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I pointed at Dad and jabbed my thumb towards the exit. “Get us out of here. I’ve got murders to commit.”
48
***Aggie***
“I’mnotdrivingyouany farther unless you agree to at least take a fast shower and brush your hair before you see them.” Dad cast a long look at me and made a face. “You’re not winning anyone over right now.”
I scoffed. “I’m not trying to win anyone over. I’m going there to kill them, one by one, for turning my face into a news story!”
“Uh huh.” Dad turned away from the city, towards home. “Donnie took your car to the shop a few days ago, so your only way into the city is looking at you right now.”
“This is insane.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head at his antics. “This isn’t some sweet love story, Dad. This is humiliating!”
He hummed along with the radio. “Yep. Humiliating. Sure.”
“You should want to strangle them, too!”
“Why?” He laughed at the frustrated scream I let out. “Are you ready to hear the answer to your question?”
I bit my lip and paused. Had the guys reached out to him? “Yes.”
“Shower and brush your hair? You look like hell. Promise me that and I’ll tell you.”
I glared at him. “Fine. I promise. Maybe I’ll even put on a pretty dress and curl my hair, for God’s sake.”
“I’m changing the promise. You have to wear a pretty dress and curl your hair.” Dad grinned like the cat who ate the canary and turned onto the road to the farm. “I’m brilliant.”
“I’m not wearing a dress.”
“Do you want to know if they called? Maybe even some details?”
I hissed out a breath and agreed to his demands. “Now, just tell me.”
“They messaged me every day.” He chuckled. “Persistent little shits.”
Staring at my dad, I felt a wave of heat hit me. The anger that had slacked with exhaustion came raging back to the surface. “You spoke to them every day?”
He parked in front of the house and turned the truck off. “Not at first. I wanted to knock their heads together for being so stupid. Seeing you so hurt wasn’t easy to sit back and let go.”
“But?”
“They love you, Ag. I could feel it in every message they sent me. Those are messages I’ll keep forever, so if I ever worry about you, I can see them and feel comforted.” He reached over and patted my knee. “They made mistakes. They’ve paid for them, in my opinion.”
I shoved the truck door open and got out, just to lean back in and jab a finger at him. “How could you keep that from me?”
“They didn’t want me to tell you, Ag. They wanted to respect your choice and I was inclined to agree with them. Your mother was never great at being led in a certain direction, either. I hoped you’d forgive them eventually and I knew that my pushing you to do it wouldn’t help.”
“Did you tell them things? Did you tell them I was pregnant before I could?”
“Hell no. That wasn’t my place. I haven’t spoken to them since we left for our trip and you conveniently had us pretend to not own cellphones. Whatever you wrote to them in that letter must’ve pushed them to act. Last I spoke to them, they were still sad sacks, all three of them depressed and moping.”
I frowned. “Did they ask about me?”
Dad laughed easily, unfazed by my anger. “God, yes. Daily. I’ll be glad when you go back to them so I can quit giving them daily reports of how you are, what you ate, if you cried. Honestly, if you don’t see that they love you, Agatha Bailey, you’re trying not to see it.”
“They asked if I cried?” My heart thumped painfully in my chest. “And what I ate?”
“I’ll show you some day, Ag. But for now, I need you to go get showered and dressed. I’m dying to get back home and sleep in a real bed tonight. Next time I think a road trip is a good vacation, remind me that my back is too old to sleep on the ground.”
