“I’m almost as good as your daughter.”
“She told me you were far better than her.”
I shake my head, glimpsing at my woman and her big, vibrant smile as she talks to her best friend. “Andrea is better than me on every level, sir, and I want you to know I’m aware of that.”
“She’s pretty great, isn’t she?”
“She’s sensational.”
“I agree. Which is why I’m wondering why any man would break her heart like you did.”
Shit, he doesn’t hold back, does he? But I did break his precious daughter’s heart once, and while she’s forgiven me for it, I suppose it’s only fair her family does, too.
“For reasons of my own, I didn’t feel deserving of her,” I candidly explain. “I thought I was sparing her by ending things, allowing her to find someone better than me, someone who could be as incredible as she is. And for reasons of her own, she thinks I am, so she came back and fought for me, for us.”
“She’s a stubborn one, isn’t she?”
I nod, looking at Andrea again and how utterly happy she seems. “There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t regret what I did, Mr. Walker. And there will not be another day where I don’t atone for it. Andyou know your daughter; she’s strong and independent. She wouldn’t stay with me if she had any doubt about that.”
“That’s the Ibanez women’s trademark,” he says with a nod. “Their love has to be earned, but once it’s given, it’s absolute.”
“What was it like, marrying one?”
“It wasn’t roses and rainbows every day, but we’re celebrating thirty years in a few days, and… there isn’t a single day I’d want to erase,” he explains, looking at his wife. “But maybe you’ll find out one day,” he adds.
“I hope to.”
I feel his eyes on me as I keep mine on Andrea. We know this is real, and we both hope it’ll last forever, but the idea of marrying her one day feels less and less like a distant, unattainable dream. Iwillmarry this woman, and the man next to me will walk her down the aisle.
“I grew up in North Idaho,” her father begins out of the blue, “and the views there are… not good. I was the only one in my family who moved away for university here in Portland, and it changed my entire perception of things. The racist and bigoted mindset I grew up with became abhorrent to me, especially when I fell in love with Isa. My family disapproved of her, but I thought I could change their mind over time, just like mine had. It wasn’t easy on her,” he recalls, his voice tightening with guilt. “And looking back on it, I’m so sorry for what I made her endure. Then we had Rafa, and I hoped that meeting their grandson would finally change their perception of things, you know? But they blamed the fact that he was deaf on the ‘inferiority of his blood.’”
Mr. Walker gets emotional, looking at his son with something that resembles an apology. Rafael is talking with his mother in what must be Mexican Sign Language since I don’t recognize the signs. “They held my perfect baby boy, and that was all they could see. That’s when I knew they’d never change, so I took my son, my wife, and walked away forever. I cut them off completely and focused on my actual family instead.”
He looks at me with intensity to ask, “So, allow me to ask you, Alexander… What are you willing to sacrifice for my daughter?”
The contrast between him and my father is so striking that I don’t answer immediately. While mine tried to chase Andrea away for his selfish interests, hers only wants to ensure I’m worthy and won’t hurt her again.
“Everything,” I eventually answer. “There isn’t a single thing I wouldn’t give up for her. And she knows it.”
He studies me momentarily, as if assessing how much I mean it. A slight grin tugs at the corners of his mouth as he nods. “I like you, Alexander,” he says, patting my knee. “My peanut chose well.”
When I look at her again, the peanut in question has her eyes on me. Discreetly, she signs, “Do you want me to come save you?” I shake my head, touched by her offer.
Oblivious to our exchange, her father then says, “So, tell me about how you started Kelex. We’re big fans of your apps in this household.”
I comply and explain the genesis of the company we built with Kev, glad that the ice was broken in less than ten minutes. It’s rare for me.
Maybe, just maybe, Andrea’s family will accept me as much as she has. And if it happens, then I’ll have found it. My safe haven.
I’m not sure what Lex is talking about with my dad, but it looks like things are going well, so I try not to worry about it. When Mom leaves to check on MC in the kitchen, I turn to Kate and ask, “So, any news on that guy you’re dating? Is it still going well?”
“Very much so, yes.”
“When will you stop hiding him and introduce us,” I press.
She shifts on the couch, visibly uneasy. “Not quite yet, Dee.”
“Are you dating a celebrity or something?”
