Page 97 of Just Ten Seconds

As we turn onto Main Street and pass the Harvest Café’ shops, and the theater, my body relaxes. When I ran away from the city in hopes to escape, I thought this town was a holding place. A purgatory where I’d wait to see where I figured out my next move. I wasn’t prepared for it to become part of me. A home.

And still, my father’s insinuation echoes in my ear. It’s all my fault. Michael’s death. All the money that was stolen from innocent people. I made terrible mistakes after terrible mistakes. They pile on top of my soul like a Jenga game. If I try to take one of those hurts away, the tower stands but just for a short time. Soon, it’ll all come tumbling down.

Dean pulls up to my house. Amanda is still awake. I have no idea where this kid gets her endless energy.

“Is everything okay?” he asks.

“I’m good. Today was wonderful.” I hold a smile.

“That man,” he asks, “he was from your past?”

I nod. “That was my father.”

He hits his fist on the steering wheel, making it bounce with the action. “The fucker who abandoned you as a baby?” He fights to keep his words quiet so as not to alarm Amanda.

I simply nod my head.

His jaw protrudes as he silently curses. “I should’ve said something.”

I lay my hand on his thigh and sternly look at him. “He’s not worth the effort. Neither am I.”

“What does that mean?” He lifts my hand and kisses the inside of my palm, on the life line. “Never underestimate your worth.”

My lips tremble at the emotion coursing through me; it wants to pour out of my soul. Today has been full of amazing highs and debilitating lows. I look behind me at Amanda sitting in the back, her hot-pink cast nearly glowing in the dark. I want to burst out in tears, but I can’t because the radio is playing “A Whole New World,” and Amanda is singing it with such heart. It’s a truly beautiful moment.

I take a shallow breath and open the car. “Good night.”

As I leave, he turns the car off and takes the key out of the ignition.

“Hey!” she cries when her song stops playing.

“Say good-bye to Mara while I put it on in my truck,” he tells her.

Amanda comes barreling out of the back and runs up to me with a squeeze. I kiss her on the head and hold her tight as Dean turns his car on and plays her music from his sound system.

When she’s tucked into the backseat, I turn to walk up the pathway to the house, and I hear his footsteps as he runs around the front of the car and up to me.

He has one hand on the side of my face and the other gripping my hand. He looks like he’s about to kiss me, but I cut a glance at the car where Amanda is sitting.

His thumb runs a gentle finger over my cheek. “Tomorrow night, we’ll talk after the meeting. I’ll see if my parents can watch Amanda.”

“Yes.” I lower my forehead to his lips.

He holds his embrace there as he grips my hair. Stepping back, he releases his hand from my face, but our hands are still joined as I back away. Our fingers cling until I’m out of reach.

Dean rounds the car and gets in the driver’s seat. I hold my house keys up to let him know I’m safe to go inside. He nods his head and drives away.

I’m about to open my door when I hear Rita’s voice.

“He’s a handsome man,” she says from her rocking chair on the unlit porch.

“You spying on me?” I tease. “What are you doing sitting out here in the dark?”

She doesn’t answer my question. Instead, she asks another, “Is he an annual or a perennial?”

I chew on my worried lip. “I don’t know yet.”

She just nods and looks out into the distance and the dark night sky. “I think this one has roots.”