I let out a humorless laugh.“What do you think?”
His smile widens.“So much like your mother, you are,” he murmurs.“Try talking to her, okay?Like actually sit down and have an adult conversation together.”
Scoffing, I say, “I’m not sure we can.”
Dad raises his brows as he tips his head in acknowledgment.“This is true.You two were always a pair of hotheads, even as teenagers.”
I smile at his comment, knowing it’s true.Daze and I have always burned hard and fast.It’s probably half the reason we’re in this mess to begin with, neither of us stopping to talk about what happened or why.
But maybe that needs to change.Maybe I really do need to talk to her, let her know how I feel so I can find out once and for all if I have any chance of getting her back.
“Maybe you’re right,” I concede.
He laughs.“Oh, you think?”
I roll my eyes at him, but smiling, I say, “Okay, fine, youareright.Happy?”
Dad slings an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into a half hug.“I’ll be happy when you get your head out of your ass and get your girl back.You two belong together, always have.”
“Not sure she thinks that,” I mutter, almost to myself.
“She will,” Dad says, squeezing my shoulder.“You good?”
“Yeah,” I reply, nodding.“Thanks, Dad.”
“Anytime, you know that.”
I smile, moving over to the bench with the fins all laid out.Just before I get to work, I turn back and call out, “Dad?”
“Yep?”he says, looking over at me.
“I didn’t know you...”I trail off, pointing to the speakers hanging on the wall, still playing my music.
“You kidding?”he says, narrowing his brow.“It’s your music, Miles.Of course I listen to it.I’m proud of you, kid.”
I spend the afternoon hanging out with Dad, fixing the fins for the boards he makes, the two of us shooting the shit as he plays the band’s album on repeat.I know he’s heard it.All my family has, and I know they’re proud of me too.I just didn’t know he still listened to it.
“Alright, I think we call it,” he says, wandering over to the workbench I’m at.“You wanna come home, grab some dinner?”
I exhale, replacing the tools on the rack as I turn and smile at him.“I was thinking I might go talk to her.”
“Daze?”
I roll my eyes, laughing a little as I say, “Yeah, Dad, Daze.”
He laughs, throwing his arm around me as he pulls me close and drops a quick kiss to the top of my head, just like he did when we were kids.“Good.Go get your girl back.The sooner we get that squared away, the sooner we can work on your brother and his philandering.”
I burst out laughing, shaking my head as I say, “Shit, Dad, I think that’s a bigger ask than me getting Daisy back.”
“I know,” he replies with a nod of his head.“So I’m gonna need both of your help with it.”
“Whatever you say, old man.See you tomorrow.”
“Later, kid,” he says, squeezing my shoulder.
After I finish up, I don’t head home but instead do something I haven’t done since I got back to Maui.
I go and see Daisy at work.
