He looks to me with a stiff expression. “Liam is a grown man. He’ll do as he pleases. I don’t know what it is you think I can do.”
I can’t deal with this. He’s always putting it back on Liam, always claiming that he’s a grown man and can make his own choices. Liam is hurt, he lost his mother but he also lost his father. He had no one to look up to, no one to be proud of him. My father doesn’t deserve him, and I’m tired of trying.
“You know what,” I say, turning to Jacob. “I’m not feeling all that well. Can we give dinner a miss?”
Jacob looks to me, shrugs, and turns back to the desk. “No problem.”
“I’ll call you later.”
I look to my father and he stares at me, a blank expression on his face. “You’re going already?”
“It seems you two have enough to do here,” I say, turning towards the door. “I’ll see myself out.”
Not another word is shared as I leave the room. He doesn’t try to stop me, doesn’t offer me a hug or a goodbye. He just lets me go, like he always does. Like he always will. I walk down the hall and catch Wilson at the door.
“Leaving already?”
“I’ve got a bit of a headache,” I lie.
He looks at me, his eyes soft. He knows, but he doesn’t say anything. “Would you like a lift?”
I shake my head and smile. “It’s a lovely night. I could do with the walk.”
“I’ll open the gate.”
I hug him and make my way back down the long drive. When I reach the street, I head into the main part of town instead of going back to my apartment. I’m hungry, and I don’t feel like going home and dwelling on the fact that my father and I can’t have a conversation for longer than five minutes without it going sour.
I’m off in my own little world, passing people who are busily rushing about. I start to pass a large McDonald’s store but come to a stop when I see Nate and Macy sitting by the window in a booth. I contemplate whether or not to let them see me. They’re probably having a family dinner and that would be rude. But I notice Nate’s face. Macy is chatting his ear off but he’s staring into nothing, his eyes hard, his jaw tight. He’s upset.
As if he can feel my presence, he turns and stares at me. His eyes soften a touch, but face-on I can see something is wrong. He’s most definitely upset. He waves and I lift my hand, lamely waving back. Macy turns and her eyes widen and a huge grin appears on her face. She starts talking quickly, waving her little hand. I can’t hear a word she’s saying because I’m outside, but whatever it is has a small smile appearing on Nate’s face. He crooks his finger, encouraging me in. I hesitate. I’m not sure it’s the best idea but he looks troubled, and I’m not the kind of person who can just walk away.
So I walk around the corner, pull the door open and walk over to their booth. Macy leaps out of her chair and rushes over, throwing herself at me. Her tiny arms wrap around my legs. I smile and ruffle her hair. “Hey beautiful girl,” I say.
“Hi Avie!”
She takes my hand and pulls me over to Nate. He smiles at me, but it’s not all there. His eyes are angry and his face is tired.
“Hey Dancer,” he says, his voice lacking emotion.
“Hey,” I say, sitting down.
He looks at me and I hold his gaze, hopefully showing the concern for him in mine.
“Daddy let me come to dinner. I was trying to make some for him because Mommy was sleeping. I did the washing up all on my own.”
I tilt my head and keep my eyes contacted with Nate’s for a long moment. Did something happen at home? Is that why he’s upset?
“You’re a very big girl,” I say, turning to Macy, “doing the washing up all on your own.”
She smiles brightly. “Daddy is going to get me ice cream.”
“You know,” I say, “there’s a really great ice cream place just around the corner. Would you like to go?”
“Do they have strawberry?”
“They certainly do.”
“Yippee!”
I turn to Nate. “Want to take a walk?”
He nods stiffly and stands. Macy runs out the door and we follow her quickly. I take her hand when she reaches the road.
“Make sure you don’t cross without a grown-up,” I say to her. “We wouldn’t want you to get squashed. Look left and right.”
She smiles up at me and does as I ask. I catch a glimpse of Nate, who is giving me a soft, warm expression. His anger seems to have vanished, but his troubled expression remains. We cross the road to a large, gorgeous park. It’s alight with lanterns that run down the long, stone path. We begin down that path to the ice cream parlor near my apartment. Macy runs ahead, picking all the flowers she passes.