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Linda and Elle stood outside. His heart swelled, choking him, and a ripple of goosebumps shivered across his chest.
They were probably here to berate him for his role in last weekend’s near disaster. To declare to his face that he was dead to them. But he didn’t care. He’d thought he would never see Elle again. Being near her one more time was worth whatever happened next.
Linda rapped again and made a come here motion. Elle stood tucked in behind her, staring at the ground, long loose hair hiding her face.
He approached, unlocked the door, and moved back so they could enter.
“I hope it’s okay we just showed up. I texted you earlier, but you didn’t reply.” Linda jutted her chin sideways in the gesture she’d bequeathed to Elle. Her tone was gentle. He didn’t trust it.
“I was working.” Also, he avoided the phone whenever possible. Otherwise, he did nothing but stare at the screen as if the force of his will could make a text from Penta appear. He’d never expected to hear from Linda or Elle. But his stupid heart wouldn’t let him believe Penta was truly gone.
“Well.” Linda rested a hand on Elle’s shoulder and glanced from their daughter to Cash and back again. “Elle has something she’d like to say.”
She had yet to look at him. God, she must hate him so much. Why had Linda brought her here? Maybe it was something about closure or standing up for herself. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t make it harder for her. He wouldn’t defend himself, wouldn’t try to justify his actions. He braced himself to accept his sentence.
When Elle raised her head, her eyes were glazed with tears. The choking sensation returned, along with an impotent fury. He was the reason for her distress and he hated himself for that.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice trembled. “I know I shouldn’t have gone to the party. I should have made Cyril tell Mom or you what was going on. If I had, he wouldn’t have gotten so sick. You can die from alcohol poisoning, you know. What if he’d died?” The words tumbled as fast and furious as whitewater in a canyon and her voice rose to a near shriek. “It’s all my fault, and I know you hate me for being so stupid. But I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I don’t want to lose you. I just found you.”
He stood motionless under the barrage, unable to process what she was saying. Her confession was so unexpected, so completely beyond the realm of anything he’d contemplated that for several moments he wasn’t sure she was speaking English.
She’s going to break your heart in ways you can’t even imagine. He hadn’t fully understood the wisdom in the words Penta had written in his Father’s Day card until now. Elle’s pain was his pain, her fear his fear, her sorrow his sorrow.
He was so stunned he couldn’t speak. Could do nothing but open his arms.
Elle leaped into his embrace. She pressed her cheek to his chest and continued to speak, sentences running together so quickly they were nothing but random syllables, incomprehensibly muffled against his shirt.
“Shhhh.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back, her shoulders heaving with her shuddering, gasping breaths and torrent of speech. “Shhhh. I’m not going anywhere. I thought you’d never want to see me again.”
Her arms tightened on his waist. “Of course I want to see you. You won’t send me away, will you?”
“What do you mean, send you away?” He groped for the meaning in her words, still dazed by her revelations.
“I know you’re mad at me, but I thought you’d give me a chance to explain, to say I’m sorry. But you haven’t called or texted all week. I thought...” Sobs mangled the next words beyond recognition.
She thought he’d abandoned her. Shunned her. When all he’d wanted, ever, was to know her as a father should know a daughter.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He gripped her shoulders and pushed her away a fraction. “Look at me, Elle. Please, sweetie, just look at me.”
She raised her head. Seeing the desperate distress in her miserable expression was one thousand times worse than hearing it. He was gutted, hollowed out, shaking. He dipped his knees so they were eye to eye. “I’m the one that should be apologizing. None of this was your fault. Cyril told you why he wanted you to go to the party, didn’t he?”
The words were addressed to Elle, but he watched Linda as he spoke. He couldn’t believe she’d brought Elle to him. He’d thought she would jump at the chance to alienate him from their daughter. Instead, she was the catalyst to their reconciliation.
Her eyes were also sheened with tears and she sniffed before replying. “He’s an idiot, but can you blame him? He didn’t want to put you in jeopardy.”
“No, just our daughter.” His sarcastic tone shocked him. I guess I’m still angry with him. Huh. He pulled Elle tighter, needing to feel her close.
“She put herself in jeopardy.” Linda shot her a wry glance. She had huddled against Cash’s chest again and didn’t see it. “We’ve had several discussions about that, haven’t we?”
Elle nodded, her silky hair catching on Cash’s beard.
“I gave Tyrone a reason.” He didn’t want to, but he had to say it, put it all out there. “You were right to keep me away all these years. It kept her safe. Look what happened the minute you let me in.”
Linda shook her head. “This didn’t happen because you are in Elle’s life now. This happened because you turned down a chance to make money off a gang and a vicious pathetic man decided to use children in a vindictive game.”
“I should have realized something like this would happen if I went back to my old neighbourhood.”
“You’re omniscient now?” The familiar biting edge was back in her voice. It soothed him. Things were returning to normal if Linda was pissed.
