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The whistle of the tea kettle had me jumping out of my skin. I shook my head trying to snap myself out of the melancholy mood that was trying to take hold.
As I got my dad’s favorite tea together I realized I had to go back to the Raven’s Nest tomorrow. With him so frail I wasn’t willing to go to the store and grab any tea. At least what Walter ordered was organic and all natural.
My dad was half asleep when I finally got my shit together and brought out his tea. I sat the mug on the table and went to sit down, not realizing he was more awake than I thought.
“Start talking,” he challenged me. I leaned forward and picked up the mug, pressing it into his hands.
“Start drinking, Old Man,” I ordered. He pinched his lips together defiantly. Apparently, he wasn’t taking a drink until I started giving him answers.
“Mature, Dad,” I said. “You are entirely too stubborn for your own good.”
“If by stubborn you mean ruggedly handsome, then yes,” he agreed, still waiting for me.
“Fine,” I growled. “I ran into a girl at the coffee shop yesterday. She looks familiar and I can’t place where from.”
“What’d she do to earn all this?” he said, not buying the cop out answer in the least. He at least took a drink, sighing at the warmth. That alone had me relaxing.
“It was my fault,” I admitted. “I was a dumbass and slammed into her and then panicked because she was my mate. Made a complete ass of myself then just stormed off.”
My father choked again, this time not from his illness but my words.
“Morgan wasn’t your mate?” he questioned cautiously.
“Chosen. She was never our full mate. We just didn’t want anyone to think less of her for it. Now that I’ve found this girl, I realize it was never like this before.” I stumbled over the words, unsure how to explain it. He nodded knowingly.
“Son, there’s nothing wrong with us choosing our own mates. You just happened to choose wrong.” He started laughing at his own joke which busted me out of my self-deprecation to join him.
“Truer words have never been spoken,” I said with a sigh. “She was wrong on so many levels. I just wish I’d seen it sooner.”
“Well, now you have a real chance at happiness,” he said excitedly. I think he was just hopeful she could mend things between us. But that ship had sailed. Neither of us were willing to talk at this point.
“Don’t get your hopes up. I yelled at her for getting coffee on my freaking shoes. Shoes…”
His eyes widened.
“You yelled at her in front of the whole town and humiliated her?”
I cringed at that. “I did. God, I’m such a dumbass.”
“Usually I wouldn’t say that, but yeah, I’m going to have to agree this time. This is not the son I raised.”
The disappointment in his tone made me feel even worse.
As my frustration and anger at myself peaked, I bent over, clutching my hands in my hair and letting out a frustrated groan.
“I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
We both knew I was no longer talking about the omega or the coffee shop. Ever since the breakup and my brother and I parting ways, I’d been angrier. Now I just felt like a different person altogether. I missed myself as much as I missed him.
“You guys are both idiots,” my father supplied unhelpfully as he sipped a bit more of his drink.
When he realized I wasn’t going to talk, my dad picked up the remote, turning on the TV, cursing when Morgan’s face showed up on the screen. The fact she’d left and joined this show was even more infuriating.
“Sorry, that’s been happening more often. The final episode is airing in a few days, so they’ve been spamming us.”
“You gave in and started watching trash TV? We really do need to get you out of the house, Dad.”
He huffed out a raspy laugh. “I always knocked these kind of shows but now I’m into them. There’s nothing better than eating some chips and watching good drama.”
