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“Jesus Christ, Jen,” he breathed. “How the fuck do you do this?”
“Talent,” I teased.
He nodded his head. “Absolutely. I’m so glad that we convinced you to work here. Couldn’t have been easy, giving up all the traveling.”
“Well, it was, and it wasn’t,” I told him. “I like that I can be picky now, and as I said, I’m already attached to the place.”
His smile was bright. “Could you send me this one?” He pointed at the picture I’d captured of the real him—charming and laughing Julian Wright. Exactly how I saw him. “I’d like to put it on the website.”
“Definitely. That’s what I’m here for.”
We continued up the walk until we nearly reached the barn. I could hear the concert had already started and winced. I was supposed to be there for that.
We stepped inside to the backstage. It was loud from the show. Sutton was standing off to the side, watching the show. A group of the production crew was buzzing around. Hollin was speaking to the new manager, Alejandra. Jordan was sitting at a table with Annie in his lap. And someone else was standing before us that I’d never seen before.
Julian stiffened next to me. His eyes widened.
“Dad?” Julian gasped.
3
Julian
My father was standing in front of me.
In Lubbock, Texas.
Not in Vancouver, where he lived and where I’d moved from. This wasn’t a call, text, or email, like he’d been trying to reach me and I’d been ignoring him. I hadn’t seen him in almost four years. He’d asked us to stay, knowing we never would, and then I’d said good-bye. I’d meant it forever. What was he doing here?
I didn’t want to have to deal with this. It was bad enough that I already had to deal with Ashleigh today, but Ashleigh and my father in one day? Fuck.
“Hello, son,” my dad said.
Son. I recoiled from that word. The years of idolization and then the complete shattering of everything that I’d worshipped in him.
I pulled myself together. I couldn’t be the same person I’d been when my dad fucked up all of our lives. I couldn’t cower and hope that Jordan would take care of it. Like he always did. I had to handle it on my own.
I straightened to my considerable height and crossed my arms over my chest. “What are you doing here?”
“Good to see you, too.”
“Is it?” I mocked.
Jennifer fidgeted next to me. “I’m just going to…” She pointed at the concert, where she had been hired to take photographs.
My gaze shifted to hers. Fuck, how had I managed to drag her into all of my drama? She shouldn’t have had to witness any of it. I was such a mess.
Her hazel eyes were wide with concern and discomfort. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. I’d kissed her, and I’d much rather be doing that again than dealing with what was right in front of me. Not that it was going to happen. She’d made it pretty clear that she wasn’t interested. And it wasn’t like I should be dating right now anyway. Ashleigh was a hurricane, plowing through my life. It wasn’t fair to anyone to start dating when she was still rampaging.
“Sure,” I said with a nod. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
She smiled shyly. The same Jen who had drawn me to her at a pool party right before I fell in on top of her. After I’d moved here, I’d pushed her to date me, but she’d never really been interested. My flirting was relentless, and still…it was hard to tell what Jen was thinking. The opposite of Ashleigh, who wore every emotion on her sleeve.
I shook the past away from my eyes as she gave me a half-wave and disappeared toward the stage. My father was still waiting.
“New girlfriend?” he asked.
I clenched my jaw. “No. She’s our photographer.”
“The place is nice.”
“What are you doing here?” I demanded again.
“I came to see you.”
“You saw me. Now, you can go.”
My father sighed but held my gaze, unwavering. He’d had more practice in that than I ever had. “Can we go somewhere more private and talk?”
“I’m actually at work, if you haven’t noticed. I’m kind of busy.”
“Five minutes, Julian.”
I ground my teeth together and then nodded, heading for the door without looking back. My father followed me out of the building. I forced down my nerves and rising irritation. He still hadn’t fucking answered me. He wouldn’t have flown across the entire country just to see me. Not after everything had shattered. Why now?
The door shut behind us, drowning out the noise of Cosmere blasting through the building. A hot summer wind whipped around me, bringing in dust from the nearby cotton fields. Lubbock was small enough to feel suffocating and large enough to have most everything I could ever need. If not everything I wanted. It wasn’t Vancouver, but I’d been here long enough to appreciate the friendly West Texas city. I wouldn’t have opened a business here otherwise.
