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“Well, I think it’s an understatement to say that I kind of freaked out this morning. We decided that we’re going to continue to date until I’m no longer worried that we’re strangers again.”
“You two could never be strangers,” he scoffs, just like Ringer did when I suggested it.
“He was in prison for eight years, Dad. You also need to remember that even though all of you went to visit him all the time, he wouldn’t let me. I literallyhave notseen him in eight years, and a lot changes in that amount of time.”
“You’re still the same girl, Lile. Just a little bit older.”
“Well, we’re going to find out if he’s still the same guy.”
“Alright, baby girl. I’ll trust you. Is he going to be moving in?” Dad forces out with a cough, making me laugh.
“No. I told him we could maybe do sleepovers, but I think we’re just going to date for now.”
“Good idea.”
I reach across the table and take my dad’s hand in mine. “I’m sorry if I disappointed you, Daddy.”
He lets out a sigh and squeezes my hand back. “I’m not disappointed in you, baby girl. I’m disappointed that I wasn’t there. Every dad fears the day they give their baby away. But at the same time, every dad prays for that day. They pray that the man they give her to is honorable and will love her just as they think she deserves.” He looks off into the kitchen and then nods. “The only thing that really hurts me in all this is wishing I would have been there.”
I push away from the table and walk around it so I can give him a hug. “I’m sorry.”
“Out of all the guys, I think Ringer is the only one I’d feel this way about. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve known how you’ve felt about him your whole life or if it’s because Nana threatened my life one day to not give you shit about your little crush.”
I groan at the smirk on my Dad’s face and roll my eyes. “I told her not to tell you!”
Dad’s boisterous laugh echoes throughout the kitchen, and he squeezes my shoulder. “If you don’t think that every fucking person in this family didn’t know about it, you’re crazy, baby girl.”
I feign annoyance and push back from the table with a huff. “Whatever.”
He continues to study me with a smile before sobering. “Promise me one thing?”
“Anything.”
“If you ever get married again, even if you remarry Ringer, for God's sake, you tell me. I want to be there.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” I say with a wide smile, reaching across the table and shaking my dad’s warm hand.
Rounding the table, my big, scary biker dad pulls me up from my seat and envelopes me in one of his famous squeezing hugs. I grunt over the loss of air and giggle like a kid again. Before letting me go, he kisses the top of my head and tousles my hair.
I swat his hands away and make my way over to the fridge to get some water since most of my nerves have finally subsided. I’m still worried about how Bones and Ghost will react to the news, but my dad was the most important thing to me. This didn’t go nearly as badly as I thought it was going to.
Ever since it’s just been Dad and me, I’ve always been so worried about upsetting or disappointing him. He’s been the only constant in my life since I was born, and to upset him upsets me. If I took the time and explained it to a therapist, they would probably determine that deep down, I’m afraid he’ll leave me just like Renee constantly did. But that’s neither here nor there because my ass is not seeing a therapist for the shit Renee has done. That would give her the satisfaction of the win for fucking me up.
Dad leaves the kitchen with another kiss on the top of my head and tells me he plans to go to the gun range for the rest of the day. I decline his invitation and change my clothes before going to the bakery.
I never schedule myself to work on Sundays since we aren’t open, but the rest of the crew comes in to clean or start on projects for the week. I make an appearance occasionally to take care of the ins and outs of running a business, typically holing up in my office to work on ordering and invoices.
I enter through the back door that leads directly into the kitchen. Allison smiles widely in greeting. “Hi! How was the wedding?”
I shrug and smile, not wanting to get into the shit show that was this entire weekend. “It was alright. How was everything here?”
“Great! We were busy as hell. Mikey’s out front, cleaning.”
I go to check my watch to see the time and notice that I’m still wearing my ring. My heart speeds up, and I drop my hand quickly, hidden behind the counter. Allison smiles at me curiously and then turns her attention back to the cake in front of her.
As carefully as possible, I wiggle the ring off my finger and shove it into the pocket of my jeans without her noticing. Allison seems none the wiser, so I take a deep breath and walk through the kitchen and into my office.
Flipping the light on, I let out a groan at all of the paperwork I’ve been avoiding.
