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It was not the reaction I expected.
I wrapped my arms around my father and held him close. I hadn’t realized until that moment how much I had missed the closeness. When I was little, my father had hoisted me onto his shoulders and carried me around endlessly. But as I grew, he pulled away, and became the strict disciplinarian, the rule-maker, and stopped being the father I remembered. It felt good to be reminded that some part of that man was still inside him.
“You’re right.”
I furrowed my brow at his statement. I didn’t think I’d heard him correctly.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“I said, you’re right,” my father said.
I stepped away from his embrace and looked up into his eyes.
“Grant would never have touched you in any way. He was a good boy, just misguided. He was a good influence on Hollis, despite the antics they kicked up from time to time, and I still attribute Hollis’ want t
o be a cop to Grant’s influence.”
“Seriously?” I asked flatly.
“I’ve felt guilty for so long over what happened to Grant. The fight. What I did. The way he left. It ate me up inside for years. Your mother, too. She felt guilty for not stepping in and overriding what was going on that day.”
“It wasn’t Mom’s fault,” I said. “It was yours. And I hope you told her that.”
“I did. Several times over. I wondered for years what Grant was up to. If he was okay and getting along and making a life for himself. But I knew you weren’t the only one with a crush all those years ago. I saw the way he looked at you a few times. At the very least, I knew he enjoyed being around you. But I didn’t know to what extent.”
“There was no extent, Dad.”
“I know. I know that now, and in some ways, I knew that then. But you’re right. I was worried about your future, and I was worried that you would lose yourself in your teenage feelings for him like Jane always did with her crushes, and I panicked. It isn’t an excuse, but it was where my head was at the time.”
“Grant’s a good man.”
“I know. It’s why I sent him that email,” he said.
I furrowed my brow again and tilted my head.
“Email?” I asked.
“I have something to admit, Theresa. And I know it’s going to make you angry but hear me out. Okay?”
“What did you do, Dad?”
“When things started going south with you and Ike a few years in, I had Hollis keep an eye on you.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Hollis told me about that time he broke up something between you two in the parking lot of some restaurant or whatever, and I figured that would be enough to get you out of that situation. But he kept coming around. And there was talk of him moving in. And I knew he wasn’t good for you, princess. Something in him changed. We all saw it.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I sent Grant an email.”
“You what?”
“It just sort of happened. Hollis has been emailing back and forth with him for years. I was at Hollis’ one day peering over his shoulder, and I saw Grant’s email. And I figured if Hollis couldn't talk sense into you and I couldn't, that maybe he could.”
“Wait, are you telling me that’s why Grant was in town?”
“I told him you needed him. That’s it. And I knew when he got into town he would figure out why.”
