I move down the short hallway to find him standing at the peninsula, stirring a pitcher of lemonade. A plate of cheese and crackers sits in the center of the round kitchen table. I smile. My parents didn’t get along for most of my life, but they didn’t divorce until after I graduated high school. My dad is so much happier now and every time I see him, even though I never lived a day of my life in this house, he makes his little bungalow feel like coming home.
“Hi, Daddy,” I say, walking around the counter and wrapping him in a backward hug. I plant a kiss on his cheek. “I picked up your library books for you, so you don’t have to go downtown. It’s a zoo.” I plop down at the table.
“Thank you, love.” My dad pours two glasses of lemonade over ice and sets one in front of me, taking the chair next to me.
“So, tell me, what’s new? You’ve been too busy for your dear old dad. You look tired.” My dad pats my hand and my heart swells. My old man.
I sigh, twirling a finger around a lock of golden red hair. “I have been busy. I’ve been working like crazy…”
“Justwork?” My dad arches his eyebrows, like he doesn’t quite believe me. “Anyone new in your life?”
I bark out a laugh. Of course he’s cutting right to the chase. “You got me.” I hesitate for a moment. “Do you remember Josh? Cara’s brother?”
“Of course,” my dad smiles wistfully. “How could I forget? You two looked at each other like you thought the other hung the moon. Is he back in town?”
I sip my lemonade with a nod. “He is. He’s a country artist now.”
“No shit.” My dad scratches his chin. “In Nashville?”
“I guess kind of all over? Anyway, he came back here to write an acoustic album. He’s been staying with me.” I grimace, afraid that even at forty-one years old, my dad will frown at my shacking up with someone. He doesn’t bat an eye.
“Ah, I see.” He reaches for the plate of cheese and crackers and carefully makes himself a stack. “And…you two are friends?”
My cheeks prickle with heat. “Not exactly.” I let out a shaky breath. “There’s a lot of history between us.”
“I remember.” My dad nods. Frank Glick has always been supportive of his little girl. I didn’t make the best decisions when I was younger and I drove my mother crazy, but my father has never been anything but accepting of me. He knows everything that happened between Josh and me…before and after the accident. “And, have you talked to him about things?”
I push my lips together, knowing exactly what things my father is referring to. I shake my head. “No, that’s ancient history. Telling him now wouldn’t do anything except stir up emotions he doesn’t need to deal with. I dealt with them for both of us.”
My dad pats my hand and stares at me for a long time, his gaze making me squirm. Finally, he says, “I just wish you two had the chance to grieve together. You lost more than just Cara.”
I blink back the sting of tears and sniffle. “I know, Dad. But it’s just too painful.”
My father nods. “Okay. Well, just think about it. If I were him, I’d want to know.” He drains the last of his lemonade.
“You really guzzled that down,” I quip as he pours himself another glass. “You need to watch your blood sugar.”
My dad rolls his eyes, waving his hand. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Dad, I’m serious.” My father is a pre-diabetic and if I don’t look out for him, no one will. Probably another reason I never got the courage to leave Cape May and go after my own dreams—my dad would be all alone.
“Okay, sweetheart.” My dad drinks half of his glass and gets up to dump the rest in the sink. “Are you okay?” He squints at me from his position across the room.
“I told you yes,” I say, growing irritated for no reason.
“Okay, well, I’m your dad. It’s my job to check on you.” My dad sits down again and scoots his chair closer to mine.
I sigh, knowing he isn’t going to give this up. “I guess…seeing Josh again makes me think I failed at life. I let my musical aspirations go. I work at a bar. I have no husband, no life, nothing going for me at all.”
My dad scoffs. “Hey now, stop talking about my daughter that way.” He cracks a grin, and I involuntarily match it. “Melanie Rose, you are so much more than yourjob. You are kind, loving, loyal. You’re everybody’s best friend. Don’t be so critical of yourself. You’re still young! It’s never too late to go after a dream.”
I smirk. “Of course, you can say that because it’s not your dream.”
“My dream is to see you happy.” My dad’s voice cracks. “If Josh inspires you to pursue your music again, you absolutely should.”
At this, I cave and fill my dad in on the music Josh and I have been writing together. I tell him about the concert for Cara. I tell him how I have never felt so alive in my life. That Josh has awakened a dormant dream inside me that I had completely forgotten about. And that I’ve fallen completely in love with the man he’s become. By the time I’m finished, I’m crying.
My dad reaches and swipes at the tear rolling down my cheek. “Melanie,” he says slowly. “This all sounds wonderful. Why are you so upset?”
