AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He expected better from me. And he expected better than Nathaniel. And we just made him relive what I know is one of his biggest regrets—that he didn’t appreciate my mom more when she was alive, and that he spent his time on meaningless sex instead of loving her the way he should have.
A lot of the disgust and anger I have toward my dad melts a bit. He’d been very, very wrong, but he was paying for it now, and there would be no peace for him. Not really. He needed me now.
I turn to Nathaniel. “It’s over between us. Don’t call me. Don’t try to contact me. Our age difference is too much of an issue, and we have absolutely nothing to offer one another. And I sure the hell am not ready to be anyone’s stepmom—assuming there really is no wife hidden in your attic or something. Just… just stay away.”
With that, I turn on my heel and go after my dad, ignoring the way my heart aches at the look in Nathaniel’s eyes.
I manage to catch up to Dad outside, just as he’s getting into his car parked in the gallery’s private lot.
“Dad! Wait!”
He snaps his head in my direction, and even in the dim light of the nearby streetlamps, I can still see that sting of disappointment in his eyes.
“How could you have been so foolish?” he states, a kind of severity in his tone that I haven’t heard since I was a kid. “He’s double your age, Poppy. I didn’t raise you to be some older man’s fuck doll.”
His choice of words makes me reel on the inside. Despite some truth to his words, he has no right to judge me. He’s been in this exact situation. Only worse.
“You barely raised me at all,” I hurl back, allowing spite to coat my words. “You worked all the time, and on one of the very rare occasions that I did come and visit you at the office… well, you know what happened that day…”
Dad bows his head, a clear admission of guilt but also pain. I hurt him just now, but he has to own what he did if he wants to reprimand me for being the “younger woman” screwing her older boss.
“It’s not just the fact that he’s older, Poppy,” Dad finally says, daring to make eye contact again. “Nathaniel Stone has a… troubled past. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
I walk closer to him, my resolve softening when I see how broken he really looks. At this moment, I feel like a five-year-old girl just wanting to cuddle her daddy.
“It doesn’t matter,” I tell him, fighting against the lump forming in my throat. “It’s over. I won’t be interning at the gallery anymore.”
Dad furrows his eyebrows, his expression harsh again. “Did he fire you? Because we can take him to court, Poppy. Unfair dismissal. If he sexually harassed or manipulated or seduced you, in any way, we’ll take him to the cleaners.”
I smile, knowing that he’s just saying that out of love for his daughter rather than hate for Nathaniel. In fact, Dad has tons of respect for him. It’s a little gutting that more than one relationship has been ruined in this mess.
“No, it was a mutual decision, Dad. I’m okay with it, really.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He gives a slow nod and then gestures to the car. “Come on, sweetie. I’ll give you a ride home.”
I etch another weak smile and walk around to the passenger-side door. After I get in, and Dad turns the ignition, he pauses and looks over at me.
“Did he ever tell you what happened to his wife?” he asks, his voice as low as a whisper.
I can’t hide my surprise over the question. Nathaniel made it clear that there was no secret wife on the scene, but that was all he said. He had a wife?
“No…” My voice trails off as the past tense of that sentence sinks in. He had a wife. So, that means she must have died. “W-what happened to her?” I ask Dad, my voice shaking a little.
Dad lets out a heavy sigh like he’s battling with his answer. “It’s not my place to say, sweetie. But her name was Danneel, and she died when Micah was just a baby. If—” He breaks off midsentence and sighs again. “If you and Nathaniel… do decide to keep this relationship between you going… then I’m sure he’ll tell you about her in his own time.”
For the first time since Mom died, I don’t feel like a semi-orphan. This is the realist conversation my dad and I have ever had. It’s like, before, there was a wall up between us, and no matter how hard we tried to chip it away, it never relented. Until tonight—until one moment of clarity and vulnerability had punched an almighty hole right through it, causing the diamond-hard foundations to crumble.
