A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street #8)(56)

“Dad, if you met him you’d wonder what Mom ever saw in him. He’s…he looks just like a stereotypical biker.” Okay, maybe he was attractive for an older guy, but muscles and lean good looks weren’t everything.

“I understand your mother. We weren’t married all those years without me knowing her….”

Annie couldn’t figure out why her father wasn’t more upset. “It sounds like you’re happy Mom’s chasing after him.” That was a slight exaggeration. But she’d expected him to react more strongly to this latest update.

“I started to tell you, Annie, I hurt your mother.”

“I know and she knows that, too, better than anyone. But it’s different now. You’re back and the lovely Tiffany is out of your life.”

“Yes, thank God, but this isn’t about Tiffany or me. It’s about your mother and Max.”

“You have a plan.” Annie should’ve guessed her father wouldn’t stand idly by and let some other man step into the place he belonged. “You’re flying into Branson, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“No?” Annie echoed. “What do you mean?”

“Your mother’s well aware of how I feel. If I could go back six years, trust me, I would.”

“Oh, Daddy.” Annie, too, would give anything to turn back time.

“Your mother and you and Andrew are my whole world and I was stupid enough to leave you. I’ve paid the price for being such an idiot, but I might still lose your mother.”

“I want you and Mom to get back together,” Annie said fervently.

“The thing is, Annie, it might be too late.” His voice was bleak, as if he’d already given up. “If that’s the case, then all I can do is accept it.”

“Accept it?”

“I don’t have any choice but to abide by your mother’s wishes. I’ll always love her, always. Even when I was married to Tiffany I loved your mother. I might not have shown my love the way I should have, but my feelings for her never went away. Tiffany sensed that, I think. My family was an issue between us from the beginning, which is why she tried so hard to keep us apart.”

Annie felt her throat thicken. She didn’t like to remember how it had been when her father left them. Those were dark days for all of them. Her brother was the one who’d held the three of them together those first few weeks. Meeting Courtney had helped him, and that was good, but at the time she’d had no one. Her mother was a basket case and Annie had floundered badly.

“Mom said that when I get upset about her seeing Max, that only makes him more appealing.”

“She’s right,” her father agreed. “Don’t you remember that plaque she has up in the kitchen?”

“The plaque,” she repeated. “The one about setting a bird free?” That ceramic wall hanging had been in the kitchen for years, and while she’d seen it practically every day of her life, she didn’t remember the exact words. What it meant was that if someone was meant to return they would of their own accord.

“Annie, listen. You and I need to set your mother free. Let her enjoy her time with Max. Let’s both give her that. I’ll meet you in Florida in a few days and we’ll see how things go. Until then, leave your mother alone. Tell your grandmother to do the same. Okay?”

“But, Dad—”

“I love your mother enough to want her happiness. If she finds that with Max, then all I can do is step aside.”

Annie wanted to argue—but she couldn’t. Her father was wise. “You’re right,” she said. Bethanne would choose for herself; that was her privilege and her responsibility. Annie just hoped she made the choice they wanted her to make.

“Now let me talk to your grandmother.”

“Okay.” Annie straightened and tapped her grandmother on the arm. “Grandma, it’s my dad. He wants to talk to you.”

Ruth looked concerned. “Did you tell him about you know who?” she asked in a loud whisper.

Annie nodded. “He’s cool with it.”

Her grandmother widened her eyes as she took the cell. “Hello,” she said.

Annie listened hard but she could only make out bits and pieces of the conversation. Apparently, her father said the same thing to Ruth that he’d said to Annie, because her grandmother shook her head as if she had trouble accepting his advice.

After a few minutes she handed the phone back to Annie. “He wants us to let your mother have her fun.”

“I know.”

“I don’t think this is a smart decision.”

Annie was inclined to abide by her father’s judgment. “He says he’ll be in Florida next week and we should be patient.”

“He loves your mother.”

Annie nodded. Until then, she’d never realized how much.

Eighteen

Bethanne and Max sat on the hotel porch on an old-fashioned bench swing. They’d gone to dinner with Rooster. As soon as they’d finished the meal, Rooster excused himself and went inside the hotel, insisting he was on his way to bed.

“You must be exhausted,” Bethanne said as they gently swayed. Max sat with his arm around her shoulders and her fingers tangled with his.

“I’m not so tired I can’t appreciate time with you.”