Page 68 of The History in Us

Who’s that child belong to, if not you?

I sighed in distress and took a much-needed break for the restroom. Exiting, I found my father leaning against the ancient panel boards.

“Daddy,” I startled, finding his arms crossed, his shoulder resting against the wall. His deep eyes peered at me, waiting for explanation.

“Levi’s in my history class. Isn’t it funny we both attend NEU?” I laughed, hoping to sound jovial, but melting under the stare of my father.

“Hilarious,” he muttered. His jaw popped, as he processed what he’d say next. “How well do you know Levi?” I shivered to think my father wanted intimate details, but I realized the conversation would be just as awkward for him. I assumed he meant Levi’s history.

“I know enough about his past, his military experience and who he wants to be now.” I paused. “Dad, he’s a good man. He’s not like the rest of them, whatever they might have been.” I didn’t fully know the history of the other Walkers, only the little bit Levi told me and the pieces I’d pulled from memory. Every detail was so opposite the Levi I knew, I just couldn’t see a hint of Walker history in him. Except the drinking, and even that Levi explained. He’d abused the privilege too often, but he hardly touched the stuff since AJ’s birth. The exceptions being the day that marked the death of his friends and the night he told me what happened to them. I trusted that Levi knew how to temper any issue with alcohol and I had no reason to suspect otherwise.

“He’s a single father,” he warned, but my eyes narrowed on him.

“So were you.” I tried to soften the blow, but it had been true when he met Emily.

“Then you understand I have a double dilemma. I’ll understand any hesitancy he has to get close to you, to protect his child from falling too deep for a substitute mother.”

“Daddy!” I snapped, because that wasn’t exactly what happened with me. I loved Emily, and I struggled with my six-year-old mind to understand what was happening between my father and her. All I remembered was a serious man who finally smiled when she was present.

“But seeing as that child is too young to know the difference, I have to worry in the reverse this time. I have to wonder if my child is becoming too attached to his.”

“Dad,” I groaned, hardly believing his accusation, but sensing the concern in his words.

“Don’t love his child and not him.”

My heart skipped a beat. Was my father giving me permission to love Levi Walker? Or was he warning me not to?

“It’s not like that,” I blurted, but the darkening of my father’s eyes showed his disapproval. He’d rather I admit I loved Levi when I’d never said the words to him, then pretend it wasn’t love on my end.

“I see the way he’s watching you. Never taking his eyes off you for a second. Following your every move around the room to make certain you’re still here. I know what he’s doing, Katie. I know what he’s feeling. It’s hard for me to swallow it’s for my daughter, but I have to be happy. That boy is the definition of smitten.”

I burst into laughter, falling forward over my knees. I couldn’t believe my dad said that. It was so…Emily sounding.

“I don’t know about that,” I giggled, swiping at a false tear by my eye.

“If that’s what you say,” he muttered, and his lip tweaked at the corner. He was famous for this saying with Uncle Gavin, his best friend, and father to my childhood best friend, Gee.

“That’s what I say,” I whispered, smiling in return to assure my father I could take care of me. Now, if only my heart would get the memo.