AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, what’s all this?”
“A little hobby I picked up.” He straightened and dusted off his hands. Pride beamed from every pore in his face. “It started when your mom wanted a new shelf in the living room. I thought, I can make that. So, I did. Then she wanted a wine rack. Then her friend wanted a little nightstand. Now I do projects for half the neighborhood. I enjoy keeping my hands busy.”
“That’s awesome, Dad. They look amazing.”
“Made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, but I figured it out, eventually. Everyone seems to like them.”
It was nice seeing her dad like this, and with a sharp pang, she realized she’d missed out on years of happiness because of the fear burrowed deep inside her. She had focused so much on what could’ve gone wrong that she hadn’t even thought of what might’ve gone right.
Walter must’ve caught the look on her face because he leaned against his workbench and folded his arms. He didn
’t look unkind, but he was a straight shooter, and that could hurt.
“Your mom was pretty upset last night.”
Cassie hung her head. She’d expected this conversation and wished Laura would have been by her side. “I know.”
“I’m not saying she was right to react like that, but we were pretty surprised to see you show up on our doorstep.”
“Disappointed?”
“Surprised.” His tone was firm. “Big difference. We’re happy you’re here, but I guess what we’re both wondering is why now?”
Cassie took a slow sip of her coffee. She didn’t want to say anything she would regret. “I wish I could tell you. I’ve wanted to visit a hundred times over the years, but I’d get scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“That you hated me.” Tears stung Cassie’s eyes, and she looked down at her bare feet. The chill of the concrete numbed her skin. “That you didn’t want to see me.”
“If you’re looking for forgiveness, you had that years ago.” Walter didn’t change his posture, but his voice was gentler now. “We never hated you, Cassie, not even once. It hurt both your mother and me when you pushed us away, but we knew you had gone through an incredible trauma. People react in all sorts of ways. We would never blame you for how you handled it. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt us, too.”
“I know.” Her voice came out as a whisper. “I’m sorry.”
Walter crossed the garage and kissed Cassie on the forehead. “We all could’ve done better. Your sister knows that. Your mother knows that.”
“Does she?”
He chuckled. “You two are more alike than either of you wants to admit.”
“I’m getting that impression.”
Walter returned to his workbench and grabbed a bucket of stain and a brush. He walked over to the decorative staircase and popped the lid off the pail. “She sees it, too, but she’s fighting for everything to be normal right now. She thinks you only came back because you think she’s dying.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “That’s not why.”
“But you have to admit that’s what it looks like.” He paused his painting to look up at her. “She wants you to be here more than anything, but she doesn’t want it to be because you feel guilty or think you won’t have another chance. She wants you to be here because you want to be here.”
“I do want to be here.” Cassie heard the whine in her voice and cringed. “Is she going to believe me when I say that?”
Walter shrugged and returned to the staircase. “I can’t answer for her. We all have a lot to talk about. And I think everyone has a lot of work to do. We’ve ignored the separation between us for too long. Band-Aids covered what was festering underneath. Now it’s time to clean the wound and let it heal.”
“That’s going to be painful.”
“Can I give you some advice? From an old man who’s made a lot of mistakes?”
Cassie set down her coffee to better absorb every word. “I’d like that.”
He stared up at the ceiling to find his words. “Don’t ignore the pain. You understand better than most how much life can throw at you. How much it can hurt. But when you ignore the pain, you ignore the solution. You have to feel the pain to figure out what’s wrong. Then you have to put in the work to fix it.”
