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As his dark blue eyes study me, Pa-Donovan crosses his arms. “Then explain it to me.”
“That night in the woods, I promised to save Oana. Of course, I was also getting to keep her, so it wasn’t all selfless. Then, I couldn’t find her for a year. She stayed with those people and nearly got married to that piece of crap.”
“I heard she would have lived as a hermit instead.”
Shrugging at his teasing, I admit, “Well, I’m not sure if she would have had the courage to pull the trigger on that plan.”
“She didn’t hesitate to jump on the back of your bike.”
“I’m her dream guy.”
“I get that.”
“Do you really?”
“Sure,” he says and rubs his stubbled jaw. “I’ve been happily married for nearly thirty years. I get how love works, Ike.”
“I feel like everyone is against Oana and me. Well, not Tuesday.”
“No one’s against you,” Pa-Donovan reassures me before shrugging. “Well, maybe Edith. But she has her own issues.”
Cracking my knuckles, I haven’t been able to settle down since I found Oana crying. My family is everything to me, but they have each other. Oana can only rely on me. I refuse to let people treat her like crap, even to make peace on the homestead.
“When I met your ma, I knew instantly how I wanted to keep her,” Pa-Donovan says as he takes a seat on our back deck. “She was strong, beautiful, and loyal. Being together made sense. But I nearly screwed that up by getting lost in my head for too long. I was ready to give up what I wanted.”
I think about my parents’ long marriage and how they always seemed to balance each other. I want the same stability for Oana and me.
“You’re thinking too hard about this situation,” Pa-Donovan says. “It’s not complicated. This woman does something special for you. Being together makes sense. Sure, she’s got her weird family, but I had to get used to your aunts when I first came around here. Change isn’t the end of the world, and you’ll find a solid rhythm.”
My pa’s words make sense. Yet, I can’t calm down. Finally, I just mutter, “Ma made Oana cry.”
“By being nice to her.”
“Maybe. Or Ma was being sneaky, and Oana didn’t realize it. She’s put us homestead people on a pedestal.”
“Trust me that your ma didn’t make Oana cry out of malice. She’s been going nuts with you being gone.”
“It’s only been a few days.”
“Yeah, but you ran off without explaining anything. Then, you hid out. That’s not like you, so she got scared that you’d do other things that weren’t like you.”
“Like what?”
Pa-Donovan holds my gaze while admitting, “Leave town and stay gone.”
“I’d go, too, if it was the only way to protect Oana.”
“Where would you go?”
“I don’t know.”
“And you’d leave the club?”
“If I had to. Felix did when he met Cricket. Otto is rarely around because he wants to do right by Betty.”
Pa-Donovan rubs his jaw and nods. “Otto did things right, I guess. He never got into his head about Betty. Didn’t overthink anything. He just liked her, dated her, decided to keep her, and didn’t let anyone get in the way of that goal. He made it seem simple, so that’s how it shook out. You and I should learn from him.”
Sighing, I look over the homestead, now only lit by lanterns and indoor lights. I can imagine Oana and me growing old here, surrounded by the best people I know.
