“Dad,” I say, voice wavering. “The sermon was?—”
“Can I speak to my daughter?” He cuts me off, his eyes fixed on Calder. “Alone.”
“No.” Calder’s answer is immediate. “Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of me.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“She’s my wife.”
The word sends a strange jolt through me.Wife.I’m his wife. The reality of it still hasn’t fully sunk in. I don’t know when it will orifit will.
My father’s jaw clenches tightly. “Five minutes. That’s all I’m asking. Five minutes with my daughter in my office.”
Calder’s gaze wavers, and he looks down at me. “Do you want to talk to him?”
The fact that he’s asking me and giving me a say surprises me.
“Yes,” I say. “Please.”
Calder studies me for a long moment and then nods. “Five minutes. I’ll be outside your office waiting.”
I walk with my father to his office. We step inside, and he closes the door, and for the first time since what seems like forever, we’re alone.
“Saintlyn,” Dad says, and his voice breaks on my name. “Please tell me the truth. Did he hurt you? Did he?—”
“No. He didn’t hurt me.”
“Then where did that bruise come from?”
I want to tell him the truth, but I don’t want to cause more problems, so I let the lie roll off my tongue. “I fell. Tripped on the porch steps.”
“Don’t lie to me.” He takes my hands, and I can see tears in his eyes. “Please, baby girl. Don’t protect him. If you need to get free, I’ll find a way. We’ll run, we’ll hide, we’ll?—”
“Dad, stop.” I pull my hands free and step back. “I made my choice. I married him. And I’m staying married to him.”
“Because you want to? Or because you’re afraid of what will happen if you don’t?”
His questions make my chest hurt, mainly because he’s right. I am afraid. Afraid of what will happen next, for him, for Allie. I can’t tell him that, though.
“I know you don’t understand or approve, but this is my life, Dad. My choice.
“That doesn’t answer any of the questions I asked you.”
“It’s the only answer I can give you.”
He stares at me, and I can see the moment the fragile hope, that maybe his daughter will come back to him, that she isn’t completely lost to the Bishops, breaks and drains out of him.
“If you need me,” he says finally, voice thick with emotion, “if you ever need help, you call me. Day or night. I don’t care what he says. You’re still my daughter.”
“I know.” My own voice cracks. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, Saintlyn. So much. And I’m praying for you. Every day. Praying that God protects you from?—”
“I should probably go.” I can’t hear the rest. “Calder’s waiting.” I turn and practically flee out of his office while blinking back tears. I don’t see Calder outside the office, and I don’t bother waiting around for him either. People are still milling around, still stealing glances, still whispering. I’m so overwhelmed, so close to the edge that I scurry across the space and head toward the door leading to the back rooms.
I need a moment. Just one moment alone before I have to put the mask back on. I open the door and head down the quiet hallway. On the right is a storage room, and I duck inside and close the door behind me.
I lean against one of the shelves and just breathe. Tears start falling, and it sort of feels like I’m mourning the loss of myself, of my father. Of a life that used to be, and never will be again. Time ticks by slowly. The tears keep falling, but the weight on my chest gets a little lighter. There’s no warning for Calder’s appearance. I don’t hear the door open. Don’t hear footsteps. It’s like one minute he’s there, and one minute he’s not. The space is way too small now that Calder’s hulking frame is inside it.
