Tinsel (Lark Cove #4)(73)

“But you care about her.”

“Obviously.” I wouldn’t have flown to New York City and back in twenty-four hours for anyone but Sofia.

“Then why not give it a shot?”

“Like I said, I don’t see a future there.” That black box had gotten bigger these past few months. “There’s too many obstacles.”

“Is it the long-distance thing?”

“That’s one of them.”

Xavier leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he thought it over. “Is it her money?”

“Yes and no. It sets us apart, for sure. I don’t want it. But I’m glad she has it.”

“Then what is it? Gotta explain it to me, bud.”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “My head is so mixed up, it’s hard to untwist it all.”

“Just start talking.”

I took a deep breath, knowing if anyone could help me make sense of these feelings, it would be Xavier. He was the one person who held no judgment about my life choices.

“Mom and Dad, they have this picture of what success looks like.” Live on the reservation. Work for our people. Marry the right woman and have as many babies as I could make.

“But that’s not the life you want.”

“No, it’s not. But it’s still there. It’s in here.” I put my palm up to my heart. “I left that behind but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t come with me. That future, the one they wanted for me, it’s bone-deep. It doesn’t just go away because I moved off the reservation. No matter what life I choose to live, even if it makes me happy, something other than the one I was taught to want feels like a constant betrayal.”

It was an invisible weight that was impossible to shed.

“I get it.” Xavier nodded. “It took me a lot of years to let that go. I wish I could tell you it was easy. It’s not. It’ll take time.”

“Yeah. Maybe in time I won’t care anymore. But the fact is, right now, I do. I care that my parents see this life as a failure. That my sisters don’t look up to me like they used to. Maybe if I can show them I’m successful, prove that this was the right choice, they’ll see things differently.”

“Bud.” Xavier stood from the chair and came over to the couch. He placed his hand over my knee. “They might not. No matter how successful you are, they might never come around.”

He was speaking from experience. He’d done everything he’d set out to. Xavier had become a cop and moved to a predominately white town. He’d fought stereotypes and prejudice to become sheriff. He’d been a damn good one at that. But no matter how long he’d held office, no matter how many accolades he’d won from the Lark Cove populous, it had never been good enough for our family.

None of them had even bothered to come and meet his wife.

If Xavier was bothered, he hadn’t mentioned it. He’d lost hope in them ages ago.

But I wasn’t ready to admit defeat. Not yet. I had faith that if I could convince Dad, everyone else would come around.

“It’s worth a try.”

“Then try.” Xavier patted my knee. “How does this roll back to Sofia?”

“She has so much money. So much fucking money I can’t even wrap my head around it. And if I was with her, how would I prove to Dad that I am successful on my own?”

The room went silent as Xavier let my words sink in. He thought on them for a few long minutes until, finally, he spoke.

“You’re proud, Dakota.”

“I am.”

Xavier clapped me on the shoulder then stood from the couch. I thought maybe he’d go back to his chair, but he didn’t. He walked out of the living room and to the front door.

“No advice?” I called.

He paused in the entryway, looking at me from over his shoulder. “You know what you have to decide. Choose your path.”

I dropped my eyes to the floor as he opened and closed the door behind him.

Choose your path.

He was right. I had to choose and live with the consequences.

My family might not come around. They might not accept my lifestyle and choices, no matter how successful I became. But they might. There was still a slim chance they’d open their minds and come around.

If I involved Sofia, that chance was gone.

Why was I even stressing about this? It didn’t matter, not anymore. Sofia Kendrick was no longer a factor because she’d moved on and found another man.

I’d seen it with my own two eyes this morning.

So I’d continue down my path, toward the future I saw clear as day.

I was going to work my ass off, do my best to get back in my family’s good graces while still living in Lark Cove, then travel the world.

Sofia would someday be a distant memory. I couldn’t let a woman who I’d spent a collective two weeks with make me question the decisions I’d made years ago.

I shot off the couch and ran a hand over my face. She’s gone. Moved on. Good for her.

I swiped my phone off the coffee table and went to my contacts. I pulled up her name but couldn’t bring myself to erase it.

Instead, I touched her number—the one I’d touched all through last night—and listened as it rang.

“Hello?” she answered.