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Casey stares at Avery for a long moment before his mouth twitches. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
Dad chuckles. “You guys are gonna have a…damn zoo…in there. How many’s…that?”
“Two dogs, a crazy cat, and a temperamental redhead,” Avery says with a pointed smirk in my direction.
Dad barks out a laugh. “Too right.”
Casey stands abruptly, pretending to stretch. He meets my gaze and gives it a deliberate flick in the direction of my purse, where I stowed my picture before we came in here. “Who wants to go get a donut?”
“Me!” Vivi shrieks, scattering her cards everywhere. She stands on Avery’s lap, shaking her hips back and forth while she rubs her belly. “Donut queen, donut queen, I am da donut queen.”
Casey scoops Vivi off Avery’s lap and takes Charlee’s hand. He looks back at Avery, who happens to be staring at me. “Come on, Avery.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper, touching my lips to his.
His palm curves over the back of my head, his lips pressing to my forehead, lingering there. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“That’s one hell of a…man you got there…honey,” Dad muses after the door shuts behind them. “Makes you wonder…what the hell you ever saw in…Adam.”
My eyes narrow. “Aaron.”
His grin is devilish, because last day or not, he’s still my dad, and he always will be. “Oh. Right. Aaron.” He winks. “Well, anyway…Avery blows Aaron out of the…water.”
“You’re just saying that because he’s rich.” I know that’s not true. My dad loves Avery, and Avery does blow Aaron out of the water. He’s a freaking cannonball.
“No. I’m saying that because…his love for you…is unyielding. He blew off work to be here…with you, with us. Loves the shit out of my granddaughter…Feeding me water through a straw…Never leaves your side, and in the just over two months you’ve been together…I’ve seen way more of him…than I ever saw of Aaron…in three years.”
His fingers creep over mine, squeezing. “Whatever you’re hiding from him…you can tell him. You can trust him with it.”
My gaze snaps up to his. “How did you know?”
“Because you’re shit at lying…not sneaky in the slightest…So what is it, Claire? What aren’t you telling him? And why?”
I look down at our entwined fingers, bringing his to my lips. “I love him so much, Daddy.”
“And he loves you.”
“I’m terrified he’s going to leave me when he…when he finds out.”
“Claire.” I can tell it takes all his effort, but his hands slip up my arms, gripping my shoulders. “That man isn’t going anywhere…I promise you. He looks at you…the exact way I always looked at your mom.”
“You think so?” My parents were always crazy for each other. I was one of those lucky kids, the ones who knew what true love looked like, who never had to worry about broken families.
Except my family did break, just in a way I never saw coming.
“I know so, honey. He’s…crazy about you.”
“Dad, I…I have to show you something.” Moving off the bed, I dig my picture out of my purse, holding it to my stomach while I lay down next to my dad.
“Is this where you…disappeared off to?”
I nod, still clutching that picture to my stomach, terrified of so, so much.
“Well, let’s see it. Come on.”
I meet my dad’s eyes, warm and patient like they’ve always been with me. And then I flip the picture over.
