“I know,” I say, assuming he’s talking about Hazel’s father.
“Do you?” He arches an eyebrow, leans in a bit.
“I know enough to know I’m not him. And I know enough to know that I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure she doesn’t regret this.” I hold his gaze. “I should’ve said this to you a long time ago. I’ve wanted to be with Pen since I was seventeen years old, but I was too scared of losing you as a mentor to say it. But I love your daughter, which I understand is complicated, and I understand if you need time to?—”
“Deck.”
I stop.
He leans forward on his desk. “I know you know.”
I stare at him, trying to appear shocked by what he’s going to tell me. I’d never tell him he wasn’t as smooth as he thought he was.
“The Dugout Social Club.” A smile forms on his lips. “Penelope needed something to do with her time and her skills. That was true. But I also thought that if I put the two of you on the same task long enough, the rest would sort itself out.” He pauses. “It took longer than I expected, to be honest. I hope Hazel doesn’t get her mother’s stubbornness.”
“I assure you, she did.”
He groans and rubs his hand down his face. “I know.”
I look at him. The man who has been in my corner the better part of my life. Who came to every game of my career that he could and pushed me when I needed it and left me alone when I needed that too. The man who was more of a father to me than my own.
He set this up.
“Thank you for engineering this.”
Ripley shakes his head. “I only created an opportunity. What you did with it was up to you.”
I relax back into my chair.
“You’re the only person I would trust with both of them,” he says. “Don’t make me wrong about that… no matter where you end up.”
“No, sir. I won’t.”
He nods once.
“Now I have to go into that press conference.” He stands, and I do as well. “I’m still rooting for Whitaker to change his mind. I’m doing my best to keep you here, and not just because I don’t want to lose my daughter and granddaughter. But whoever gets you is a lucky team, Deck.” He holds out his hand, and I shake it.
“Thank you for everything, but most of all for trusting me with both of them.”
He smiles, and we release hands.
“Just don’t give me a reason to show up on your doorstep one day for anything other than a visit.”
“Never.” My phone rings in my pocket, and I pull it out. “It’s Pen.”
He pats me on the shoulder. “Good luck. She’s gonna give you hell.”
And he leaves the room as my thumb slides across the screen.
Chapter
Fifty-Three
Penelope
Leighton: OMG…what a guy!!!
Callie: GO DECKER!!!
