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“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” he counters, glancing over his shoulder for a beat.
“Just a few cuts and bruises. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Alex,” he whispers, his voice full of pain.
“Seriously, I’m good. What Mum just said—”
He shakes his head, focusing on whatever is holding his attention outside.
“I’m sorry,” he says after what feels like the world’s longest silence. “I should have been the one to do that a long time before she ever had the chance.”
“Yeah, probably. But we understand why you didn’t. Why you couldn’t. Same reason we didn’t.”
Ripping his eyes from outside, he hangs his head. Regrets and anguish pour off him in waves.
“Life under his control is all I’ve ever known. Your mother… she gave me such relief from it all. I never should have been selfish enough to drag her into my life. But I can’t regret it, because she gave me both of you. I might have fucked up, Son. Many, many times. But you are the most important things in my life. Everything I do, I do for you both. To help build you a future to—”
“I’m not doing any more jobs, Dad,” I blurt, cutting him off.
He sucks in a deep breath, his shoulders lowering.
“I know,” he agrees. “Have you always hated it?” he asks, finally turning to look at me.
My lips part to say yes, but I quickly realise that would be a lie.
“No, not always. It’s taught me a lot about myself, allowed me to learn what I really want.”
“Evie,” he says.
“Evie.”
A smile twitches at his lips as he thinks about my girl, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop jealousy from bubbling up inside me. It’s ridiculous. He’s my father, and I’m pretty sure he’d never go there, but my possessive tendencies over my girl know no bounds.
“She’s really quite incredible. There aren’t many women who would stand in front of us like she did and lay her life on the line.”
His words are like a bat to the chest.
“Just so you know, before she got involved, I point-blank refused for it to be an option.”
“Good.”
“If I’d known she was eavesdropping and then begging Anthony for help, then…”
“It’s over, Dad. It doesn’t matter what anyone did or should have done.”
He nods, his eyes moving back to the window.
My curiosity has me crossing the room to see what’s captured his attention, but I’m pretty sure I already know.
“Dad,” I warn when I find that he has the perfect view of Evie, Blakely and Zayden playing football together.
“He’s a good kid,” he says, ignoring my warning. “He reminds me a lot of you two when you were his age.”
“He’s pretty awesome. Did you—”
“He’s enrolled from September, full ride.”
My heart swells as I watch Zay run carefree around the garden, both Evie and Blake trying to get the ball from him.
