I stiffened, disliking how he’d made things sound like my fault.
“I’m sorry we made you feel like you needed to do that.” He corrected himself before I could.
I didn’t know what to say to him. This was the man who had raised me, kissed my cuts and scrapes when I fell, and had been my biggest champion even when I felt like I failed. My dad. The man who’d lied to me my entire life.
“Me too,” I finally said.
All the anger had drained from me, leaving sadness in its place.
“Are you going to invite me up?” he asked.
I shook my head. I didn’t have it in me to be kind. Not tonight. My home was a safe space for me. I didn’t want anger and drama to contaminate it.
“Say what you need to say.”
He nodded, his face turning unbearably sad.“I guess I deserved that.”
“It’s been a really long couple of days.I’d like to go to bed,” I said when he didn’t speak.
“Your mother doesn’t want me here,” he confessed.
That didn’t surprise me. The bigger surprise was that he was here even without her blessing. He’d always deferred to her, letting her run the show. Not because he was weak, but because my mom was comfortable taking charge and he loved her enough to let her.
He held out his hand, a manila envelope in it.
“What’s that?” I asked, not taking it.
“Information about your biological father,” he said.“I kept it. Your mom doesn’t know I have it, but I thought you might need it someday.”
I didn’t take it from him. I couldn’t. All my life he’d been my dad; taking that envelope from him threatened to negate that.
His eyes were red and his voice clogged with emotion as he shook it at me.“This doesn’t change anything.I’m still your dad. You’re still my daughter. I don’t care that we don’t share blood.”
I reached out and took the envelope from him. Hiding from the truth wouldn’t help me, and it wouldn’t heal wounds that were a lifetime in the making. Sometimes the best thing to do is to rip the band-aid off and hope for the best.
“Your mother loves you, you know that, right?” he asked.
I nodded.“Yeah, I do. I just wish she accepted me too.”
He didn’t have anything to say to that, defeat overwhelming him. His shoulders slumped as he shuffled back to his car.
It was painful to watch him go, the envelope clutched in my hand as he drove off, the bitter taste of too many things still left unsaid in my mouth.
My phone rang.
I dug it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. Jerry calling.
I hit the answer button and grabbed the bike before climbing the stairs.“This is Aileen.”
“I never did say thank you for what you did,” he said.
I contained my surprise at his thanks, something Fae normally avoided saying as it implied a debt they would have to repay. I suppose, though, he hadn’t quite said it directly, skirting the sentiment skillfully.
I unlocked the door and let myself in.“Seems to me, you freed yourself.”
His chuckle was a low rumble.“Funny thing that. None of us could do anything against her even without the hunt. Not until you bit her.”
“Blood loss has a way of weakening a body,” I said, throwing my keys on the table.
