Coming Home(98)

She had no idea how much she would tell him, or if she would tell him anything at all, but at that moment, she just wanted to be with her father.

Leah stopped at a grocery store first, picking up a few things so she could make dinner. As soon as she pulled into his driveway, she saw the curtains in the living room pull back before they fell closed again, and seconds later he was outside in his bare feet, helping her carry in the bags.

“Daddy! There’s snow on the ground!” she scolded. “Go back inside, I got it.”

He ignored her, meeting her halfway down the driveway and kissing the top of her head as he took the bags out of her hands.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just felt like coming for a visit.”

He stared at her for a second, and Leah could tell by his expression that he didn’t buy it, but he smiled before turning to walk back up the driveway toward the house.

“So,” he said as he put the bags on the counter in the kitchen, “do you need my help in here?”

Leah smirked. “You look like a racer on the block right now.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he laughed.

“Go,” she said through a chuckle as she began unpacking the bags. “I know the game is on. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. I don’t know how I’ll ever manage to put a meal together without your culinary expertise, but I’ll try.”

He laughed to himself as he turned to walk out of the kitchen. “Just like your mother with that smart mouth,” he said, and Leah smiled.

She focused all her attention on preparing dinner; she breaded the chicken, she washed and steamed the vegetables, she mixed the lemon herb sauce she used to season them, and because it was her father’s favorite, she made a package of Stove Top stuffing.

“Dad?” she called, removing two plates from the cabinet.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to eat in there?”

“No, the Lakers are playing like shit. I can’t watch this while I’m eating.”

Leah laughed as she loaded two plates with food and brought them to the table before she grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge.

“Alright, it’s ready,” she called as she popped the caps off the bottles and brought them to the table.

“This smells great, princess. Thank you.” He walked past her and took his seat at the table, and she smiled before picking up her silverware.

“So what’s going on with you, Leah?”

She stilled with the knife and fork in her hand before she forced a smile and resumed cutting her chicken.

“What do you mean?”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but something’s up,” he said, pointing at her with his fork. “You think I don’t know my own daughter?”

She kept her eyes on her plate as she continued to cut, but she sighed softly. On some subconscious level, she realized this was why she had come. If anyone would give it to her straight, it would be her father. But she couldn’t bring herself to disclose everything. He hadn’t even met Danny, and she didn’t want the first thing he learned about him to be the fact that he was facing jail time. Her father was a fair and honest man, but he was still a father, and he’d never want that for her.

“I met somebody,” she said, her eyes on her plate.

“I had a feeling,” he said, and she looked up to see his eyes on her as he took a sip of his beer.