I wanted to cry right but something happened.
Nothing happened.
I couldn't cry.
They had proved themselves to me time and time again.
"Lacey … "
"No," I said. "I'm leaving now. When you decide to do the right thing, you can call me. But I love River. I've always loved River. I don't need to become a doctor to be happy. I'm not going to be like you and Mom. I watched you both for years, always so fake. Chasing money. I'll never do that."
I started to walk away and my father came after me.
"I'll write another check," he said. "Nothing assumed. Please. Take it."
I watched as he started to get emotional.
I stared at him and realized he was becoming a broken man. The world he had built was crumbling and money wasn't going to fix it.
Outside the door to the large office I heard muffled voices. They grew louder and closer.
"Lacey … " my father sounded weak.
I took stock of everything he had just said to me. He didn't get it. He probably never would get it.
That's when the office door exploded open.
Jerry came almost tumbling into the room, hands out. Almost instantly he began to apologize to my father.
But standing there in the doorway was my savior. The man who truly loved me, who forever promised his heart to me and never took back on that. The man I left and tried to forget but never could.
I looked at him and wished I was wearing one of those many engagement rings that had been buried.
Nothing else mattered except one thing.
River.
River
PRESENT DAY
I stood there, face-to-face with the man who had ripped my Lacey away from me over a decade ago. The man who twisted my life into the mess it became. The man who sent Lacey down a path where she felt hurt, regret, empty, and lonely for years.
He looked aged, beat up, and honestly, he looked hurt.
Of all the things that went through my mind to say to him, I couldn't believe what came out first.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
Lacey's father just stared at me. The great and all-powerful William. I was surprised he wasn't in a robe, smoking some fancy pipe.
"We're leaving," Lacey said. "I've had enough."
"What about … "
Lacey pointed to something on the fireplace mantel. It was an urn.
I looked at William. I was shocked. Almost sickened.
"Are you fucking serious?"
"It all happened fast," William said to me.
"Yeah, I guess it did," I said.
"I don't want to lose her," he said. "She's my daughter."
"Then you should have acted like a father."
"I protected her!" William bellowed.
"You hurt her," I said.
"And he tried to pay me not to be with you," Lacey said.
"What?" I asked.
"I offered my daughter her inheritance," William said.
"With the purpose of me starting over alone," Lacey said.
I made fists and felt my blood boiling. The man before me was a monster. I tried for a long time to respect his wishes and decisions for his daughter. Yeah, I was a rough and tough bad boy. I was the nightmare every father dreamed of for his daughter. I had no future. I had to work for everything I had and I'd lost a lot of shit along the way, too.
But the one thing I was … was real.
I was true.
And I fucking loved Lacey with everything inside me.
I looked around the room and took the entire scene in.
"I didn't intend for this," William said. "I want to make this up to you. Both of you."
"Both of us?" I asked.
William reached for a checkbook inside his inside breast pocket. "How much did it cost to come out here? Let me pay for that. Let me pay for the rest of Lacey's medical school. Let me pay for something. I'll buy you both a house. I can't lose Lacey, too."
I stepped forward and grabbed the checkbook. I threw it to the floor.
"I'm taking care of Lacey," I said. "I made her that promise a long time ago and I'll never let that promise fade. You're never going to buy me out of her life. You can hate me all you want but we both know I never did a thing wrong to her or to you. And you can never live this down, William. All you've taken from your daughter." I looked back at Lacey. "I needed to check on you, darlin'. I'm sorry for busting in. I'll wait until you're ready. Whatever you want."
I walked toward the door.
Jerry was babbling to William a list of apologies, basically verbally punishing himself for letting me into the room. The scene was like nothing I'd ever seen before.
"You were never good for her," William growled. "You should have never been near her. Ever. This wasn't how things were supposed to be for her."
I paused. "As opposed to what?"
"Forcing me into a life like you had?" Lacey asked.