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ad lived in a cute little town home in Hope Island. I’d shown him houses of every style and price range, but he’d said no to every one of them. It wasn’t that he was attached to the shitty fibro cottage that his landlord refused to fix. It was that he didn’t want to take advantage of me. No matter how many times I’d said, he still insisted that me buying something for him was wrong—apparently parents needed to provide for their kids, not the other way around. As if a million bucks was a bother.
He’d shot me down for this one too, but it was hard to miss how he’d gazed wistfully out the double sliding doors to the patio that had its own private beach along the tidal river. His eyes had lit up as he watched the boats sail by. He was meant to be on the water—like me—so I’d bought it for him.
We pulled up in my Range Rover, and I parked in my usual spot under the awning. Dad met us at the door, waving us in. “Hey, beautiful girl,” he murmured into my hair as he wrapped his arms around me and held tight. I sank into his embrace, holding on for a moment longer than I usually did. “I missed you.”
“Missed you too, Dad.” With his arm still around me, he ruffled Flynn’s hair and pulled him in for a hug too.
“How are you kids doing?”
“Good, Dad,” Flynn uttered, a smile in his voice. “Really good.”
“Come on in.” Dad’s beaming smile was welcoming. It warmed me from inside out. Thinking about Mum and Asher always got me off-kilter. Knowing they were gone was still like a knife to my heart even years later. But Dad made it better. He was my rock, the kind of guy who would do anything for anyone. Nothing was ever too difficult or too much to ask.
My smile was genuine even though my insides were still held together with sticky tape.
Dad led us outside to the covered patio, and I sighed happily. We were cut from the same cloth, Mum, Dad, Asher, and me. We all loved the water.
Flynn sat on the couch, patting the spot next to him, and I curled into him. Kicking off my thongs, I popped my feet up on the sofa and rested my head on his shoulder. Dad watched us with an indulgent smile and gestured toward the kitchen.
“How about a pot of green tea?”
“That sounds great,” Flynn replied, and I nodded, my eyes closing contentedly.
A few minutes later, Dad returned carrying a tray with a teapot and three traditional yunomi teacups. He poured them and sat down, leaning back in the chair and crossing one leg over the other. “So what’s new?” he asked, the suggestion in his voice holding a teasing note as he gestured between the two of us.
Flynn always held my hand, and he was always affectionate with me, but the grin that stretched across Flynn’s lips at Dad’s question was like a flashing neon sign.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell him, I just wasn’t ready. I wanted to savour what was building for just a moment longer, so I redirected.
“Detective Shithead had Flynn and me enrol in a university course. We’re doing research for a criminal investigation podcast.”
He blinked. Clearly, he hadn’t expected me to say that. “That sounds interesting. You enjoying it?”
My mind flashed to that afternoon’s session in the professor’s office, and I bit back a Cheshire cat grin. “Yeah,” I replied, my voice husky until I cleared my throat.
I needed to tell him what we were researching, but I didn’t have the heart to do it then. I didn’t want to hurt him, and knowing Mum was the subject of the podcast would destroy him. But there were things I wanted to know for myself personally as well as professionally.
“Dad, can you tell me about Mum? I saw a newspaper clipping the other day and remembered going somewhere with her for her work. I was listening to music while she was talking. I remembered headphones, but I’m hazy on the other details. I think I missed school.”
He dropped his gaze, and Flynn’s arm around me tightened. Dad blew out a breath and dropped his ankle from his knee, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He hummed and put the teacup down on the coffee table before clasping his hands together. “I remember that day. You didn’t miss school. It was a drive home segment on the radio. Asher had football practice, so you went with Mum to the interview and picked up Ash afterward. The interview was a big deal. It was one of the national radio stations. Her advice was all over the news the next day. Photos of the two of you were plastered on all the major newspapers. She was calling for calm when everyone was going crazy, selling off all their stocks. The media thought she was nuts.”
“When was this?” I asked, taking a sip of my cooling tea.
“A month or two before the accident. September 2008, maybe.” He wiped his hands down his shorts and huffed. “Your mum was really stressed. The business had been expanding faster than she could keep up with for over a year by that stage.”
He shook his head, his eyes glassy as he blinked back tears, and my heart shattered. “Rosa was working eighty- and ninety-hour weeks for months. We fought non-stop about how much time she was spending at the office. She hired staff, but the media coverage she was getting had money flowing in faster than she could invest it. Everyone was trying to recoup the losses they’d already suffered and stave off certain future losses.”
He stood up and paced over to the edge of the patio. Hands on hips, he inhaled deeply then exhaled, his shoulders curling in on him like he was carrying the weight of the world. With his head hung low, he wiped his face and turned back to us, gesturing past the short lawn to the beach that ran the length of the townhouse complex and beyond. “Let’s walk.”
Flynn kicked off his thongs while I went to Dad and wrapped an arm around his waist. Flynn took my hand, and I stepped off the grass onto the beach, dodging sticks and pebbles until we got to the wet sand.
Closer to the water, the sand was sticky between my toes, the tide lapping at our ankles as we walked. Dad’s words were quiet, almost haunted as he spoke. “We were always so happy together. She was my first and only love. We were high school sweethearts, you know? When she said she’d go to senior formal with me, it was the best day of my life. It was the beginning of the best years of my life. I loved her. I still do.” He sighed, the sound filled with the pain of regret. “I’d do anything to turn back time and stop her and your brother from stepping foot on that yacht.”
Dad’s voice wobbled, and he blew out a harsh breath. I held him tighter, needing him as much as he needed the comfort. Tears tracked down his face, and he wiped them away with the back of his hand. I left mine to fall.
“She was desperate for a break. We were all supposed to be on the yacht for the weekend. We were about to head to the marina when I got a call from work. They were short-staffed after an injury and needed me there. I agreed to go in, and your mum started yelling at me. I asked her to wait until after my shift—twelve hours, and we’d be able to head off.” He shook his head, his self-loathing written all over the downward curve of his lips and the dullness in his eyes. He continued, his voice breaking as he pushed through the painful memory. “But she was barely holding on to her sanity. She needed to escape.” He sucked in a breath. “I saw the desperation in her eyes. It’ll haunt me forever.”
“Why did I stay home?”
