Page 140 of The Route to You

“I may have stolen the line from one on my PT’s wall.” He winked and kissed her gently, then swatted her ass as the doorbell rang. “You’ll be fine.”

She slipped her hands into his, tempted to ask him to come with her to the door. “I’ll go get that,” she said instead.

“Yeah, I’ll give you a moment alone with your dad. I need to shower and shave anyway. I’d rather look like a respectable human when I see him again.”

She left him in the room and headed toward the door. Kyle had done a pretty good job making the house look better, thank goodness, and she clamored down the stairs, grateful that the dog hair and dust bunnies from the staircase had been swept up.

He really is wonderful.

She opened the door to find her father standing on the patio in a full business suit, which was surprising since her dad rarely wore a suit. His brown and silver hair was combed neatly, but he had a five o’clock shadow, as if he hadn’t taken the time to shave this morning. His morning must have started early, though, if he flew from San Francisco.

But do I really know where Dad was coming from?

She knew nothing about Dad’s day-to-day life. And, for the first time in a long time, that fact made her gut twist.

“Hey,” she said, smiling at him as naturally as she could. She kissed his cheek lightly. “Come on in.”

“Do you have company?” Dad said, gesturing back at Kyle’s truck in the driveway.

“No, that belongs to my roommate.” She stepped to the side to let him through.

Dad’s brown eyes swept over the space as he wiped his feet on the front mat, even though it wasn’t raining outside. “I didn’t know you had a roommate.”

“As of a month ago, yeah.” Sloan pointed up the stairs. “Actually . . .” She sucked in a breath, a bubble of nerves fluttering up her spine as she followed him up to the main level. “It’s Kyle. His apartment wasn’t ready yet, so I invited him to stay with me in the meantime.”

Dad gave her a sharp look. “Kyle Winnick?”

She nodded.

“Is that wise?”

Don’t get defensive.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, you’re aware of what Evan intimated during that fiasco over the winter.”

“Yes, but he was lying. Kyle and I weren’t together back then. And we hadn’t seen each other in eight years.”

Dad’s lips curved into a frown. “And you’re together now?”

“We’re”—she thought back to what Cheyenne had said—“figuring it out. I love him, Dad. And I know he cares about me. So, yeah. We’re together.”

He gave her a doubtful look. “It doesn’t sound like you’re together.”

She shook her head, not wanting to extend the conversation any further than necessary. “Why don’t you come sit in the living room?” Thank God for Kyle’s furniture and Liddy’s foresight in suggesting it. “I’m really more interested in discussing Penny than I am in my relationship status. Do you want a glass of water? Tea? Coffee?”

Dad shook his head. “No, thank you.”

She led him into the living room and then took a seat in one of the armchairs facing the couch. He settled across from her, the distance feeling large and uncomfortable, like he was a lawyer here in an official capacity, rather than her father.

“So . . . Penny found out three months ago she has leukemia?” Sloan started, anxious to break the silence. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“She’ll have to tell you that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“This is Penny’s private information. If she didn’t want to share, I felt honor bound to respect that.” Dad cleared his throat, then reached up and loosened the knot of his tie. “But actually, the more truthful answer is that she found out three months ago that her cancer was out of remission.”