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She looks up from her line of sight, a smile on her face. “Well, good morning to you, too, babe.”
She opens up a part of the blanket and I hurry underneath. “It’s got to be forty degrees outside.”
“True, but you can’t beat the view.” She points to her parents’ backyard, reasonably large for city living, and the trees are still autumn colors.
But I’m looking at her most of all. “Yeah, baby, you can’t beat the view, at all.”
She misses what I mean, taking in another inhale of her tea. “By the way, the answer is yes. Marriage would be the only way my preacher man of a daddy would let you deflower his daughter under his roof.” She whispers in my ear. “By the way, I missed you last night, but thank you for letting us stay here. I know it’s not much but it’ll always be my home.”
“Baby?” My voice turns, and did she just say something that hurt me? I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, never have, but her statement hits me hard. “Do you think I care about staying at the Ritz? Your family home is everything, warm and inviting. It’s what a home should be. I could care less that it’s not ten thousand square feet and that you can get lost in it. I love it because it’s you.”
She leans over to set her tea on the large table in front of us.
“Shit, Luc, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m so sorry.”
“You have to know, Heaven, wherever you are, whether in a tent on the beach or a luxury mansion in Bali, is where I’ll be.”
She kisses my cheek. “So tell me more about that luxury mansion in Bali,” she quips.
I lean in to kiss her, and with Anisten every kiss is like our first.
* * *
The girls are shopping and somehow I find myself alone with her father, watching college football. He’d brought me a beer, and like the wine from last night, I was surprised he had one in his hands.
After half his beer, he sets it down, something on his mind.
“I’m unsure how to ask this, but believe me, it has nothing to do with the twelve-year age difference. Which, I won’t lie, I wasn’t happy about. But you love my daughter; that is obvious.” He pauses and takes another sip of his beer. “I don’t know if this is a question or more of a statement. And hand to the Bible, I don’t want an answer.” He mutes the television. “You’re a cousin to my niece’s new husband, right?”
I see where this is going, and I lean forward to answer him. “I am, it’s how Anisten and I met, but I didn’t meet your brother. If I’m honest, not sure I really want to.”
He gives me a curt nod. “Understood. Jewel’s dad is, well, wasn’t always a good father, and believe me, I’m not defending him. As a man of God, I understand the need to extend mercy, if someone is truly repentant.”
As Bryan continues, I don’t think he wants me to weigh in on his abusive brother. “Anyway, please understand as his ear, the person who’s tried to guide him back to the man of God he used to be, he’s divulged a little bit of Jewel and Maddox’s life. And this is where it gets tricky. As a man, I want to respect you, and hell, did you earn some points with me yesterday. My wife was a happy woman last night, which makes me happy, too, with both our girls under the same roof.”
I take another sip of my beer, allowing him to finish his piece.
“But I’m also a father. One who has been there for his daughters their entire lives. I knew a man would come along one day, one who would put her above all else.”
“Bryan, believe me, Anisten is my top priority in life.”
He waits for me to finish and continues. “There’s a lot I can forgive in life, Luc. A lot. I mean, it’s sort of in my job title. And I was never complicit in my brother’s asshole-ness to his wife or daughter.”
He must see the look in my eyes. “I’m a preacher, not a saint, remember. He angered me for many years, and I call them as I see them.”
I like Bryan Atkins not only because he’s Anisten’s dad but he’s a hell of a man, and a great father and husband.
“I challenged my brother for years, and honestly Elaina can’t stand the man, but…” He stops for a second. “Are you really going to make me ask you?” he questions.
I lean forward, my hands on my knees. I have to respect the man; this isn’t an easy conversation and fuck knows what his piece of shit brother told him.
“You know about my cousin’s lifestyle and want to know if it’s a life I lead, too.”
He shakes his head emphatically. “Um, no, I don’t want to know, believe me not even a little, but…”
“You need to be assured that Anisten isn’t in an unsafe or abusive relationship.”
With a nod, he gives me his answer. “Yeah, it’s exactly what I need to know.”
