AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Rachel—”
Martha stepped between us. “Enough.”
“Martha, now is not—” I began.
She looked over her shoulder at me.
“Quiet, my lovely,” she said softly.
I shut my mouth because she’d never called me an endearment (or anyone, even her grandchildren, not that I’d heard), and I’d never heard her talk quietly.
Ever.
She turned back to my father.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but the little I’ve heard, it’s not good. It seems you got some shit to deal with, sir. So I encourage you to give your daughter some space and deal with it. But before you go, know this about the girl you left behind. This place,”—she indicated the Oasis with a flap of both arms—“it’s a community. And Raye is the heart of it. I’m sure we’d all get along all right, but she doesn’t walk out of her unit without calling, ‘hey.’ She looks after our pets. She’s the ringleader of our shindigs. She organized us all to make sure Linda got fed and her sheets changed when she was down with Covid. I got a million different examples for you of how she unites us, and in my case, ’cause I’m ornery, puts up with us. But that’s her too, she’s a leader, so people look to her, and they follow that lead.”
She took a sharp breath…
And kept going.
“But I’m not gonna get into all that, because I’m so damned mad to learn that she does all of it because she was hungry for a family. But I guess I got you to thank for what she gives us. Though, I’m not feelin’ real thankful at the mo’. So you go away and you think on that, and you sit down to dinner with your daughter on Friday and figure out a way to fix this. Because let me assure you, you aremissing out. We got her, so we’re good. And it sounds like you lost a lot, but you had a diamond in your hands and you threw it away. It’s up to you to figure out how to get it back. But now, she wants you to go, so you’re leaving.”
Jacob moved forward.
Sally did too.
Dad had tears in his eyes, and he looked at me.
“Darlin’, I’ve always loved you.”
“You can’t just say it, sir,” Alexis said quietly. “You have to show it.”
Jacob got closer to my dad.
Dad stared at me.
“Jacob,” Martha issued her order tersely.
Dad moved.
His arms shooting out, he caught me, pulled me into his body, wrapped me tight, pushed his face in my neck, and sobbed, “I’ve missed you, Raye, so damned much, honey.”
Tentatively, I put my hands on his back.
He lifted up, cupped my face to his hands, ran his thumbs across my cheeks, and whispered, “You look just like your mom.”
My body bucked.
Cap’s hand wrapped around the back of my neck.
“I wanted you to go,” Dad said.
“What?” I whispered.
Cap’s hand squeezed.
“I couldn’t protect you,” he pushed out. “Christ, every day I woke up, terrified of what might happen to you.”
