“I know.”
“And I don’t want to date someone who feels embarrassed to be seen with me.”
Tyler looked up.
“Are you breaking up with me?”
Emma’s eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
For a moment, I thought Tyler might argue or try to change her mind.
Instead, he quietly said:
“Okay.”
He apologized once more before leaving.
Emma watched him walk down the driveway.
Then she turned toward Daniel and began crying.
He opened his arms, and she hugged him tightly.
“I still like him, Dad.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“Then why does this feel so terrible?”
“Because making a decision that’s right for you doesn’t mean it’s going to feel easy.”
I sat beside them.
Emma wiped her cheeks.
“Was I too harsh?”
“No,” I told her. “You explained what you needed, and you were honest.”
The next two weeks were difficult.
Emma missed Tyler. Sometimes she wondered whether she’d made the wrong decision.
