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“No. But if there’s a line, we’re not waiting. Most locals don’t,” I replied with a sly smile. Lyndi’s face morphed into one of horror, and I chuckled, backing toward the car. “Come on.”
* * *
“It was so good to meet you, Lyndi,” Pops said, shaking her hand as I loaded the car.
After we’d spent Saturday exploring, we’d come home for dinner with Pops, where he’d regaled us with stories from his good ol’ days in the navy. Stories I’d heard about a million times, but Lyndi’d seemed to love it. Especially when he’d told her the story about singing the song fromTop Gunto my mom.
It should have felt weird to have her in my childhood home, at the kitchen table with my dad, talking about my family like I had nothing to hide. I’d spent the last decade keeping everyone away so I didn’t have to share moments like that with them, and yet there she was, feeling like a missing piece to the puzzle instead of an outsider.
“You too, Louis,” I heard her say behind me, picturing the warm smile I was sure she was giving him.
“Take care of my boy for me,” my old man said in a low voice that wasn’t quite low enough. “He’s a bit hard to crack, but I think you’ll manage.”
There was a long beat before she answered, then when she finally did, the two little words made me cringe as I approached, wishing they were true. “I will.”
“I’ll meet you at the car in a minute,” I said when I reached her, lightly touching her back.
I waited for her to give my pops one last smile and wave before getting in the car. When she shut the door, I turned to him and gently closed my arms around him.
He seemed so fragile, but I still had hope. Thirty percent wasn’t zero, and if he didn’t believe he’d beat this, I’d believe it enough for the both of us. I had to. Because otherwise, this could be the last time I saw him. And I couldn’t handle the thought of that.
“Good to see you, Pops,” I said as I stepped back.
“You too, son.” He nodded toward the car before looking back at me with a bright smile. “She’s a keeper, that one.”
The words he’d spoken during that horrific phone call sang through my mind.Love her, son. Don’t let her get away.
Desperate to smash down the lump in my throat, I shrugged. “Eh, I’m undecided.” He glared at me before chuckling quietly. “I’ll see you later, old man.” Patting his shoulder, I went for the car.
“Beau.”
I swallowed and turned back around. “Yeah?”
My dad waved me over to the porch, and when I got close enough, he swatted me upside the head like I was a kid again. “Ow. What was that for?”
Thankfully, Lyndi was looking down—probably at her Kindle already—and hadn’t seen it.
“Boy, what makes you think you can bring afake dateto my house and try to pass her off as real?” he asked, tone icy. When all I could do was gape at him, he scoffed. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I was born on a Tuesday, but not last Tuesday.”
“Pops. Sh-she’s not a client,” I stuttered.
“What’s that mean? She’s not paying you? Fine. But that doesn’t mean this isn’t some kind of charade. I know what real love looks like—”
I snorted and shook my head. “What, and you’re sayingthisisn’t it?”
“Did I say that?” he growled. “No. I’msaying, thisisit—but you haven’t held that woman’s hand any earlier than a week ago judging by how jumpy it made her every time you touched her. Shoot, practically every time yousmiledat her.”
I felt my cheeks grow hot at his observation, then a smile worked its way onto my lips before I could stop it. “She’s jumpy by nature.”
He shook his head. “You always were a stubborn fool, weren’t you? Fine, don’t admit it. I’m just sayin,’ I see what you tried to do here, and I don’t like it. But at the end of the day, I can’t say it matters much.”
My heart pounded in my chest, guilt and grief and shame swirling through me. “What do you mean?”
Then he surprised me by giving me the wink I’d learned from him, a wide smile stretching over his leathery face. “I don’t care how it started, son. I still got my way. Drive safe, now.”
Then he turned and left me standing on the porch as he went back inside and closed the door behind him.
What just happened?
