She tilted her head when her eyes met mine. “What are you sorry for?”
That things weren’t easier. That I didn’t find you sooner. That I couldn’t take you away yet because of the bloody court date. But I settled on, “I think I just called your dad a pussy.”
Mia laughed lightly through a sniffle. “Well, someone had to say it.”
“Turn around, love.” And she twisted in my arms, pushing her legs over mine. Mia shivered inside an oversized black sweater, leather looking leggings, and Christmas socks. I dipped my hands under her sweater to grip her sides as she rolled her hips closer. She blinked up at me, golden brown and bewitching. “Now, close your eyes.” A smile fought its way over her lips. I lifted my brows, and Mia shook the hair from her face, lifted her chin, and closed her eyes.
“Where are you taking me?”
“We’re not going anywhere, I just wanted to do this.” I lightly kissed her, and afterward, she dropped her head into my neck and laughed.
We stayed like that for a while, under the starry sky. I stroked Mia’s back until she fell asleep in my arms, thinking of all the baggage I’d left in the UK. My first and only priority was Mia, but if I didn’t handle my end of the deal, it would follow us for the rest of our lives.
An hour passed, and I woke her up and helped her back through the window. She was half asleep, mumbling about ‘a guy she dreamed about,’ and how he saved her, and I only told her that if he was real, give him my thanks. She passed out in bed, and I kissed her forehead before leaving. Mia was out cold in two seconds.
I walked down the stairs and noticed Bruce sitting outside on the back patio, looking out into the forest. At the last second, I figured I’d talk to him and pushed open the back door. Bruce was sitting in a rocking chair in front of a controlled fire pit, a cooler of beer resting at his feet. He turned to look at me before dropping his head back. “Take a seat.”
Diane must have turned in early. Hesitantly, I sat in the other rocking chair and pushed my legs out in front of me. The lights from the fire lit up his crestfallen features, and he bent over to grab another Bud Light from the ice and handed it over to me.
I’d never been a beer drinker, but cracked it open with my forearm, not leaving the chap out here to drink by himself. “I want to apologize for what happened tonight, but the truth is, I can’t,” I admitted.
“You were right.”
“Wish I wasn’t.”
“You know what’s so fascinating to me,” he leaned in and planted his elbows over his knees and cocked his head, “my twenty-year-old daughter has a more mature relationship than I do. What does that say about me?”
“That your daughter has brilliant taste in men.”
Bruce chuckled, leaned over, and clanked his bottle against mine. “You’re a good man, Oliver.”
“I’m sorry about your wife,” I stated, looking out into the fire.
“Diane means well.”
“I’m not talking about Diane. I’m talking about Mia’s mum, Jackie. I’m sorry about what happened to her. I can’t imagine ever losing Mia, let alone trying to get by each day.” The toll it must have taken on him over the years. It made me sick just thinking about it.
“Jackie was a good woman, the love of my life. I think Diane sees that too. If it weren’t the baby, it would be the fact I’d never fallen out of love with my late wife,” he chugged from his bottle, then let out a sigh, “nothing will ever fill that emptiness. Not Diane. Not fucking Bud Light. Trust me when I say, don’t wait ‘til someone dies to remind you what’s in front of you. Know now. When I look back at it all, want to know when I was the happiest?” His eyes moved from the label peeling from the bottle to me. “We were so broke,” he laughed, “Mia was only two years old at the time, sleeping in her crib, and our electric got cut off. Jackie and me, we moved Mia into the living room with us and lit a fire in the fireplace. Jackie hijacked the neighbor’s Wi-Fi, and we curled up on the couch and watchedRush Hourfrom her laptop.” Another laugh escaped him and pushed his fingers across the bottom of his nose. “The damn movie froze every five seconds. I think it was the longest movie we’d ever watched together, but I never wanted it to end. But Jackie fell asleep in my arms and the laptop died eventually, and it was so quiet. Right then and there, I knew I would never be happier. Shit, was I right.”
It was quiet again, and the fire crackled before us as I digested his words.
“I’m marrying Mia.”
“Are you asking for my permission?”
I shook my head. “Advanced notice.” I should’ve asked for permission, and I’d thought about it out of respect, but Bruce nor Lynch had hardly been a father. Nodding, Bruce handed over another beer. “If you keep feeding me alcohol, I’m going to have to sleep on your couch.”
“Please, I’d sleep better knowing you were in the house. I’m afraid a knife-wielding PMS-ing maniac will gut me in my sleep here,” he laughed. “And I’m not referring to Mia.”
“Ah, you’re on your own with that one.”
“You handled yourself pretty well in there. I’ve never heard anyone speak to Diane like that. She went straight to bed, and it’s only,” Bruce glanced at his watch, “Shit, It’s only eight-thirty. I’m getting old.”
For hours Bruce and I kicked back around the fire, talking and drinking. It was almost midnight before we turned in, and he threw me a blanket and pillow from a chest in the corner of the living room. I told him he was asking for it, defying his wife. He said she wouldn’t leave her room, and I’d be safe. I clicked on the telly, turned down the volume, and aFriendsmarathon was on.
My eyes flitted open to see Mia standing above me, shaking me. “What are you still doing here?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, still out of it. “Your dad got me drunk.”
