Page 103 of Love Unspoken

The silence on the other end was heavy, and I could almost picture my father, his jaw tightening, his hand clenching into a fist the way it always did when he was upset.

"That bastard," he muttered under his breath, but I caught it. Even miles away, he was ready to fight for me. "Son of a bitch. I trusted him with you."

Daddy had met Lucas a few times and liked him. In fact, the first time they met, he'd approved of Lucas. "That's a solid man you got there, kiddo."

How could I have been so wrong about him? I wondered sadly.

I was a careful person. I had had a few boyfriends; actually, two before Lucas, and they were relationships that lasted a couple of years. Now, it felt like that was a pattern. Two years and my time was up. But I'd not been in love with my previous boyfriends. I never lived with them. We dated. We had fun. We were monogamous because that was one of my caveats. I didn't do casual sex or men who did casual sex.

"Kiddo, I don't know what to say. The man I saw, the one I met, I'm certain was in love with you," he said somberly. "I cannot fathom what happened but I suspect the pressure from his family finally became too much."

Daddy hadn't liked Patsy and Shelby, and he'd told me that he'd prefer not to meet them again unless Lucas and I were getting married, or it was unavoidable. He'd actually hit it off with Rena, which had been a surprise to everyone. I'd always thought of her as snobbish and standoffish, but she was charmed by Daddy, and they'd gotten along very well, to the chagrin of Patsy, who was turned off by my family's blue-collar roots.

"And let's not forget, he never got over Kath," I added.

"Sometimes men confuse pride with love." Daddy sounded resigned. "But all this tells me is that he's not the right man for you. Where are you now?"

He knew me well and guessed that I wouldn't have stayed where Lucas and I were building a life. "I'm at Basil's. I couldn't be…," I trailed away, my voice trembling as everything that had happened came crashing down on me.

"Of course." His voice was soft, the anger tempered by a deeper emotion that told me he was feeling my pain as his own. "You did the right thing. I'm proud of you for not letting him string you along."

"But it hurts so much," I confessed, tears spilling over as I buried my face in my hand, the phone pressed to my ear as if it were the only thing keeping me anchored. "I love him, Dad. I thought he loved me too."

How could I have been so wrong? That question kept reverberating inside of me.

"I'm so sorry, kiddo." I could hear the emotion in my father's voice, the way it quivered just slightly as he spoke. "But sometimes people…they don't deserve our love. They take it for granted; they get too caught up in their own lives, their shit. That's not on you. That's on him."

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. "I feel so lost. I don't know what to do now. I don't know how to move on from this."

"You're stronger than you think, Amara," he assured me, and I could hear the conviction in his voice, the belief he had in me even when I didn't have it in myself. "You'll get through this. And you don't have to do it alone. Come home if you need to. We'll figure it out together."

The thought of going home, of being wrapped in the safety of my father's embrace, of being in the place where I didn't have to be strong or put on a brave face, was almost too tempting. But I wasn't ready to give up on my life in Charleston because of Lucas. I had my career.

"Once we break after summer term, I'll come for a few days." My voice was a little steadier, the tears slowing as I absorbed the comfort of Daddy's words.

Lucas and I had planned to go to Rome between the summer and fall quarters—it would have been my first time. Would he go with Kath now?

Stop torturing yourself, Amara.

"Whenever you need to, come home," Daddy said firmly. "I'm here for you, Amara. Always."

"Thanks, Daddy," I whispered, my exhaustion catching up with me. "I love you."

"I love you too, kiddo." I could hear the emotion thick in his voice. "Get some rest. Tomorrow's a new day."

I nodded again, feeling lighter, a little less alone. "That's very Scarlett O'Hara."

He laughed then. "No one's ever compared me to a Southern Belle before."

After we ended the call, I let my phone slip from my fingers onto the bed beside me. Curling up on the bed, I closed my eyes and wished for sleep so I didn't have to hurt for a while.

FOUR

LUCAS

"That's just guilt, Lucas," Amara said to me over the phone, her tone professor to student and nothing like the woman who'd been mine just three weeks ago.

"It's your fair share of⁠—"