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"Dad… Dad." I tapped his shoulder. "I can't breathe."
"You can breathe just fine, don't exaggerate. Let me hug my only daughter another minute or so."
I smiled into his neck, but he really was starting to suffocate me.
Placing me back on my feet, he beamed down at me. "I wasn't expecting you home so soon. Last I spoke to Konstantin, I figured another few days before you came back."
I bit the inside of my cheek. "Well, some things changed at the last minute, so I was able to come home early."
"Speaking of Konstantin…" Mom said, picking up the glass and handing it to Dad. She eyed the table for a wet ring. "He called a few days ago about the meet you're no longer competing in. We lost a few hundred dollars on that. He said something about you not being ready. After all that time away to train, Ana, you're still not in tip-top shape?"
Dad slanted his head to the side. His inquisitive eyes caused deep creases to form between his brows. "Konstantin didn't mention anything like that to me when we last spoke. In fact, he seemed very pleased with your progress. Now that I think about it, he was raving about you."
Pleased with my progress? Raving about me? No way. Kova had to be lying, or Dad was trying to protect me. In the past year that I'd been at World Cup, not once did he wear a smile around me, let alone show that he was pleased during practice. Either it was his way of giving me constructive criticism, or he was lying to my parents.
I twisted my fingers together, hot heat spread to my ears. "Well, Coach and I spoke about it, and he felt that I should wait just a little longer. Given my Achilles strain, and changing up my routines, he wants to be one hundred and ten percent sure I'm solid. That way I start off competition season with a bang and make a name for myself. I really need to make it count." I put a lot of weight into my words, hoping they picked up the importance of them. "Let's just say Coach is a little obsessive compulsive. He doesn't like to lose. He wants to make sure that when I go in, not a finger is out of place and I come out on top. While I can appreciate his attention to detail, sometimes it gets annoying."
Dad nodded his head as if he knew what I was talking about. "He still has that trait about him? Not surprised." He laughed under his breath and my shoulders loosened. "The couple of times we did house flipping, or when he bought property, he was particular about every little thing. He'd walked around and slowly inspected every square inch of the property. As a businessman"—he placed his hand over his heart—"his keen eye was welcoming. He picked out things I hadn't noticed. I once tried to bring him on to my company, but he refused."
"You did? I don't recall that."
I looked at Mom, bemused by her constipated looking face and narrowed eyes, she didn’t like being kept out of the loop.
"This was many years ago, darling. Ana was just a young child."
She plastered on what I knew was a fake smile—her social event smile. The one she taught me. "Well, things worked out how they're supposed to, right, Frank?"
"Yes, darling."
Mom clapped her hands together. "I have a meeting I need to get to. This year we're doing a silent auction to help benefit the people of Zimbabwe. We're trying to raise enough money so everyone can have mosquito repellent tents to sleep under. Next week we have a gala at the Four Seasons. All donations will go to the Children's Hospital in Boston. I trust that you will be there, Ana?" She dragged her critical eyes down my body for the second time today. "Appropriately dressed? Yes?" She nodded with her statement and walked away. "Oh, Avery is here somewhere," Mom said, before exiting the room.
"Avery is here?" I asked my dad.
He shrugged his shoulders. "She comes and goes from time to time."
I stared, thoroughly stumped. "You mean she comes and goes with her brothers?"
"Couldn't tell you. I don’t pay much attention." He swirled his glass and then took a sip. "It's good to see you, but I have to get back to work. See you for dinner, sweetie. I have a business call, then I'm flying out late tonight on a red-eye."
My face fell. I should've expected this, but I'd been gone for so many months that I assumed he'd take time off to see me.
"You're leaving? But I just got home."
"I'm off to Colorado for a few days. It won't be a long trip."
"With Michael?"
Michael Heron was his business partner and Avery's dad. They usually traveled together.
"Not this time. I'm meeting a potential new client." His eyes lit up as he raised his half-empty glass of alcohol, like he had tricks up his sleeve to win this client over. I sighed. He either traveled for a potential client, or to close a deal, which meant he was always gone. Money was his biggest motivator.
Dad dropped a kiss to the top of my head, then turned and made his way back to his office.
Pulling my cell phone from my back pocket, I checked my notifications. Still nothing from Avery yet h
er car was outside. She and Xavier fought like siblings. I couldn't imagine she'd be at my brother's pool house…unless her twin brothers were there and she was with them.
Curious, I walked through the kitchen to look out a window. Overgrown tropical plants edged the backyard, blocking the view of the pool house my brother had moved into after he graduated high school. It was like his own little hidden bungalow. Sliding open the glass door, I stepped outside and walked past the pool and under the archway that lead to one of two impressive guest houses on our property.
