She nodded because she couldn’t speak. A knot the size of a football clogged her throat. She rested her cheek on his chest as she hugged him, and she felt like Daddy’s little girl again. “I’d like that,” she finally squeaked out.
He kissed the top of her head and patted her back before he let go and turned to Robert. “Blade, it’s been a helluva day.” He shook Robert’s hand and squeezed his shoulder. “You’re probably the only guy on the team I’d approve of.”
Robert flashed his most charming smile. “Probably?”
“Don’t push it,” her dad warned. “Let’s all have lunch in a couple of days.”
“That sounds like a nice idea,” her mom agreed, and then tugged on her husband’s arm. “Let’s go, Vic.”
Both of Amber’s parents left, leaving her with a small smile before they shut the door.
“Oh my God.” Amber collapsed into one of the high-back stools at the kitchen island. Emotionally exhausted and physically wrecked, she buried her face in her hands. “I can’t believe all these years I blamed my father for something he didn’t do.” She looked blankly into the distance, still trying to absorb the knowledge that she’d been wrong about everything. It was all Danny. Anger bubbled to the surface because her father had been right. Danny Lang was a jerk, and she was better off without him. “What a fucking asshole!”
“You’re not an asshole. The evidence was there, and it pointed to Coach.”
“I didn’t meanme. I meant Danny Lang is the asshole.”
“Oh.” Robert chuckled softly. “Sorry. You’re right.” There was quiet for a few seconds before Robert sighed and hugged her over the back of the stool, resting his chin on top of her head. “What a fucking day. Wanna order a pizza and just stay in and watch a movie with the cats?”
She exhaled, feeling like a two-ton weight had been lifted from her chest. The guilt about the wasted years with her father still hung heavy on her heart, though. It wasn’t entirely her fault, she rationalized, although it felt like it was. Her dad had his share of responsibility in their broken relationship. If he’d been home more, or paid more attention to her, if he showed his softer side instead of the brute he was in the locker room, or if he listened instead of barking orders all the time, their relationship would have been quite different. There were a million what-ifs, and she was so damn tired of re-visiting them. It was time to let go of the past and focus on the future and repairing her relationship with her father.
“Hey.” Robert took the seat next to her and rubbed her thigh. “What’s wrong?”
Compassion poured from this man in every touch of his hand and in every word he spoke. She’d spent her entire life craving that kind of empathy, and she never needed it more than right now. Her head was filled with jumbled and depressing thoughts from the past, and she wanted them all gone. If anyone could make that happen, it was Robert. “I was just thinking about everything that my father said and the mistakes we’ve made as a family. I can’t believe he offered to go to counseling.”
“That’s a good thing. Right?”
“It’s a wonderful thing.”
“It’s good to talk things out. I spoke to my father last night too.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I told him that he acted as if the only thing I had going for me was my football career. I told him I worried that if I didn’t have it any longer, or if I was never interested in football at all, we wouldn’t be close. That he wouldn’t be proud of me.”
“And?”
“He looked at me as if I were crazy. And he apologized. I don’t know what it is with our fathers. They have no idea how we’re feeling. Or how they make us feel. And when we tell them, they’re taken by complete surprise. Let’s not ever do that to our kids. OK?”
Amber almost fell off her seat at the casual mention of their future kids for the second time today. First her mother mentioned it, and now Robert. It sounded as if he had their entire life together planned out already. “What kids?”
An amazing smile spread across Robert’s face and lit up the room. “The houseful we’re going to have one day.”
“Houseful?” She leaned back and looked at him with wide eyes, but her smile broke through. Because the idea of a houseful of kids made her heart leap.
“Yeah. A half dozen should do it.”
She laughed up toward the ceiling. “OK. You can stay home and raise them while I go to work. And you can take care of the ten-thousand-foot mansion we’re going to have too. And let’s not forget the yacht and Olympic-size swimming pool.” Biscuit jumped on her lap, purring like a motorboat, and demanded pets. “And our animal sanctuary for abandoned and unwanted pets.”
“I would absolutely love that.”
“An animal sanctuary?”
“All of it. Everything you just said.” Robert scratched Biscuit’s chin. “I didn’t even say hi to the cats yet. Where’s Panther?” Hearing his name, Panther circled Robert’s feet and let out a mighty meow. Robert picked up the baby cat and nuzzled him against his cheek. “Where did you get those lungs from? I swear, you have an ego the size of a lion.” He grew contemplative for a few moments before saying, “My father told me something I never knew about him yesterday.”
“What’s that?”
“He loves animals. I had no clue. Any time we brought up getting a dog when we were kids, he shot down the idea right away. It turns out my parents had a little dog when they first got married and were so broken-hearted when she passed that they couldn’t think about ever getting another one. I didn’t know that.”
