“You’re sure?”
“Positive. Tell him how you feel, he can and should handle it. I’ll make sure Parsnip doesn’t escape on my way out.” She kisses me on the cheek.
I take a steadying breath and answer the call. “Hey, Dad.”
“I’m so sorry I had to cancel dinner, honey. You made it home okay, though?”
“It’s been hours, Dad. Have you been working this whole time and just realized you ditched me?”
“I got pulled into a call, and then some emails?—”
I cut him off. “I don’t want excuses. If you’re calling to find out if I made it home okay, I did. Flip is a responsible driver.” And an excellent kisser.
Dad makes a noncommittal sound. “Can I take you out later this week? I’ll come to you. It doesn’t have to be dinner. It can be any meal. I just… I know I’ve let you down a lot lately.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“Tallulah.”
“I came all the way to you, and you bailed on me, Dad. If you want a relationship with me, you can’t do it only on your terms.”
“I know.” He’s quiet a moment. “I’m so sorry. I’m learning that I’m really bad at taking care of the people I love.” He chokes up at the last part.
I sigh, hating how broken he sounds. Nothing gets fixed if I don’t at least try with him. “Why don’t you share your calendar with me, and I can give you times and dates that work with my schedule?”
“I can do that. I’ll do that right now.”
“Did the meeting go okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Sometimes the bureaucratic stuff is a pain in my ass. But you don’t need to worry about that.” My phone pings, and I check the screen. A notification that Dad’s shared his calendar pops up.
“I got the calendar. I’ll cross-check it with all my events, and we can figure something out.”
Sometimes I forget that he’s the one who’s alone in all of this. He chose the Terror over his family, but at the end of the day, he returns to an empty apartment. How hard must that be?
“Okay, great,” he says.
“But you can’t bail on me again.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
“Good, I want you to. I love you, Tally, I hope you know that, even if I’m not great at showing it.”
“I love you, too, Dad. And it’s never too late to stop making the same mistake.”
“Isn’t that the truth.”
Maybe we can find our way through this. Maybe I can have the things I want, and the whole world won’t implode because of it.
CHAPTER 15
FLIP
Idon’t go home. Instead, I message Dred and drive across town to the sprawling Grace mansion, where she lives with Connor, Everly and Victor, and Connor’s grandmother, Lucy. Before Dred stepped into her Cinderella story, she used to live across the hall from me. She invited me over to play Battleship and taught me it was possible to have a platonic female friend. She’s like family, and my life wouldn’t be the same without her.
When I arrive at Grace Manor, Cedrick, one of the full-time staff, answers the door and ushers me inside. “Dred is already on her way down,” he informs me.
