I blushed like usual. Remembering my dad typically brought out my worst emotions. “He was a serial cheater. Like, in the worst way. But he liked being married. Or rather, once he married my mom, he decided he was never going to get married again. Like that was it for him. He wasn’t going to mess with that again. And he never wanted a divorce. So, my parents stayed together. Even though sometimes they weren’t together. Does that make sense?”
“Did he take care of her when they weren’t together?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. She doesn’t talk about it much. There were times when I was at her house and she was so poor. Like barely able to keep the lights on. But then I would find out that he’d managed to get her fired from her last job so she would want to come back to his house. Or he would stop paying child support, so she’d be forced to call him. He was crazy abusive like that.”
Vann sat back on his heels. “Was he trying to work it out with her?”
A laugh bubbled out of me and I hated how bitter it sounded. “No. That was the thing, he was never willing to change. He just wanted her to put up with him.” I swallowed around a lump of unwanted emotions. “By the time he got sick, my mom was exhausted from his games. She moved back in and took care of him until he died. It worked out for her though because he left her some money.” I rolled my shoulders, trying to banish the cold memories of my dead dad. “She actually ended up marrying one of his business partners a few years back. Tony is the nicest guy ever and totally adores her. They’re really happy. They’re spending the summer in Paris.”
He smiled and it felt like he was happy for my mom, even though he’d never met her before. “Are you two close?”
“Me and my mom? Yeah, super. She’s my favorite human.”
He laughed at me and stood up, holding out his palms. “Hands.”
I blinked at his. “Yes, they are. Very good, Vann. Now, where’s your nose…?”
He rolled his eyes, but he laughed too. Because I was hilarious. “No, I want your hands. They’re bleeding. I’m going to finish cleaning you up.”
I did as he asked, holding out my hands for him. His touch was so tender and careful and commanding and he was always this dichotomy of soft and hard. Gentle and rough. Sweet and salty. It was driving me crazy. And messing with my more rational thoughts.
“Thank you,” I whispered, my voice low and hoarse.
“You’re welcome.”
He was surprisingly good at this, I realized. He knew exactly what he was doing. “Do you do this for all the women that biff it in front of your store?”
His grin was wicked. “Technically, you’re the only woman that’s face-planted in my parking lot, that I’ve noticed.” I dug my toe into his kidneys again and loved watching him squirm. “Hey!”
“A gentleman should always tell a lady that women fall all the time. That you spend half your day fixing bloody knees and scraped palms.”
He looked up at me and shook his head. “How about I tell you I deal with my fair share of injuries, but usually on our Taco Tuesday bike rides. Everyone gets drunk and then wipes out and I’m usually the only one in the right mind to deal with them.”
I was strangely moved by how sweet that was. “Doctor Delane, medicine cyclist.”
He snorted a laugh at my corny joke. “Yeah, something like that. Also, my dad was sick for a long time and I learned some tricks while he was in care.”
The amusement died on my lips, my heart squeezing for him. My heart ached as I remembered he lost his mom too. “It sucks to watch someone you care about suffer.”
Our gazes crashed together once more and I suddenly realized how close he was, standing between my legs, cradling my palm in his. “It truly does.”
“He’s better though, yeah? Your dad, I mean?”
His head bob was cautious. “Remission for now. He still has to get scans.”
“Still, that’s good news.”
“Did you care for your dad?” At my look, he quickly added, “I wasn’t sure… By the way you’ve talked about him, I didn’t know what kind of relationship you guys had.”
Oh. Me neither. To Vann, I admitted, “Complicated, strained. Stilted. But he was my dad. I still loved him. No matter how much of an asshole he was.” There was a heavy pause while Vann ingested that information. The mood felt too heavy now. Too serious. “Plus, he left me a crazy inheritance. You have to love someone that makes you rich, right?”
His surprised laughter made me smile. I watched twenty expressions flicker over his face as he decided how to feel about my candid response.
“I’m just kidding,” I told him quickly. Lest he think of me as a gold-digging, ungrateful biotch. “The money was kind of awful after everything.”
“Is that what prompted you to go to culinary school? And work so hard?”
I wished I could say yes. This would be the right opportunity to paint a new picture of my past. Nobody really knew that story—except for Ezra and he would never share any details. Not even to Molly. Even if he had no qualms with general headlines at brunch.
