Page 82 of Long Story Short

My heart hammers against my chest as I think through his words. “You were never going to disappear,” I realize.

“Give me the money and find out.”

“I’m not giving in to your threats,” I respond, trying to keep my voice composed. He needs to know he can’t scare me. I’m the one in control now. He lost it, and he isn’t getting it back.

“I’m not threatening you. I’m reminding you.” The line goes dead before he can say anything else.

I stare at the dark phone screen for a moment before slamming it onto the counter.

“Fuck,” I mutter, wishing I could just be done with my father once and for all. There was a naive part of me that was hoping all the times my father was trying to call me was to make amends. I let my mind wonder—hope—that maybe he’d turned over a new leaf and was ready to be the father I always wanted him to be.

I was wrong.

He needs money.

And he’ll threaten his only children—and the company that still bears his last name—to get it.

He hasn’t changed at all.

He’s the same man.

But there’s something new to him too. A new kind of desperation. And that makes me nervous. Desperation could make him dangerous.

My gaze drifts around the kitchen just as a knock sounds at the door. I sigh, remembering that Winnie had texted me asking if it was okay to stop by, and I’d told her yes after our conversation at the store yesterday.

I walk out of my kitchen and into the entryway and open the door for my sister.

She takes one look at me, and concern immediately washes over her. “What’s wrong?” she asks, taking a step inside when I gesture her in.

“Nothing.”

“Liar.” She brushes past me like she owns the place. Which…she’s here every so often, helping me renovate and decorate, that she kind of does right now.

I hold my tongue, not wanting to tell her about the call with our father. I want to shield her from him as much as I can. As far as she’s aware, she has no idea he’s been trying to get a hold of me, and I don’t want her to find out. I just have to pull myself together enough to play it cool with her today and find a way to get our father to leave us alone once and for all.

“What do you need from me today for house planning?” I ask, changing the subject as I follow her into the kitchen.

“What I want to know is why you seem off,” she responds, dropping her bag on the counter. “Did the date go badly last night? Did you mess things up with her?”

She studies me longer than I’d like, like she’s trying to read between the lines and figure out what I’m not saying.

“I didn’t mess anything up,” I respond, offended that she thinks I would.

She smiles. “So it went well?” she asks hopefully. Her brows lift slightly as she looks at me closely. “Then why do you seem off?”

The date was amazing and incredible, and the only reason I seem off is because our asshole father is threatening me for money, and you happened to knock two seconds after I found that out.

I keep my jaw shut, resisting the urge to let those words spill out.

My hesitation is all she needs. “So it went really well?” she prods.

I drag a hand over my face. “Stop fishing for details. Let’s talk about the house.”

“But it’s so hard to not fish for details when I’m seeing you blush over a girl for the first time.”

“I’m not blushing,” I get out.

“Yes, you are. Tell me.”