A slow grin spread across his face before he pulled me into a hug. We spoke a few times per week, but it had been months since I’d seen my father in person. I’d planned to make a trip over the next couple of weeks but never expected him to beat me to it.
“Everything is great. You were too busy to come to me, so I came to you. Let me look at you.” He grabbed my arms and pushed me back, scanning my face. “You look good, kid. Tired but good. Must have been some wedding.”
I shrugged, ignoring the odd twinge of something in my gut when he saidwedding.
“I’m tired from a long day, but…” I trailed off, studying him right back. “I didn’t expect you.”
“Because that’s how you plan a surprise. Does a big executive like you have time for dinner with your old man?”
“Always. There’s a decent bar and grill across the street if you’re up for that.”
“Sounds good to me.” He squeezed my shoulder. “You look different.”
“Different?” I squinted back at him.
“Well, you’re bigger.” He crinkled his nose and pinched my bicep. “But something else. You can tell me at dinner. Come on.”
I grabbed my jacket and keys and locked my office door behind us. My mother used to tease us about how alike we always looked, like a before and after version of identical twins. We both stood out above any crowd at well over six feet, and when I wasn’t weight lifting my problems away, he had the same frame and build as me, even at almost seventy.
The big difference between us was his hair, now a lot more salt than pepper, but I’d noticed the dots of gray along my temples multiply over the past year.
He’d been to Charlotte before, but this was the first time he’d ever visited me at the office, and he’d never come without giving me a heads-up first. We made small talk as we made our way to the restaurant, and I replied with short answers, all the while trying to figure out the real reason for his visit. I didn’t doubt he missed me, but something was up.
“I have some news,” he said after we found a table.
“Ah, I had a feeling.” I set down my menu and leaned back. I expected good news, judging by his beaming smile and the gleam in his dark eyes. At least, I hoped it was good since I couldn’t handle more bad news, this time from the other most important person in my life.
“There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He raised a brow, awaiting my reply as the waitress breezed by the table to take our order.
“I’ve never been here before,” Dad said and jutted his chin to me. “I trust him enough to get what he gets.”
The waitress laughed as she turned to me.
“Cheeseburger deluxe, medium, with the IPA on tap.”
I handed her the menus and turned back to my father when she walked away.
“You came all the way here to tell me that you have a girlfriend?”
My mother had been sick for a year, but to us, it still seemed as if she’d died suddenly. Dad and I had been catatonic for weeks after. Julie had pulled me out of it, but Dad had kept mostly to himself those first few months and didn’t take his wedding ring off for years.
“You’re sure it doesn’t bother you?”
My father searched my gaze, his brows knit together as he thanked the waitress when she brought our drinks.
“Why would it bother me? You deserve happiness, Dad. And Mom would totally agree. It’s about time you dated someone.” I grinned as I lifted the glass and took a healthy pull. Even though it had been a long time, the thought of my father with someone other than my mother was still something I would have to get used to, just like I had to keep reminding myself that my best friend was my new wife. I took a second and longer swig at that reminder.
“I’ve dated,” he said, lifting the glass to his lips. “This is fantastic. Is it local?”
“It is. It’s a company called Lady Luck. That’s usually what’s on tap here.”
Julie had loved that beer when she’d tasted it the last time she came to visit me, and now that we had gotten fake married in Las Vegas, the name had a weird resonance.
“Anyway, like I said, I’ve dated. I just didn’t tell you.”
“Oh,” I said, more to myself than him. I should have realized that, but the thought gave me more pause than I expected. “You could have told me.”
He shook his head.
