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The sadness in his voice made my heartbreak.
“He’s just drunk and feeling sorry for himself.”
“I know, but he has a point. After your mom left, I tried to do everything in my power to give you three the best life I could. I worked as many hours as I could, I missed a lot of family time. Then, after his accident, once we found out it had ended his footballing career, I just tried to keep him busy—distracting him with work at the garage.”
He ran a hand over his face. I always remembered him doing it when I was younger, and it was usually when he was trying his hardest to keep everything together. And I couldn’t bear seeing him like this.
“Seriously, stop this right now. You were working a lot, but I remember being at school, talking to my friends, and realizing how close we all were to you compared to them with their fathers. Dad, I have always said you are not just my dad but also my best friend.”
And I meant it.
“Baby, you have always been my sweet little angel. I hope you know just how proud you have made me.”
Seeing my dad’s eyes full of unshed tears made me want to cry as well. I watched him lift his arm to the back of the sofa, and just like I used to when I was little, I leaned into his warm embrace.
“Now, you asked me if I’m okay… how about you? I love it when you come down, but it’s never usually so close between visits. I know how busy you are at work, so I’m sure you can imagine how surprised I was when you turned up again yesterday. Honey, what’s up? Is it to do with work?”
“Umm… not quite.”
My face turned red as I had always hated talking to my dad about my love life.
“Oh, I’m guessing it’s to do with a man?”
I could hear the curiosity in his voice.
“Yeah, sort of.”
“I sure as hell hope you’re not seeing someone mistreating you?”
The anger in his tone was palpable, and it made me giggle. My age didn’t matter, he always wanted to ensure that any guy in my life treated me well.
“You have nothing to worry about. I’m not seeing anyone, and, come on, I would never let a man ever mistreat me. Why do you think I’m such an avid kickboxer?” I bragged.
My dad lifted his glass and clinked it with mine to toast. As I took a large swig of beer, I pulled my legs up, using my knees as a pillow and still avoiding Dad’s face.
“So, if you’re not seeing anyone, what’s caused you to escape the city again?”
There was no way to hide the blush that crept over my cheeks. And my fingers were busy catching the drops of condensation on the beer bottle.
“Remember the guy that dropped off the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gull-wing?”
“Yeah, what about him?”
“Well, his father’s company is my newest client. And let’s say his family is the complete opposite of ours. I had a meeting with his father. He was there, so was his brother and few others, and let’s say it didn’t go too well.” I groused.
“What happened?”
“Well, his brother is a misogynistic bastard, and even though the Dad and the guy, Rhett, had been embarrassed by the brother’s outburst and made him apologize to me, it just rubbed me up the wrong way.”
Saying those words out loud made me realize just how much that interaction had truly bothered me.
“So, you’re annoyed because an ignorant ass thought he’d be funny by putting down someone who is more knowledgeable and has more class than him?”
“No, the story doesn’t end there.”
Making myself more comfortable, I propped my legs next to Dad’s on the ottoman. I took a big swig of beer before continuing.
“So, I’d met Rhett here at the garage, then again at the meeting. Then, on Ruby’s birthday, I bumped into him again. We had a drink, he apologized again for his brother’s behavior, and his brother ended up making close acquaintances with Ruby.”
