I get a night bag packed, and I take the elevator from my hotel room down to the lobby. I call a cab from the lobby, which is directly attached to a hotel bar.

At one of the tables nearest the lobby entrance, I spot Jane with a man.

I smile, and debate whether I should go up and introduce myself or not. The guy looks pretty strong--handsome--I guess. He’s maybe a bit full of himself, though, just based on the way he’s moving his hands around while he talks.

I’m not exactly dying to go make small talk, but it will be weird if I don’t at least go say hi. I’m wearing a flannel shirt and jeans, and this guy is decked out in a blazer, slacks, and nice polished leather dress shoes. Jane is wearing a tight miniskirt, heels, and a low-cut blouse. Since I’m so underdressed compared to them, walking from the hotel lobby to the bar feels a bit like I’m invading enemy territory.

Jane spots me walking up, and she immediately slides her glass of beer over toward the guy. I remember then that Elisabeth mentioned Jane had gone through 12 steps and that she’d been sober for years. And she’s drinking again now.

Shit. I’m already regretting this, now I have a secret that will fuck me over whether I keep it or not.

“Hey!” Jane says. Her face is flushed. She seems completely different than before.

“Hey,” I say, waving.

The guy turns around. “Oh, you a friend of Jane’s? Let’s get you a chair--”

“No,” I say, waving my hand. “I’m waiting for a cab, it will be here in a few minutes.”

“Ah,” he says. “Too bad. I’m Brody.”

“Jack,” I say. He stands up to shake my hand. He’s got a strong grip. Not stronger than mine, of course.

Brody laughs, as I crush his hand. “This guy works out!”

“He’s my sister’s…”

“Boyfriend,” I say.

“Ah!” Brody says. “Marriage just not your thing?”

I raise an eyebrow at him. Why the fuck is he being so nosy straight off the bat, how does he even--?

“I told Brody about Noah,” Jane says, smiling sheepishly.

“Ah,” I say. “Marriage is definitely on the table, Brody.”

He gives me a shit-eating grin, and takes a big swig of Jane’s beer. “You sure you don’t want to have a drink with us? You said you’re taking a cab, so--”

“I’m gonna go spend time with my kid,” I say. “So no, I’m good.”

I give Jane a look, and she stares down at her feet rather than meeting my gaze.

I don’t like this situation at all. Brody seems like a jackass as far as I can tell, and I’d bet a few grand that he’s the one who got her drinking again. I check my phone and see that my cab is pulling into the hotel parking lot.

I take in a deep breath, considering my options. If I leave Jane with Brody, I risk that she gets even more drunk and falls off the wagon even harder. I then also have to decide if I should mention any of this to Elisabeth or not.

On the other hand, Jane is a grown-ass woman, and I sure as shit am not her father. What am I going to do? Hoist her over my shoulder and carry her into the cab with me, then report to Elisabeth how bad she fucked up? Is one glass of beer and a night out with a douchebag like Brody really worth making such a fuss over?

There’s one compromise I can think of. One thing that will get both Jane and Elisabeth equally mad at me--but not furious. Rather than taking the full-brunt of one sister’s anger, I can get both of them lukewarm pissed off at me. Yeah...that’s gotta be the right call.

“You know,” I say. “I was gonna cook dinner for Elisabeth and Noah. Noah will be in bed by 8 or so...why don’t you two come with me? We can all get to know each other together.”

Jane widens her eyes at me, glaring and shaking her head almost imperceptibly. Yep, she’s not happy with me, as expected. That’s about the same reaction I expect out of Elisabeth when I call her and tell her who’s crashing our dinner.

“Sure!” Brody says, jumping out of his chair. “I’m down! I’d love to meet Jane’s sister and her nephew.”

I narrow my eyes at Brody a little bit. I expected him to fight me on this. I figure he wanted to get Jane good and drunk and take her back to his place. That’s probably what they did the night before, too. Maybe my douche-dar is a bit busted, and Brody isn’t actually a bad guy. Maybe he really does want to get to know Jane.

“Okay…” Jane says, eyeing the glass of beer.

I know that look in her eyes. She wants to drink it, bad, and she can’t with me watching.

“Cab is here,” I say. “Anyone need to piss?”

“Yeah,” Brody says. “I’ll be right back.”

He slaps some money down onto the table and stomps over toward the restrooms in the lobby.

Jane looks at me with intense worry, and I raise my eyebrows at her, as if daring her to say it aloud.

“Look, Jack,” she finally says. “It’s one beer.”

“You didn’t even finish it either,” I say. “You gave it to Brody.”

She scoffs. “If you tell Elisabeth, she’ll worry. She always worries about me, but honestly, I can take care of myself. I’m really shit with men, okay Jack? I need a beer to be able to open up a bit...it’s no coincidence that I’ve been single for as long as I’ve been sober. You can’t make a big deal out of one beer.”

She’s sure talking a lot about it for me making a big deal out of it.

“I know,” I say. “That’s why it’s just one beer, and why you don’t care if you get to finish it now. I’m sure this isn’t your third or fourth one.”

Her icy stare confirms it.

“Look,” I say. “I don’t have to tell her, but you realize what kind of position that puts me in? I’m trying to show her what kind of man I am, that I’m a good father. Do you really want to make me keep secrets from her?”

Jane sighs. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I won’t drink anymore. I’ll go to a meeting tomorrow. You won’t have to lie or keep anything secret, because I won’t drink another drop.”

I nod. I want to believe her, but I can’t exactly take that promise at face value. But it’s good enough, for now. “Alright,” I say.

The cab driver calls me, and I tell him we’ll be just a minute or two. Brody sure likes to take his time pissing.

Brody comes back with a big grin, as if he’s totally stoked about the piss he just took. Or maybe he took a shit--he’s definitely walking lighter on his feet than before. And he wasn’t exactly fast. Well, I don’t blame him, the last thing you want to do when arriving at your new girlfriend’s sister’s place is walk in and shit in her toilet. Better to do that on neutral territory.

“Cab here?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “Let’s go.”