“He’s getting older.Things happen,” Trip shrugged.
“I agree, El.If he’s frazzled, then chances are he hadn’t simply fallen asleep, your mom was there.If she reappeared now, then she knows what’s going on with you, so she hasn’t been far this whole time,” Shawn said.
El worked to fix her dad’s cup of tea while Shawn’s words sunk in.She hadn’t thought of that.Her mom would have to be around close enough that she knew what was going on with El’s life to warn her father.
“What would taking me away do, though?I mean, we both know that no matter where I’ve gone, trouble has followed, so why would it help now?”El questioned Shawn.
“Maybe she thought if he uprooted you, and maybe took you somewhere crazy like Iceland or something, it would work long enough for her to do something.”
“If she wanted to help me, why not make herself known to me.I could have used a mom growing up,” El snapped.
“I know,” Shawn said empathetically.
El finished her dad’s tea and found a tray to carry it all on, adding a cup for herself and one for Ryan, although she had no idea if he was a tea drinker.The thought of Ryan holding the teacup made her giggle; his hand was so large she wasn’t sure his fingers would even fit through the handle.El decided as she half giggled over it on her trip back that she was slowly losing her mind.
“Here you go, Dad,” she said, setting the tray down in front of him and pouring the hot water over his tea bag.
Her dad watched her closely the entire time, not saying a word.For some reason it made El feel very self-conscious.Probably because for her entire life, he had ridiculed every little thing she had done or said.She looked up at him assuming she’d see the frustration in his face, but this time she was shocked to see affection in his tear-filled gaze.
“You look just like her, El,” he whispered, his emotions getting the better of him.
El wasn’t sure what to say, so she just gave him a soft smile and fixed her own cup of tea.
“Would you care for some tea?”El asked Ryan.
“No, thank you, my love,” he replied.
“Dad, maybe you need a vacation.You sound stressed, and you certainly don’t look well.Maybe get an appointment with your doctor,” El suggested.
“I wasn’t asleep,” he said, staring into his teacup.
“I don’t think so,” El agreed with him.
“If she could come today, why didn’t she come sooner?You have four mates now, you don’t need her now, you needed her when you were a baby, when you were a little girl; we both did,” her dad said.
The heartache she heard in his voice pulled at her own emotions.She didn’t want to shed a single tear for the woman that left her and her father, so she sipped on her tea.
“I’m sure El’s mother feels her reasons were valid,” Ryan offered up.
“They won’t be good enough.None of them would ever be good enough for leaving El with me.I wasn’t fit to raise El, not without her.She was my mate, the love of my life, and together we were supposed to raise El.”
“I survived, we both did, and for whatever reason, she showed up at your office today is frivolous.I’m well taken care of here, and I’m certainly safer here than anywhere else,” El told her dad.
“I’m so sorry, El.I’m so fucking sorry.I was a shitty dad, I still am.I wish I could promise to make it up to you and be who you want me to be, but I’ll probably just break that promise.”
“It’s okay, Dad.We’ve made it this far, we’ll be okay,” El said, reaching out to squeeze her dad’s hand.Instead of his typical reaction to flinch away from El’s touch, he actually accepted her hand and squeezed hers back.
“Not to interrupt, but don’t you have a lot of security at your office?”Ryan asked.
The light bulb over her dad’s head seemed to go off, and he set his tea down and pulled out his cell phone.As the phone rang, he smoothed his hair back out and stood up.He began to pace the floor, his unkempt and frazzled look now replaced with the man El had always known.He barked orders over the phone at the head of his security, ordering all footage from the past twenty-four hours be forwarded to himself and Shawn.
El looked over at Ryan when she felt his eyes on her.He gave her a half-smile that she didn’t return.El had learned a long time ago not to get her hopes up where her father was involved, and this time had been no different.He had shown a side of himself she had never seen before, but El knew better than to think for one second her dad would ever truly change.He may have the ability to be a good man, a good father, hidden deep inside of him, but he wouldn’t let it out.Maybe if her mother had stayed like he had suggested, he would have been a different man, but El couldn’t think of it now.It certainly wouldn’t give her, her childhood back.
Chapter 19
Ryan
After El’s father left,having promised that Shawn would have a copy of the security footage on his email within an hour, Ryan went to find Shawn.El gathered up the teacups and made her way back to the kitchen.Ryan couldn’t seem to place how El was feeling.She was calm given all her father had just revealed.He wasn’t sure if he should ask her about it, or just go on like it hadn’t happened.
