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“No way. I was duped. I want a rematch,” Hudson calls from his spot down the table. Odette claps her excitement. Dad silently takes his seat at the head of the table, and I can’t sit beside my daughter as she’s between Mabel and Harley on the corner. I take a seat beside Harley.
Nerves take over as I realize what I’m about to do—tell my family what happened with Eli and about my health problems. They have every right to know, and I don’t want to keep it from them anymore.
“I’m wondering if I could have a moment of all your time,” I call, and the table falls silent apart from the clink of forks and knives hitting the glass plates. My eyes land on Harley, who gives me an encouraging smile and goes back to handing Olive bits of her food. He has my back.
“Sure, why not fill us in on what’s going on with you and Sebastian. Have you just come home to find another man and run away again? Where’s Eli? Can we expect him to turn up, and you just leave again?” Dad’s comments slam me right in the heart, and I’m lost for words. How could my father be so harsh? He should be on my side. I thought we were getting somewhere. I guess I was wrong. “I saw you kissing him down at Butter’s session this afternoon.”
Everyone gasps. My mouth hangs open.
Shutting my mouth, I swallow the lump in my throat and attempt to blink away my tears. He doesn’t have the right to treat me this way. It’s as if we’ve gone back in time to the night the fight happened about me being with Eli.
Harley rises from his spot, his face red and a fire in his eyes. “You can’t talk to her like that anymore, Dad. She’s not a child, and you don’t even know the full story.” He growls in Dad’s direction. All eyes turn to me, and I want to crawl away and hide.
“What’s he talking about?” Mabel asks as she moves up beside me. Dad’s suddenly mute.
Mabel gently touches my arm, snapping me out of my state of shock. Clearing my throat, I turn to my father. His dark eyes are zoned in on me, and there’s a grim look on his face. I hope he eats his words after I tell them my story. “Dad, Eli won’t be coming because he died six months ago…”
The room fills with gasps. Mabel’s is the loudest as she stands behind me. My glare bores into my father’s eyes. His face is stone—he doesn’t say anything, so I continue before the questions start pouring in. “He committed suicide. He wasn’t the man I thought he was, and I lived with years of abuse because of him. I also had my own health problems. I almost died after I had Olive, but she’s what kept me here. She needed me, and I couldn’t let her be raised by Eli on her own. Who knows what kind of upbringing she’d have experienced?” I pause, taking some deep breaths in an attempt to control my shaking voice.
“Oh, Dee,” Mabel cries beside me. She reaches for me, but I pull back.
“Don’t, please. I don’t want your sympathy or pity. I’m dealing with it all.” The room is silent apart from Olive, who’s oblivious to what’s happening as Harley keeps her entertained with food.
“Did you know?” Tally asks him accusingly.
His mouth opens to respond, but I jump in. “Yes, he did. I’ve heard the whispers from you all. I’m back here because I need to heal and not be judged or made to feel like I’m only here to sink my claws into another male staying on the farm. If you knew anything about Sebastian, you’d know he lost his wife about a year ago, and we met in the hospital. I don’t remember that, though, because I was in a bad way and had a heart transplant. So yeah, things haven’t been great.” My tears flow freely. I stab a finger in my father’s direction. “You don’t have the right to speak to me how you did just now. No father should treat his child how you’ve treated me.”
“Delilah—”
“No, you don’t get to speak, not now,” I say before he can continue. “You have nothing I want to hear. Not even an apology.” I stalk around the table, pull Olive from her highchair, and take off back down the hallway and out the door.
“DADDY, WILL I GET TOride the pony soon?” Rylee lays in her bed, her radiant eyes gleaming up at me as she pleads.
I swipe some brown hair from her chubby cheek and give her a kiss on it. “Maybe. I’ll have to see what Delilah is doing, and we can arrange something. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good.”
“You better get some sleep. You’ll need your strong muscles to ride a pony tomorrow. It’s not easy. I rode one today and almost fell off.” I laugh but deep down, that moment still makes my stomach drop.
She smiles. “But you still got back on, didn’t you?”
“I did, and that’s the main thing. Sometimes things are hard, but we always have to keep trying to succeed at them.” I smile down at her as I sit on the edge of her bed. We’re having one of our daddy-daughter moments—the little chats we like to have before bed. She talks to me about her day and if something is bothering her or makes her feel so happy. Anna-Beth would do this with her, and their bond was strong, and I kept the habit going because Rylee needs to know that I’ve got her, no matter what.
“Will you drive in the fast car again, Daddy?” Her soft voice is full of questions.
I shrug. “I don’t know. I want to. Hopefully, next year.”
“I hope you can, Daddy. It made you happy, but it also made you mad.”
This makes me chuckle. “Yes, it can make me angry, but it only means I’m passionate about something I love. Now, little princess, I think it’s time for sleep. We’ll go for a walk to the creek tomorrow, and you girls can have a play-around down there. How does that sound?”
“Fun. I can’t wait,” she cries. I kiss her and tuck her under the blanket.
Out in the tiny living area, I collect my phone from the kitchen counter, where I left it plugged in and charging. I unlock it and call Mom. She’ll be wondering why I haven’t called these last couple of days.
It rings twice before she answers. “Hey, Sebastian. How are you? How are my girls?”
I grab a beer from the refrigerator and collapse into the couch with a sigh. “Hey, Mom. I’m good, and the girls are having a great time. I thought I’d better call you before you show up here.”
