I didn’t want to believe what he was suggesting. That Harrison really could change if I gave him a reason to. It was too much and not enough.
“Dad, I don’t think the man has it in him to admit he was wrong, and the way he behaved hurt me. Hell, he can’t even understand that Iamhurt.”
His expression went stormy, and I saw him shift into protective dad mode. “Well, if Harrison’s not willing to admit his mistakes and apologize, then keep away from him. He doesn’t deserve your forgiveness.Butif he’s willing to say he screwed up and put in the work to do better…well, then he just might be worth another chance.”
I shrugged, hugging my knees to my chest.
“Look at you.” My dad nodded toward me. “You’re not yourself at all, all quiet and withdrawn. The two of you clearly had something special if you’re this impacted by it. And I bet he felt the same.”
“Then why did he fuck it all up?” I immediately shouted back.
“Gwen, sweetheart, I would never want to excuse his poor behavior, but the fact is, some men are idiots.” He paused. “No,mostmen are idiots. We don’t know what we’ve got till it’s gone.”
“Hardly,” I snorted. “He clearly doesn’t care, because this thing has been silent.” I held up my phone. “He hasn’t checked in or anything.”
My dad frowned, and I knew I’d scored a point.
“He should be on his hands and knees, groveling to make it up to me,” I continued.
He leaned closer to cup my cheek. “You’re exactly right. He should. You deserve nothing less.”
“Well, then I guess I’m going to be miserable for a while, because that ain’t happening.”
“Enough of this.” My dad stood up. “I never get to see my girl, so there’s no way I’m letting you be miserable while you’re here. Got it? We’re going to stay so busy that you’ll forget you evenhavea phone.”
“A phone that’s not ringing,” I added.
“Stop,” he chastised me. “Get dressed. We’re off to do something fun.”
“Please, no batting practice,” I did prayer hands under my chin. Sarah and I had been dragged to the cages for years, and while it was an excellent stress reliever for him, it was an exercise in boredom for the two of us.
“Come on, give me some credit, kid! No, we’re going to that new axe-throwing place, Lizzie Borden’s Revenge.”
I laughed despite myself. “Oof, terrible name.”
“But a great way to work out some aggression. Get dressed—I have a feeling you’re going to be amazing at it.”
“Yeah, nothing like an angry woman with an axe,” I replied.
29
HARRISON
“Aneutral color, huh?” I asked Kevin, pointing at the dot of sage paint on top of the can. “You’re not going the pink or blue route for the nursery walls?”
He grinned at me. “No way, bro. We’re not finding out what that little bean is until the day he or she decides to show up.”
I glanced around the empty nursery. “Well, let’s get to it then. Shouldn’t take too long.”
“Which is exactly why I didn’t want you to hire some fancy-shmancy painting company to do it. I can knock this out in a couple of hours.”
“Wecan,” I corrected him.
He shook his head at me. “The great Harrison Ashford is going to end the evening with paint on his $700 pants. I can’t wait to see it.”
“Hey, is that any way to talk to the guy doing you a favor? And I’ll have you know that I made a special trip to Costco to buy these cargo pants. They only cost $24.99. I’m glad you think they lookmore expensive. Maybe I’ll wear them to the office and start a new trend?”
“That’ll be the day,” he snorted.
