AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I still don’t see how being a traveling salesman is your dream job.”
“You’ve got a lot to learn about life, young lady.”
“I’ve been places in the world, Dad. I’m not a little kid anymore.”
“Thank God for that,” he said.
I smiled, cherishing the good moments.
“Now, let’s talk about these men. They are men, right? Not boys again? Who are they?”
“I told you about Cooper and Max, Dad. Remember when I got back from Afghanistan?”
“Yeah, that’s when your career went to shit and started to work for those smut publishers!”
“They publish romance novels, Dad. It’s not even like that.”
He shook his head.
“If your mother was around…”
Both of us fell silent a few moments. I took another drink of his fresh squeezed lemonade. The bittersweet taste reminded me of childhood, back when my dreams seemed possible and nothing was capable of standing in my way.
“You haven’t even met either of them yet, but Cooper is the one for me.”
“Max sounded like a man who would keep you safe.”
“Love is about more than that, Dad.”
“If your mother were here, she would tell you that’s not true.”
A wave of sadness washed over me as I saw my father’s pain wash over his face. I put my hand on his arm. He pulled it away.
“You can’t keep using her death to beat yourself up, Dad. It’s not healthy.”
“She died because of me. I’m going to carry that the rest of my life.”
“It’s not like you were trained to be able to save her,” I said.
*
Later that evening, my phone rang. I grabbed it, thinking it might be Cooper, but I saw Max’s name on my screen. What the hell? Is Laura okay?
“Hello?”
“Hey, Jade. What’s going on?”
“Um, not much. Is Laura okay? Why are you calling?”
“Laura was fine when she left this morning, although it hurt a bit to walk if you know what I mean.”
He guffawed while I groaned internally.
“That’s great, I think. Why are you calling?”
“I wanted to thank you for hooking me up with her. Damn! She’s fine.”
“No problem. Just be nice to her. Don’t fuck her over.”
