One Look: A grumpy, single dad small town romance(74)

I recalled the doctors and nurses telling us that it might be helpful to anchor the conversation with cues or names and memories we once shared. Apparently it was important to show him that I knew who he was, even if he had trouble recalling his own son.

Dad nodded. “Got his hands full.” Dad squinted up at the sun. “What day is it?”

“June twenty-eighth.”

“U-pick will keep him busy. Out of trouble.”

I laughed at that. “It’s Lee who needs to stay out of trouble.”

Dad tossed a few seeds, and the timid birds poked and hopped around us. “He’s always been a wild one. Just like his mother.”

For a moment I let myself imagine that Dad’s mind wasn’t fractured. None of this was his fault, and it was exhausting to carry around the anger that this had happened to him—to all of us—when we’d all been through so much after losing Mom.

“Katie’s coming home. She’s not looking forward to moving in with Aunt Tootie, but she’s going to be helping to fix up the house.”

Dad turned to me. “What’s wrong with the house?”

The way his voice deepened and he scowled, he looked so much like his old, hard self, but I didn’t want to upset or confuse him.

“Uh . . . just some repairs that need to get done. We’re taking care of it.”

Placated, he nodded. “You’re good kids. I don’t think I tell you that enough.”

My throat was thick. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You deserved more. More than the hand you were dealt.”

Emotion burned behind my eyelids. I rarely let myself think of the scared little boy I’d been when Mom died. It all hit us differently. Dad focused on me and my potential playing ball. Duke closed himself off. Lee and Katie practically raised themselves in those years, and after he chose the service, she was alone too.

He wasn’t wrong. It was a shitty hand, but I could see how it wasn’t his fault. He’d been dealt it too, and he’d done what he could before he got sick.

Dad turned, and his eyes moved over me. “The little one, with the freckles on her nose. She’s yours, right?”

I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat. “Penny. She’s my daughter.”

He continued to stare at the birds. “Ah, this damn mind.” Dad rapped a finger against his temple. “I get mixed up sometimes. She looks like you though. Same goofy grin and wild look in her eyes.”

I laughed. “She’s a good kid.”

“You are too.”

“Is she her mother? Not the mean-looking one but the happy one.”

I smiled, realizing his very accurate descriptions of Bethany and Lark.

“Lark is special to us, but not Penny’s mom. The mean-looking one is actually her mother.”

Dad considered that information. “That’s too bad. I like the dark-haired one.”

I chuckled. “Me too.”

I looked out into the courtyard. It hit me that maybe this place wasn’t so bad. Dad had some friends, nurses who could manage him on days that were bad, and access to activities that kept his mind active. I’d thrown money at the situation, hoping for the best, and Duke had taken care of the details. I hadn’t given him the credit he was due.

“You lose a game?” He shook the small bag, testing out how much seed was left.

I turned to Dad, confused. “What? No.”

“You got that pissed-off look on your face like you always do when you lose a game.”

He can still read me. That part isn’t gone.

I chuckled, then sighed and stretched my arm around the back of the bench. “Nah. Pissed off about a girl.”

Dad laughed. “Yeah, they’ll do that to you.”

I missed this. Talking with Dad and not having every conversation be steeped in disappointment or sadness. I didn’t want to push him and ruin it, but I took a chance anyway. “It’s Lark, the dark-haired one. I’m in love with her but realized I haven’t treated her like she deserves. Plus, she’ll be leaving town. It’s what she needs to do.”

“She break up with you?”

“No. But she might have a new job, and she should take it. Then she’ll be gone.”

Dad seemed to be thinking about my words. I wasn’t sure if he’d registered what I said, but I stayed quiet.

He slapped a hand on my knee. “Then she has to go.”

I studied his face. At one time, he knew me and my drive to achieve my dreams better than anyone. “Is this one of those, If you love them let them go, if they don’t come back it wasn’t meant to be kind of things?”

I frowned. That was not the heartwarming encouragement I had been hoping for.

“Hell no—that’s horseshit. You let her go so that girl can see what she’s missing. Then you do everything you can to convince her to bring her pretty little ass back home.”

Home.

I hadn’t allowed myself to consider the concept of truly settling in. Sure, the nature of my job meant travel, but if I dug down, leaned on the people who mattered, maybe I could pull it off. We could pull it off.

Warm thoughts of sharing a home with Lark filled my mind. I had a lot to think about and even more to do if I was going to step up to be the man she truly deserved.