“I can always tell when you’re lying or leaving something out, Raegan,” he chastises me. “Tell me all of it.”
“Fine, but you have to promise not to come here,” I concede.
“Why would I need to come there if you aren’t in any type of trouble?”
“Promise me, Dad.”
He gives an exhausted sigh, “Okay, fine, I promise. Now tell me.”
“The fight was over Dennis not liking my boyfriend. He called me a turncoat because I stuck up for Kane and his brothers, who have a motorcycle club. I’ll tell you more about that later,” I quickly add. “Then Dennis called me a whore. I called him on some of his shit and then he hit me across the face. All the while Carly sat on a sofa and did nothing but glare at me like I was the problem.”
I hear heavy breathing into the phone and hope his blood pressure doesn’t get too high. At his last doctor’s appointment they discussed possible medication if the number didn’t improve by the following visit.
“Dad?” I’m met with more silence and start to worry about him. I can still hear his breathing so I know that he’s still alive at the moment. “Dad?” I try again.
“I’m going to kill that motherfucker!” he fumes. “Claire! Claire! Get me a ticket to Texas!” Dad orders and I hear glass shattering in the background.
“Dad, you promised...”
“That was before you just told me that HE put his hands on my daughter!”
“I have it under control, Dad. Please just trust me and don’t come here, I can handle that asshat.”
“Raegan, until you become a parent you don’t know what it’s like to feel the way I do right now. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you’ll always be my baby, and I’ll always want to protect you.”
“I know, but I can deal with Dennis, please let me. When I need you then you’re more than welcome to come down here and chop him into little pieces.”
He lets out a long deep breath, and I can just imagine that he’s squeezing a stress ball in his hand.
“I swear to god, if he does one more thing I want to know about it, immediately. Then I’m going down there to strangle the bastard.”
“Deal.”
“Raegan?”
“Yeah?”
“Why were you giving the keys to your home back to them?” He pauses for a second like he’s thinking something over. “Are you moving in with this boyfriend?”
Well, shit! I was hoping to avoid this conversation.
“Umm, well, I’m kinda staying with him right now.” My tone is one from when I was a small girl getting caught with a box full of frogs under my bed.
“Christ!” he yells and then I hear another shatter in the background.
If he doesn’t stop, Claire won’t have any dishes to plate food on. Or decorations for the house.
A knock on the door gets my attention.
“Dad, can you hold on for a sec?” I ask and open the door.
“Hey, pizza’s here,” Sutton announces with a towel wrapped around her head.
I point to the phone and give her a thumbs up before shutting the door.
“Food’s here, Dad, and Sutton and I have a movie waiting for us in the living room.”
“Okay, baby girl, but I want to hear more about this boy you’re living with.”
