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I drive August and me back to my second home, right here in California. It’s been a long time since I was last here, maybe a year, but it’ll be a safe haven for us to stay at while we work out what’s going to happen next.
I keep one hand on August’s leg as I drive, trying to comfort her as she quietly cries. I know how awful she feels right now. We’ve both just watched our worlds implode before our eyes, but she’s lost a lot more than I have. A father’s love for his daughter is unconditional until it’s not. Callum has found the one thing that could destroy their relationship and used it. If only he would open his eyes, open his heart to us, then this wouldn’t be happening.
“I’m going to take care of you, I promise,” I tell her, feeling even more protective of her. Now that she’s at her most vulnerable, she needs me more than ever. I only wish I could have protected her from all of this.
But she seems to trust me, because her hand slides into mine, squeezing it tight.
“I know you will,” she whispers. “That was meant to be his job too, but I guess he’s walked away from that now.”
I feel a surge of anger. I don’t understand how Callum could abandon August like that. Kick her out just because she’s fallen in love. He really hasn’t got his priorities in order. But that’s his choice, and mine is to love August through all of this. She doesn’t need him anymore. She has me.
“I can’t replace what you had with him. It’s completely different from what we share,” I tell her softly. “But I will do my best to pick up his slack. You’ll never want for anything. I’ll treat you like a queen. My queen. And if someday he comes to his senses, then I guess I’ll learn to share you with him. He has a piece of your heart and always will. I won’t deny him that even after what he’s done.”
August sniffs. “See? You’re a better man than he is. I hope…I hope he regrets what he said. I hope he’ll call me up and want to talk things over. But he can be stubborn. I’m scared I’ll never see him again. I’m scared he’ll never get to see how happy we are…”
I pull over at the side of the road to pull her into me. She weeps quietly on my shoulder as I hold her close. I hate that he’s done this to her. I hate that he refused to even try to understand. But his loss is my gain. She’s mine now. And I’ll never do anything so callous to her.
“We’ll be alright,” I say, brushing my lips against her hair. “That’s a promise. And stubborn as he is if he has any sense, he won’t abandon you. You’re all he has in the world.”
When August has calmed down a little, I carry on driving us to my house. I want to get her settled in so that she can just let her emotions out and find some peace. I know that this kind of abandonment won’t ever stop hurting, but if I can ease her pain in any way, then I’ll do it. I have to protect her at all costs.
My home comes into view shortly, a large mansion close to the beach. August barely blinks an eye at it, and that’s how I know she’s here for me, not for the money I possess. Besides, she seems too distraught to take much in. I carry her into the house and up to my bed, tucking her in under the duvet. There, she falls into a fitful sleep. I stay beside her the whole time, never wanting to leave her.
It’s another day before she wants to get up at all. I know she’s distraught, overcome by her emotions, but she seems better now that she’s rested up a little. As the days pass, she heals slowly from her heartbreak. In the mornings, we make slow, gentle love, and then we take breakfast down to the beach.
During the day, she checks her phone constantly, hoping her dad might call, but he doesn’t. I know that he’ll need more time to recover from what happened, but I can’t tell her that. I don’t want to destroy her hope.
But with each passing day, there’s no denying that she’s happier. We spend our afternoons talking, lazily engaging in foreplay, before making dinner together. Dinner is often followed by a glass of wine, followed by our desperate hands running over one another, leading us up to the bedroom for a long, lovemaking session in our new home.
We’re in deep now.
I’ve never felt so much for a person in my life, and I know we both made the right choice when we opted to be together.
