How (Not) to Fall in Love(90)

Everyone but J.J.

Daisy plunked a bag down in front of me. Her siren red lips shot a puff of air toward her bangs. “You want drinks? Pie?”

Pie. Dad loved pie. His favorite was coconut cream, which Mom made for him on his birthday. “Do you have coconut cream?” I asked.

Daisy grinned. “Must be your lucky day, doll. Just made one yesterday and I still have a few slices left. You want two?”

“Just one please.”

The cold air blasted me in the face when I went back to the truck. I banished Toby to the truck bed while we ate. I hated leaving him in the cold but it wouldn’t be for long.

Dad took a bite of pie. “Delicious,” he said. He glanced at me and smiled. It was quick, but it was still a smile. My heart pinged.

“It’ll be so great to get home,” I said.

Dad stared at the sandwich in his lap. He hadn’t even unwrapped it. “Home,” he whispered.

“Home,” I echoed. I didn’t dare tell him it was a different home now. We’d deal with that soon enough. He stared out the window again, looking like a caged animal.

“Mom will be so glad to see you. We’ve been so worried.” I choked out the last word. I was determined not to cry, but it was like trying not to breathe.

Dad turned to face me. He looked feverish, his eyes burning with emotion. “I am so sorry, Darcy. I caused so much pain. Terrible failure. Failed at everything.” He spat the words at me as if they tasted bitter.

“No!” I exclaimed. “You’re not a failure. You just…just needed a break. Everything will be…better when you come home. You can figure it out…” I took a deep breath, unsure if I should tell him everything.

He was blinking very fast. “No. Can’t do that. No. It’s over.”

“Over? What’s over?” My body flooded with adrenaline.

“Me. I’m over.” He stared at me, as if willing me to read his mind, to understand all the thoughts he couldn’t seem to voice.

It was like all the stress and fear of the past few months exploded, and suddenly I was sobbing. All the strength and adrenaline that had fueled me faded away. I was six years old again, begging my dad to fix everything. I choked the words out between the tears.

“Dad. We’ve been…lost without you. Mom completely fell apart. She was drunk almost every night. She had a job selling real estate, but it blew up in her face.”

His eyes brimmed with tears but he didn’t speak.

“But she’s better now. She stopped drinking. She doesn’t have a job but I know she’ll find one. And we have some money now, from the estate sale, and I’m working in this coffee shop, thanks to Uncle Charlie and—”

“Charlie?” Dad’s voice was sharp.

“Yes, Charlie. He’s been the most stable person in my life since you left. He’s amazing—”

Dad put up his hand. “I don’t want to hear any more.”

My jaw unhinged. “You what?”

His eyes were angry slits. “I do not want to hear another word. Damn it, Darcy. Why did you have to find me? Why can’t you just let me go?”

Let him go? What was he saying? “But you need us! And we need you. You can’t just leave us, throw us away like garbage. We’re your family. You can’t just walk away.”

“You’ll be fine. J.J. will take care of you. He promised me.”

Hadn’t he heard anything I said? “Dad, J.J. is not taking care of us. I know you probably haven’t heard any news in forever, but he says you made some really bad investment decisions.” I grabbed his hands, focusing on his eyes that so reminded me of Charlie’s. “Dad, Harvest is bankrupt. Laying off all its employees.” I swiped away tears. “We had to move. The board took our house.”

Something flickered in his eyes. Was I finally breaking through his cloud of confusion?

“I don’t believe it. J.J. wouldn’t do that. We had a deal.”

I dropped his hands. “I can prove it.” I grabbed my phone from my pocket and pulled up the internet browser. He had to face reality, had to snap out of it. Tri Ty had to come back. “Tyler Covington missing,” I typed. There were so many links to choose from. I clicked the top link and handed my phone to Dad.

I glanced in the window of the diner as Dad’s fingers flew over my screen as he read. His breath came in short gasps. “No,” he whispered to himself. It was like he’d forgotten I was there. “No.”

He looked at me, his eyes wild. He dropped the phone and threw open the truck door. He jumped out and took off running down the dark road. Toby leaped over the side of the truck, pausing only briefly before racing after Dad.

“Dad, wait!” I yelled. “Damn it.” I jumped out of the truck, but my jacket caught on the ancient window handle. I wrenched free of it, oblivious to the cold as I ran. Dad was a dark blur ahead of me. I didn’t know he could run that fast. Toby ran after him, a smaller blur running as fast as I’d ever seen him go.

“Toby! Heel!” As if he would stop. Running was what he lived for. As far as he knew, this was a game, chasing Dad and being chased by me.

Headlights swerved around a corner, blinding me, bouncing up and down as the driver hit a dip in the road. Where were Dad and Toby? I’d lost sight of them in the glare of the headlights.