Black edges around my vision so fast that I nearly fall over, and I’msittingdown. “H-how?” I choke out. The whole room is spinning. The diner might as well have flipped upside down. I can’t even make out my dad’s face, but I turn towards him. “How could you know that?”
“I’ll explain everything, but I need to talk to him first. This isn’t my story. I didn’t know there was a story at all. I need to get this straight. I need… I need a minute.”
Here.
He just said that the man who has haunted me, like a kind spirit or a hero ghost, ishere. In Hart.Right.Now.
I gasp and choke, trying to get air into my lungs. I can’t bend all the way over because the table is in the way. I’m going to have a panic attack.
Jesus fucking Christ, is this evenreal?
“We’re both upset.” My dad sets his hand on my shoulder and helps me out of the booth. “I’ll explain everything when I have answers, but I don’t. Not yet. I need to talk to him before I can get back to you. Will you give me time? Just a few days?”
Days?
Days are going to feel likeyears.
“Hey.” he rubs his hands down my arms. “Let me make sure you get home okay. I can have someone from the club come get you in one of their cages.”
“Cars,” I recover enough to push out. “Cars, dad. Or Trucks. Or vans. Calling a vehicle a cage is weird. And no, but thanks. I’m okay to drive. Really.”
Dad ruffles my hair like I’m a kid again. I let him, because we missed the last decade of life together. He’s tall and strong, jacked for an older guy because he works out all the time at the clubhouse. It feels good to have him near me. I’ve been leaning on my own strength for years, and setting this into his hands feels like being able to take a real breath again. I like being able to rely on him and lean on his strength.
It’s not justniceto have my dad in my life.
It’s the best feeling ever.
He guides me up to the front counter, peels off a few bills, and pays for our breakfast. He wraps an arm around me and helps me outside, though by the time we get there, I’m no longer shaking. It still feels nice to be able to lean against my father and let him hold me up.
“Do you trust me?” he asks a few moments later.
“Of course I do!”
He walks me to my car. It’s at the far end of the parking lot. He tips my head up so he can look me right in the eye. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”
I bite down on my bottom lip and nod.
“This is a lot for both of us, but we’ll talk soon, yeah?”
I nod again.
“I love you, Fawnie. You can call me anytime, day or night. If you want to talk, or if you just want to sit in silence. You don’t need to have anything to say, or any real purpose to do it other than just wanting to.”
I fall into my dad’s arms and let him hug me hard. He doesn’t make any move to let me go, and so I stay there, eyes shut tight, listening to his heartbeat with the sun shining down on both of us from a cloudless sky. I have more questions than I have answers, but I force all of it to the back of my mind and focus onthisinstead. Onus.
This is time I never thought I’d have.
It’s the biggest blessing that I’ve ever known.
Chapter 2
Shadow
Preacher arrives like a storm, and not the entertaining kind that you pull a chair up to the window or sit on the porch to watch. More like the destructive, flash flood,get down toyour basement and take refugekind.
I open the door for him and immediately retreat to the far side of the room. I’m no coward, but when Preacher takes up space like this, I don’t want to get sucked into his emotional hurricane. I’m clearly the one responsible for his bad mood and now I’m going to hear about it. I wrack my brain trying to think about what I’ve done to piss him off and come up empty handed.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” He crosses his arms in his leather jacket. If a person didn’t know the guy, they’d probably find him scary on the days he’s not giving off huge golden retriever vibes.
