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“Last trip I got my feet under me. This time I plan to explore, see what a life here might look like.” Dad wasn’t a tall man but he wasn’t as short as I was. His blond hair was slowly turning gray and his brown eyes had lightened over the years. He was active and in good health.

I gave him a nod. “As soon as you’re ready we’ll head over to the practice facility.” I left Dad to settle in, devouring a sandwich at the kitchen counter while reviewing footage on my laptop. Marley sent another script and Charley had the next episode edited. Without any prompting from me the two had begun working together and a friendship was developing. They even banned me from singing a song about how their names rhymed.

With Marley’s case of writer’s block and Charley’s retirement-slash-divorce on the horizon I wouldn't be surprised if they left town together to find a change of scenery. It wasn’t a terrible idea, but it meant my writer and editor would be out of town and possibly unavailable.

“Should we talk about Beth?”

I jumped. “You scared me!”

“Sorry,” Dad chuckled, taking the stool beside me. “I’m worried if we put it off we’ll avoid the reason I’m here. How are you? And don’t give me the answer you think I want to hear. I need to know what’s going on in your head.”

He’d probably been worrying himself sick since I called. I told him he didn’t need to come right back but I understood the need to see for himself that I was okay. “I’m actually fine, Dad. It was a shock and I was pretty angry. I mean, what did she think was going to happen? I don’t understand her. At all.” I filled Dad in on the security report Seth’s team put together and that she was still in town. “She’s blacklisted at both the Tangerines’ facilities and the Mantas.”

“Good. That’s good. But weird. Why is she sticking around?”

That was the only thing bothering me. “You knew her better than I did. The only thing I can think of is she’s hoping for some tangential fame from Taking Tampa.”

His upper lip curled. “That would be just like her.” After a few moments of thought his eyes narrowed. “Why are you taking this so well? I know time heals all wounds but you were very mad at Beth for a long time.”

“Therapy helps.” Which was largely true. It took me years to untangle my feelings for the mother-who-wasn’t, mostly because I had so many teenage hormones driving a lot of my feelings. Feelings that became part of my identity. I did a lot of work, but it wasn’t until Everett returned to baseball that I had to confront the last of my demons: abandonment. Coming to terms with my anger towards Everett being combined with my anger at my mother was the push I needed to finally let it all go.

So I could be happy. And oh my goodness was I happy. Maybe sharing the news would help put him at ease.

I slid my hand over Dad’s. “I have some news.”

“The Oscars made a mistake?” he grinned. It was his eternal hope I would win a golden statue, but it was also his favorite joke. To my father, I was the best cinematographer who ever lived and every awards show on the planet was blind and dumb for not giving me every award every year.

I laughed. “No, unfortunately I still haven’t won.”

“Then what is it? I assume it’s the reason you keep smiling?”

“I’m seeing someone.”

His eyes closed and he nodded twice. “Well then, I can’t wait to meet him. As far as I can tell it’s a good match. It’s wonderful to see you so happy. A relief.”

I held my breath before I dropped the bomb. “You actually know him. It’s Everett.”

Dad’s face turned to stone. “Anson?”

My heart plummeted into my stomach the exact same way it did when I was thirteen and left the stove on by accident. “Yes.”

“I see.”

“Dad, I thought you liked Everett?” What was I missing?

His face twitched some more. “He’s a ballplayer.”

That wasn’t why Dad was upset. “What’s wrong with that? Seth is also a ballplayer and you love him.”

“Seth isn’t dating you. I’m glad he’s finally grown up and is turning out to be a fine man, but a year ago I would have been just as upset if you told me you were dating him.”

Dad was upset? Over Everett? The data wasn’t computing in my brain. I slid off my stool and started pacing. “Dad…I don’t understand.”

He sighed. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“We’re going to his game tonight.”

Dad stood too. “Maybe we should skip it.” He shrugged.