"Maybe I could talk to your father. We could go to the movies together, to more age appropriate showings you'd enjoy."
"Then we couldn't bring Timmy. He'd be disappointed."
"I'm sure I could find lots of fun things for Timmy to do too. You and he have different interests and need to occasionally find challenges on your own. That doesn't mean there aren't lots of fun things you can do together."
"We do. Dad takes us places like the circus and the beach. He does lots of things with us, when he has time." Once again, Karen abruptly changed the subject.
"Did you and Dad have a fight?"
"Why do you ask?"
"He was quiet and didn't say much about you this morning. You're spending all day with me and not him. Is it about my lying?"
I didn't want to answer with a lie of my own but I knew our problems went far deeper than Karen's untruths. "No, Karen. We're not fighting. We're just trying to stumble forward a step at a time, getting to know one another. Sometimes we stop and look around before we take another step. Our lives are incredibly different and I'm not sure there's much common ground. It's difficult for you to understand at your age."
Tightness formed around her mouth. "Don't you think I'm old enough to know the story of Cinderella is a fairy tale?"
"I don't want a castle and I'm sure glass slippers would hurt my feet."
"Maybe it takes a little give and take. Don't make excuses."
A twelve-year-old just gave me hell, perhaps deservedly. There followed an hour of uncomfortable silence in the car. Karen's last words to me were spoken as she politely shook my hand and thanked me for the day as she stood by Paul on the front steps. Once again, she was a different person in her father's presence.
Paul drove me back to my hotel, trying to glean information on the day's happenings. I detailed our visit with my mother and told him how wonderfully his daughter acted with her. I refrained from discussing the strained relationship between Karen and me. I could tell he was proud of her deportment. Contrary to his obvious wishes, I dismissed him at the hotel entrance and declined a ride to the airport the following morning. We wouldn't see each other for nearly three weeks. His kiss good bye nearly caused me to change my mind but I stuck by my self-imposed commitment of celibacy. Perhaps the next three weeks would give us a chance to see if we would move forward together or further apart.