“Wow. So big,” Momma praises.
A throat clears behind her.
“Priscilla?”
I look up.
My father stands just inside the doorway—tall, broad-shouldered, his gray hair combed back neatly, like it always is. His expression is unreadable at first, but then his eyes drop to Ruby.
Something shifts, and my spine straightens as I tighten my hold on Ruby.
“Waylon,” he says slowly.
“Pop,” I reply.
He steps forward, stopping just short of us. His keen eyes take in the scene before landing on Ruby. “Who’s this?”
I brace myself.
“This,” I say, resting my hand on Ruby’s shoulder, “is Ruby. My daughter.”
His eyebrows lift slightly. Just slightly.
“Your daughter?” he repeats.
I nod.
His eyes look beyond me and out to where I parked the truck, which I packed with all our belongings and drove overnight from Vegas.
“And her mother?” he asks.
“Gone,” I say, and the tone of my voice must halt any further questions he wants to ask because he glances back down at Ruby, who is looking up at him expectantly.
“Well,” he says, offering Ruby his hand, “I’m Holland Ludlow. I suppose that makes me—”
“Papa?” Momma offers, tentative.
He smiles. A real one.
“Yes,” he says. “That sounds about right.”
“Nice to meet you, Papa,” Ruby says politely before lunging forward and wrapping her arms around his legs.
I watch the man of steel that is my father melt in front of me.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Ruby.”
Momma taps Dad in the chest, and he steps back.
“Come in. I bet you’re thirsty. I just made a fresh pitcher of lemonade.”
Ruby looks up at me for permission, and I wink. Then she takes my mother’s offered hand and follows her past my father and inside.
And just like that, the house I vowed I’d never return to opens its doors wide to the both of us.
My eyes meet Pop’s as we follow them inside—full of disapproval or maybe disappointment. Whatever it is, I’m gonna have to swallow my pride and take whatever tongue-lashing he has coming for me because Ruby deserves better than a run-down studio apartment in a sketchy part of Vegas with a father who’s out hustling all night and sleeping all day.
This is a chance for a new start. And I’ll eat whatever shit he dishes out in order to give it to her.
