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I was falling in love with Michael. I didn’t want to, but I was. I felt it in my chest every time he touched me. Whenever he looked into my eyes, my heart would sigh in contentment. If he had told me that he loved me today and said that he wanted to be with me always and forever because of that, would I have said yes to a proposal?
I began to peel the label off the bottle. No, I don’t think I would have. In fact, I knew I wouldn’t have. I probably would have run screaming from the house instead of sneaking out as quietly as I did.
I glanced at my phone sitting beside me. How many times had he tried to call me? I had turned it off the moment I drove away from the house. Maybe I should have waited until Carmen left, but he might have tried to stop me, or Harley would have asked where I was going. What would I have said? Sorry, I have to run away before ultimately falling in love with both of you and destroying my sister’s life.
The sound of a car broke me out of my musings. I listened carefully as it pulled up to the spot beside the house. It was my father, and in the passenger seat was a woman. I instantly sat upright, forgetting about my issues and wondering if this was the woman my father had been seeing.
My dad was looking at me, and I smiled because I recognized the expression on his face as being caught. He turned the car off, and the passenger door opened. An attractive woman, a few years younger than my father, stepped out and smiled at me over the car. Obviously, she wasn’t worried about this confrontation—not that it would be a confrontation. I had told my father to start dating.
She waited for my father, and the two approached the porch. “I didn’t expect you here, Candy. Did I forget you were coming over?”
I stood, smiling cheerfully. “Nope, thought I would surprise you.”
He eyed me closely. He knew that if I was just popping by, I would move on if he wasn’t here, or I’d text him to see when he was going to be home. “That’s not like you. Is everything alright?”
“Everything is fine,” I told him and then moved to the stairs, holding my hand out to the woman with him. “I’m Candy, and you are?”
“Oh, sorry, Snicker. Where are my manners? This is Rose Ludden. Rose, my daughter, Candy.”
She took the steps beside my father and took my hand. “Candy, it is wonderful to meet you. Your father speaks so highly of all his children.”
“Why don’t you have a seat, Rose, and I’ll get us some tea.”
She smiled at my father, and the look she gave him made my heart sigh, but the look he returned to her told me more. He was happy, and this woman made him that way.
Rose and I sat. “You’re the engineer, isn’t that correct?”
“I am,” I said, impressed that she knew that.
“I know Coral, of course. That is where I met your father, but I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting the rest of the children.”
“Well, I hope that he invites you to Sunday dinner. I believe it’s time that you meet the whole family.”
“We were discussing that.” She paused. “You wouldn’t mind?”
I leaned forward and touched her hand. “Rose, I would most definitely not mind. I could tell immediately that you make my father happy, and he deserves to be happy.”
She squeezed my hand, and we talked about my siblings for a few moments. She told me about her children, two boys, and one girl, all previously married but currently single.
“Are you seeing someone?” she asked just as my father stepped through the back door with tall glasses of iced tea.
“Um, no,” I replied.
“Aren’t you seeing Michael?” my father asked.
I hesitated. How much did I tell him? I could say no and change the subject, but I felt he’d push for more of an answer. I sighed. “I don’t think that will work out.”
“Why not?”
“You know why, Dad.”
“Are you talking about Cara?”
I nodded. “Yeah. It’s one thing not to talk about them when he’s around, but I can’t get involved with Mike and not tell him about Cara and Bryan. Eventually, he would find out, and what would happen then? Would he say something to the club? Would they get killed? Would they have to go into hiding? I have no idea, and I know I can’t take that chance.”
“But what about Harley? I thought you cared about him.”
“Dad, I do care about Harley, and I care a lot about Mike. If it weren’t for this huge elephant in the room, I would have accepted his proposal the minute—”
