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My gaze cuts to my father, and he cocks his brow. I look back at Levi.
“No, I didn’t get hurt playing hockey, but it’s a long story. One for when you’re older,” I say. That seems to appease him.
Dad asks me to come sit with him in the family room while Sherie takes the boys outside.
“Those cuts look fresh,” he tells me.
I explain to him I got into a fight at a bar last night.
“That doesn’t seem like you,” he says.
“It wasn’t intended,” I tell him. “But I don’t want to get into it right now.”
“Okay,” Dad replies.
“I’m back with Skylar,” I share, needing a subject change.
“That’s not surprising. I was more shocked when you two broke up,” Dad says.
“Yeah, well, I was messed up back then,” I remind dryly.
“We all were, Son. I went through a terrible time with my depression. Nothing worked for me back then.”
I sit and listen as Dad tells me how he suffered with depression most of his life, and seeing David in the state he was in made him feel sick every day, to the point he just shut down. It all makes a lot of sense in retrospect. Dad also tells me he got to a point when he felt like he hit rock bottom and thought of taking his own life. That’s when he met Sherie, and somehow, she was able to pull him out of the darkness.
By the time I’m ready to leave, I’ve told Dad Carter Lewis beat me up and he’s Crew’s dad. I’ve also told Dad I plan to marry Skylar. It wasn’t my original plan to reveal those things, but given we were having a heart-to-heart, it felt right to reveal what was in mine.
“I should get going,” I announce to Dad when I check my phone and see it’s already three o’clock in the afternoon.
“How are you getting back to New York? Did you fly out here?” he asks.
“I drove my car. It’s parked back at the hotel,” I say.
“Liam, you’re in no shape to make that drive on your own,” Dad advises. “I’ll drive you back.”
His suggestion throws me off.
“You don’t need to do that,” I say.
“Oh, but I do, Son. I wasn’t much of a father to you when you were growing up, and it eats at me. Give me another chance here, would ya?”
I can’t find it in me to deny him.
“Sure, but only if you let me pay for your flight back to Chicago from New York,” I bargain.
Dad chuckles, and it’s deep and hearty. “You’ve got yourself a deal then.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
Skylar
Liam said he would arrive around dinnertime, so I asked Bill if it was okay if I took off a couple of hours early, so I could be at Liam’s apartment when he gets there.
“Mommy, look what I made,” Crew says, holding up a picture.
I take in the stick figures. There’s a tall figure, a small figure, and a medium-sized figure.
“Who are the people in the picture?” I ask Crew, even though I’m pretty sure I already know.
