Ever since Paul left I've been trying to figure out what made me treat him like that. I even tried going to a counselor.”

“How did that work out?”

“Not well, I kept feeling like she was judging me.”

“Was she?”

“No, I think I was judging myself.”

“We have a tendency to be our roughest critics.”

“I think I deserve some rough criticism.”

“Let's forget about judgment and criticism. Tell me what you think happened.”

“The cuckolding part was easy. After I started dating Paul some of my male friends backed off, but not all of them. I still got occasional telephone calls from guys wanting to get together. At first Paul just asked me about the guys, but it wasn't long before he wanted details. I quickly realized that I enjoyed telling him the details as much as he enjoyed hearing them. We turned it into a game. I'd tell him about the sex I had with a particular guy while Paul went down on me. It was hot, I mean really hot. My sex with other guys became the focus of our sex. We both enjoyed it.”

Nodding, I said, “I'm a bit of a voyeur, so I understand the excitement that can hold. While I was gone your mom and I did a lot of that over the telephone.”

“She loved your telephone calls. They were the high point of her day.”

“Mine too.”

Smiling, Trisha said, “Did the two of you ever read the stories?”

“The cuckold stories on the Internet?”

“Yes.”

“Oh yes.”

“Paul introduced me to them. They were the catalyst for our next big step. That's where we learned about teasing and denial.”

“Ruth and David play those games. Your mom and I have toyed with them, but only mildly. They're really not our cup of tea.”

“I didn't think they were. Paul loved them and once we started playing I learned to love them too. They definitely became our cup of tea. Paul loved to be teased and I loved teasing him.” Tricia sighed. “We bought a chastity cage at that sex store on the outskirts of downtown Minneapolis.”

“Sex Land.”

“Yes.”

“Ruth and David play with a chastity cage too. David wears it when Ruth's on a date.”

“That's how we started, but eventually I was making Paul wear it all the time.”

“Was he wearing it in San Antonio?”

“No, we decided to leave it at home. We thought it might draw a little too much attention if our bags were inspected at the airport.”

I smiled. “Yes, that could be embarrassing.”

“And he certainly couldn't have worn it through security.”

“They are plastic, aren't they?”

“They are and maybe it wouldn't have been noticed, but can you imagine the uproar it would have created if it had been detected.”

“At the very least it would have been embarrassing.”

“Mortifying.”

“Leaving it at home was a prudent choice.”

“That's what we thought.”

Tricia and I were both chuckling. She took a sip of her soda, I had a bite of my pie and ice cream. After a moment, Tricia sighed and said, “We were both having so much fun.”

“I said, “But then it went wrong,”

“Yes it did.”

“Do you know why?”

“We met Kendra Sommers.”

“Who is Kendra Sommers?”

“A woman I work with. Please understand, I'm not blaming her. I made my own choices, but she introduced us to the life.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“Kendra works for Burkwalter and Carling.”

“So you work with her.”

“We work in the same office. She's the leader of one of the other teams. We don't actually work together, but Burkwalter and Carling isn't a large agency, everyone knows everyone else.”

“I see. You said she's a leader of one of the teams. That would make her a senior executive.”

“Yes, she's older than I am, but younger than you and mom. I think she's in her upper thirties. Shortly after I started working for the agency I was seated next to her at an all agency staff meeting. After the meeting we started talking. The next day she invited me to have lunch with her. We quickly became friends and started having lunch together a couple of times a week.”

“Was she assigned as a mentor for you?”

“Not really, Brad Nash was my official mentor. Kendra and I just liked each other.”

“I see.”

“A few weeks after we met we were having one of our lunches together. As soon as we were seated in the restaurant Kendra leaned across the table and told me that she'd just started dating a new guy. While I knew that Kendra was married, I wasn't shocked by this disclosure.” Tricia shrugged. “I had a boyfriend and I dated other guys. Still I was curious, so I asked her how her husband felt about this. She answered that her husband didn't have anything to say about it. She explained that they had a wife led marriage.”

“Ruth and David talk about a wife led marriage.”

“Judging from the Internet, it's a pretty popular concept.” Tricia laughed. “I don't think it fits you and mom. Mom's a wonderful, bright woman, but she's not into power.”

“No, and frankly I'm not either. It think we have a cooperatively led marriage.”

“I think you're right, but you did raise two daughters who like to be in charge.”

“Yes, I gather that your sister is also now into a female led relationship.”

“She is, but it's pretty tame.” Tricia sighed. “She learned from the folly of her older sister.”

“I'm thinking her older sister learned too.”

“She did, but I fear it might be too late for her.”

“I fear she might be right.”

“Daddy, I was such a fool.”

“We all seem to take turns in that role.”

Tricia smiled. “You're taking a much more understanding position than I expected.”

“Would it help if I screamed, Tricia you were a stupid fool?”

“At this point it might make me feel better.”

“You want to atone for your behavior.”

“Yes daddy, I do.” Shaking her head, Tricia quietly added, “I only wish I could.”

“But you can't. The person you want to apologize to won't talk to you.”

Looking at me, Tricia said, “It's so frustrating.”

“Talking about it might help. Tell me more about Kendra Sommers.”

“That evening, at home I told Paul about my lunch with Kendra. He was curious, very curious. During dinner he pumped me for every detail. After dinner we turned on his computer and read everything we could find about wife led marriages. I was excited by the idea, but Paul was even more excited. When we finally got into bed he went down on me with a zeal that I'd never before experienced from anyone. Paul loved to go down on me. He loved it more than fucking.” Tricia paused, after a moment she said, “I'm sorry daddy, I don't mean to be so crude, but I don't know how else I can explain this.”

“It's okay, your mother has gotten me used to graphic descriptions.”

Tricia smiled. “She's come a long way in five months.”

“Yes, she has.”

“Are you happy about that?”

“I am. I think I'm enjoying our new life just as much as your mother.”

“I'm glad. She does enjoy it and now that you're back I think she'll enjoy it even more. She missed you so much.”

“I missed her too. Now let's get back to you. Paul was exceptionally excited that night.”

“Not just excited, but submissive too. Paul had always been submissive in bed. That was one of the many reasons I found him attractive. He loved to go down on me. It was his favorite thing to do and he didn't want me to go down on him.”

“Really.”

“Yes, to Paul I was a goddess. He didn't think a goddess should demean herself.”

“But he knew you did it for other guys.”

“Paul was my supplicant, my servant, the other guys were all my equals.”

“That was his position, was it yours too?”

“Daddy, Paul is a submissive masochist. He first realized it shortly after high school. I became a dominant sadist after I met him. He came to our relationship with his fantasies. Mine developed as we played.”

“So you're telling me that Paul was the initiator of this dominant submissive relationship.”

“Initially yes, but I admit that I quickly became an eager participant. Power excites me.” Tricia paused for a moment and then she said, “I think that was part of my problem. By the time we met, Paul had read hundreds of stories about dominant women and submissive men.”

“You just said that Paul was excited when you told him about wife led marriages.”

“He'd read stories. They were all fiction. This was the first time he'd heard about a real dominant submissive relationship.”

“Okay, I understand. So why was Paul's familiarity with dominant submissive fiction a problem for you?”

“We read his stories. We only read his stories. They were all written from the submissive's point of view.”

“Why was that a problem for you?”

“I was a novice dominant. Paul's stories were fantasies. The all described heartless women who relentlessly pushed their submissive's limits without regard for their mental well being. I unconsciously modeled myself after those comic book doms. I didn't know any better.”

“But what about your friend Kendra? Didn't she advise you?”

“Kendra and I ate lunch together, we still do, but she's a team leader. Her job is pretty intense. I work just as hard on my team. I want to get ahead. We try to relax at our lunches. We talked a lot about sex, but it was usually just the kinky stuff we were doing with our slaves or the new men we were dating.” Tricia paused. After a moment she added, “Until I came back from that disastrous trip to San Antonio. When I told her what happened, she was shocked.”

“Shocked?”

“Yes, but her shock quickly turned to disapproval and then self recrimination.”

“Why self recrimination? You were the one who made the mistakes.”

“That's true, but Kendra felt like she should have been advising me. She'd misunderstood just how naive Paul and I were. She explained to me that while dominant submissive games were fun, they required good communication and the dom has a huge responsibility. Because of the nature of the relationship it is essential that the dom constantly be aware of her slaves mental and physical state. She believes that a dom is responsible for her slave's mental and physical well being. She also believes that the dom is responsible for making sure her slave understands that he is loved.”

I remembered Amy and Mel talking about their friend. They told me she had the same philosophy about her slave. Ruth also said something similar. Regardless of the games they played, David would always know that he was loved. I said, “You got caught up in the game you were playing and forgot about love, didn't you.”

“Yes daddy, I did and I will forever be ashamed about that.” Tricia shook her head. “I love Paul. I'll always love Paul. How could I have possibly been that awful to him. When I think about it now, I want to cry.”

“Tricia, you can't change the past, but you can learn from it. You made a mistake.” I smiled. “And it was whopper.”

Smiling back, Tricia said, “Yes daddy, it was. I can never forgive myself for it.”

“While you might have difficulty forgiving yourself for it, you can learn from it and move on from it.”

“I wish I could apologize to Paul.”

“While I can't guarantee it, I suspect you will eventually have that opportunity.”

“Do you really think so?”

“I do, but a chance to talk to him may be all you get. That's up to Paul.”

“I understand. I wouldn't blame him if he never talked to me again.” Tricia was silent. After a moment she looked at me and asked, “Daddy do you hate me?”

“Tricia, I'm your father. I will always love you. While I could never hate you, I will admit that in San Antonio I was both concerned and disappointed by your behavior.”

“I'm sorry daddy, I really am.”

“You've made that clear. Tricia, all of us make mistakes. Alexander Pope said, 'To err is human, to forgive is divine.' You erred, but you've recognized your mistake and you feel remorse about it. While you can't change the past, you can control your behavior in the future. You will have another chance, I'm sure of that. It might be with Paul, it might be with another man. When that chance comes remember to love. Right now, it's time to forgive.”

“Are you forgiving me?”

“I'm your father. I have never forsaken you. No. it's time for you to forgive yourself. It's time for you to learn from your errors and move on.”

“I'll try daddy.”

“That's all I ask.”

“Daddy, could we do this more often?”

“Talk about your mistakes?”

“No, have lunch or coffee, just get together and talk. Maybe we could do it once a week, a regular thing.”

“I'd like that very much.”

“I would too.”

“Do you have to go back to work?”

“I do.”

I motioned to Rhonda to bring us our check.

Tricia said, “Can I ask for a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Would you tell mom about this conversation? She's still pretty mad at me.”

“Tricia, that might be partially due to her not being real comfortable about how she's acted during the past year.”

“That was my fault too.”

“No all of us are responsible for our own behavior. All of us make mistakes. When we do make mistakes we have to forgive each other and ourselves. I'll talk to your mother.”

“Thank you, daddy.”

Rhonda brought the check. On top of the check was a note. It said, “Rhonda, call me.” Followed by her telephone number.

The check was just over six dollars. As I laid a twenty dollar bill on top of it, I looked at Rhonda. She was leaning against the lunch counter. I said, “Definitely”.

She answered, “I'm looking forward to it.”

As we walked out of the cafe, Tricia whispered, “Damn daddy, you've turned into a real operator.”