“Why does the princess look sad, Daddy?” the little girl asked—then what the single dad did changed…
Building a New Life and Facing the Past
Monday morning came faster than Ryan expected.
He showed up at the construction site at 7:00 a.m. like always.
At 7:30, a car pulled up and Claire got out wearing scrubs and work boots and her hair in a ponytail.
She looked completely different from the crying woman in the sundress but somehow just as beautiful.
She walked over to where Ryan was reviewing blueprints.
“So do I call you Ryan or Mr. Mitchell in front of your crew?”
“Ryan’s fine, we’re pretty casual here; welcome to Oak Ridge,” Ryan said.
They shook hands but held on just a little bit longer than professional.
Ryan’s best friend, Tom, walked by and did a double take.
“Who’s the new nurse and why are you two looking at each other like that?”
“This is Claire, she’s our new occupational health nurse and we’re not looking at each other like anything,” Ryan said.
But Tom just grinned and walked away whistling.
The whole day, Ryan and Claire kept accidentally running into each other.
She’d be doing safety checks in one area and he’d need to inspect the same area.
Or she’d be setting up her medical station and he’d need to grab tools from the same storage container.
Every single time, their eyes would meet and they’d smile and look away like teenagers.
By the end of the day, Tom pulled Ryan aside.
“So, you going to ask her out or just keep doing this awkward dance where you both pretend you’re not into each other?”
“She just got out of a serious relationship; she got left at the altar 3 months ago, the last thing she needs is me making things weird at her new job,” Ryan said.
“Or maybe the last thing she needs is to be alone in a new city with nobody to talk to; just think about it,” Tom said.
He walked away, leaving Ryan standing there thinking about Claire’s smile and Emma calling her a princess.
He thought about the fact that for the first time in four years he actually wanted to take a chance on someone new.
Sunday morning, Ryan and Emma showed up at Zilker Park with a blanket and a bag of snacks.
They were fully expecting Claire to bail because who actually follows through on spontaneous weekend plans with people they just met?
But at exactly 11:00, Claire pulled into the parking lot.
She was carrying two iced coffees and looking nervous in jeans and a t-shirt.
It made her look younger and more relaxed than the crying woman from the cafe or the professional nurse from the work site.
Emma spotted her and took off running.
“The princess came Daddy, she actually came!”
Claire laughed and caught Emma in a hug.
“Of course I came, i promised didn’t I? And princesses always keep their promises.”
They spent 3 hours at that park.
Ryan couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this much fun just existing.
They fed the ducks with bread that Emma had researched extensively to make sure it was healthy for them.
They pushed Emma on the swings until she was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe.
Claire told them about growing up in Dallas with two older brothers who used to put frogs in her backpack.
She told them how she had always wanted to be a nurse because her grandmother had been one.
Ryan told her about Amy dying four years ago from complications after childbirth.
He told her how Emma had saved his life by giving him a reason to get up every single morning.
Claire’s eyes got wet.
“She’s incredible; you’ve done an amazing job with her.”
The Sunday park hangouts became their routine through September and October.
At work, Ryan and Claire were completely professional.
She did her safety checks and handled minor injuries and kept the crew healthy.
But there was this energy between them that everyone on site could feel.
Tom kept making comments.
“You two need to just go on a real date already; this tension is killing all of us.”
“We’re friends; she’s recovering from a bad breakup, i’m not going to push,” Ryan would say.
But the truth was he was falling for Claire.
He was pretty sure she was falling for him too based on the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn’t paying attention.
In late October, the company threw their annual family barbecue and Emma begged Ryan to invite Claire, so he did.
She showed up in a sundress that made Ryan forget how to form sentences for a solid 30 seconds.
Emma was glued to Claire’s side the entire time.
She was showing her off to everyone like she’d discovered buried treasure.
All the other workers’ wives assumed Claire was Ryan’s girlfriend.
Neither of them corrected anyone because, honestly, it felt kind of nice to just pretend for an afternoon.
When they were walking to their cars after the barbecue, Ryan spoke up.
“Sorry everyone assumed we were together; that must have been awkward.”
Claire stopped walking.
“I didn’t mind actually; it felt really natural.”
Ryan took a breath.
“Would you want to get dinner sometime? Like actual dinner just the two of us, like a date?”
Claire looked nervous.
“Like a real date, not just friends hanging out?”
“Yeah, a real date; but only if you’re ready, absolutely no pressure, we can keep doing exactly what we’re doing if that’s better,” Ryan said.
“I’d really like that; but can we go slow? My last relationship kind of destroyed my ability to trust my own judgment,” Claire said.
“Slow is perfect; i’ve got an eight-year-old daughter and a dead wife, i’m not exactly rushing into anything either,” Ryan said.
Their first date was at a small Italian place that had been in Austin forever.
They talked for four straight hours about everything from their favorite terrible movies to what they wanted their lives to look like in 5 years.
When Ryan walked Claire to her car, he kissed her good night.
It was sweet and tentative and absolutely perfect.
Emma asked the next morning.
“Is Claire your girlfriend now? Can I call her that?”
“Would that be okay with you if she was?” Ryan asked.
“Yes! She’s so nice and she makes you laugh the way you used to laugh in the videos with mommy; i think mommy would really like her,” Emma said.
Ryan had to turn away because his 8-year-old daughter had just given him permission to move on.
It hit him harder than he expected.
“You’re really wise, you know that kiddo?” he said.
“I know, you tell me all the time; so can she come over for Thanksgiving?” Emma asked.
They spent Thanksgiving together and it felt like family in the best possible way.
Claire helped in the kitchen while Emma showed her every single craft project she’d made in the past month.
When they all sat down to eat, Ryan looked around his table and felt happy in a way he hadn’t felt in four years.
Everything was going perfectly until the second week of December.
Claire came to work looking like she hadn’t slept in days.
She was distracted during her safety rounds and kept checking her phone with this stressed expression.
Ryan pulled her aside during lunch.
“What’s wrong? You’ve been off all day.”
“My ex-fiancé Derek showed up at my apartment last night; he drove all the way from Dallas, he wants me back,” Claire said.
Ryan felt his stomach drop.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him he was 4 months too late; but he’s staying in Austin until Christmas, he wants me to think about it,” Claire said.
“Do you want to think about it?” Ryan asked.
Claire looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“I don’t know; he humiliated me, he left me at the altar in front of 200 people, but we were together for 5 years and part of me wonders if I gave up too easily.”
Ryan wanted to say that she didn’t give up, Derek did.
Instead he said, “Take whatever time you need; i’m not going anywhere.”
Even though it was killing him to say it, Claire pulled back over the next week.
She stopped coming to Sunday Park days and she was distant at work.
Emma noticed immediately.
“Why isn’t Claire coming over anymore? Did I do something wrong?”
“No baby, you didn’t do anything; Claire’s just dealing with some complicated stuff right now, grown-up stuff,” Ryan said.
“Is she scared?” Emma asked.
“Like when I was scared of the dark and didn’t want to sleep alone?”
“Yeah, I think she’s scared,” Ryan said.
Emma spoke with that 8-year-old wisdom that always surprised him.
“When I was scared you didn’t leave me alone; you stayed with me until I wasn’t scared anymore, maybe Claire needs someone to stay too.”
Ryan realized his daughter was absolutely right.
He drove to Claire’s apartment that night and knocked until she answered.
She opened the door.
“Ryan, what are you doing here?”
“Derek came back didn’t he? And now you’re spiraling because the last person you trusted left you at the altar and you’re terrified i’m going to do the same thing,” Ryan said.
Claire started crying.
“How did you know?”
“Because I know you and I know what it’s like to be scared of letting someone in when you’ve lost someone before,” Ryan said.
“I lost Amy and for four years I couldn’t even imagine loving anyone else because what if I lost them too?”
He took her hands.
“I can’t promise you that I’ll never leave because life happens and things are unpredictable; but I can promise you that I will fight.”
“I will show up; i will choose you every single day that I’m able to choose.”
“And Claire, I am so tired of being scared of what might go wrong that I miss out on what could go right.”
Claire kissed him hard.
“I choose you; i choose this, i’m done letting Derek have any power over my future.”
“So what are you going to tell him?” Ryan asked.
“I’m going to tell him that I found someone who showed up when it mattered and I’m not stupid enough to let that go,” Claire said.
