“Have folks got nothing better to do with their lives?”
“Than to watch two star-crossed lovers find their way back to each other and beat fate?” I could hear the teasing in her voice. “You’ve got to be kidding, Dad. You and Taran are the most interesting thing to happen to Leth Sholas since Tierney arrived and bagged Ramsay.”
“Bagged?” My tone was disapproving.
“Don’t get all politically correct on me.”
“I’m just saying, if someone said Ramsay had ‘bagged’ Tierney, there would be feminine outrage.”
“You really don’t want me to explain how thousands of years of female suppression is the reason women are allowed to indulge in a wee bit of double standard, do you?”
I grinned as I pulled away from the house. “You’re right, I don’t. I want to know how you’re feeling about university instead.”
We chatted the entirety of my drive home and I promised I’d book her favorite burger place in town for dinner next weekend.Angus’s hockey team had gotten to the finals of their league, and I’d promised to come watch the game. I’d already booked a hotel room on Oban so I could spend the day with the kids.
“That’s me home,” I announced as I pulled up to the house.
“Okay. We’ll see you next weekend. And Dad?”
“Aye?”
“Stop putting it off and tell Taran how you feel.”
I winced, thinking of yesterday morning. “I have, flower. I told her everything.”
My daughter’s silence felt heavy. When she did speak, she sounded young and confused. “And you’re still not together?”
I swallowed hard around the emotion as I stared at my empty house. Heather might think she was all grown up, but she had years to learn that sometimes pretty words couldn’t solve everything. “No. She needs time.”
“Huh. Someone should tell her time isn’t guaranteed.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. “She knows that. She more than anyone knows that. I guess that’s just how much I hurt her.”
“You were a kid, Dad. You were only a year older than me.” Heather sounded defensive. “You made a mistake. I hope whatever mistakes I make in the next few years, there isn’t someone to hold them over me for the next two decades. If she can’t forgive you, then she’s not the right one for you.”
As much as I appreciated my daughter’s loyalty, I couldn’t get the look on Taran’s face yesterday out of my mind. It was also that look, however, that gave me hope. Because to still be that devastated by our breakup meant once upon a time, Taran Macbeth had loved me beyond imagining.
That kind of love never faded.
I knew.
Because it was howIfelt abouther.
“I’ll see you next weekend, flower. I love you.” I said those words every time we spoke now. They were getting easier to voice out loud.
“I love you too, Dad. See you soon.”
After we disconnected, I pulled up Taran’s number and sent her a text.
Hope you’re okay. Got the doorbell camera. I’ll be around tomorrow to install it. When suits?
I waited, my pulse racing, like I was a teenager and not a grown man.
Three little dots started bouncing underneath my text and I tensed with anticipation.
Thanks. About 10 a.m.? That’s when I’m on break from the store.
A smile curled my mouth at her easy acquiescence. I took it as a good sign.
