Pushing back the same hurt that ruin caused, I do what I have been doing for the last year and pretend it never happened.
When I pull up to the Reid’s house later that night, I curse myself for procrastinating leaving my house for so long. I spend so much time lost in my head that I’m almost always late, but since Maddi made such a big deal about me showing up tonight, I can only imagine that they’ve assumed I wasn’t coming again.
I park my car behind the many others that line their driveway and groan when I see my dad leaning against his truck. True to Maddi’s word, it looks like he was prepared to follow through with his threat.
Turning off the ignition, I fiddle with my phone and shoot Nikki a quick text to let her know I’m at a family dinner and I’ll call her later. We’ve made a habit recently by turning Wednesdays into our wine night, so if I don’t let her know I’m not home, she’s going to freak out. I’m always home, so it would be about as abnormal as it gets for me.
The second I reach the handle to open my door, it’s swung open and I let out a startled scream. My phone clatters to the driveway with a sickening sound that has me saying a prayer I didn’t just crack the screen.
“Cutting it close,” my dad says, bending over to pick up my phone and handing it over before stepping back so I can get out.
“Sorry,” I say with a shrug and lean up to give him a hug. He bends, meeting me halfway, and I instantly feel settled when he wraps his arms around me. Just like coming home. “I lost track of time. You know how it goes when I’m working.”
He leans back, giving me a kiss on my temple, and I get one of the rare smiles that he reserves just for ‘his girls.’ Eyes so like my own crinkle at the corners, and he just shakes his head.
“I’m here?” I continue, hoping to get off the hook from what I’m sure would end up being the third degree of questioning if he had his way.
“Yeah, sweetheart, you are. I’ve missed you,” he says, and I instantly feel guilty for not being around. It’s not his fault this is the last place I want to be.
“I missed you too, Dad.”
He turns, favoring his bad leg, and I frown. He just shakes his head. “Don’t even start, Emberlyn. Your mom’s already been on my ass for overdoing it this weekend.”
“Then maybe you should start listening to her before your ass is on the ground.”
“Sass,” he warns. “Just like your mom. Just like your sister. I’m surrounded by fucking sass.”
“Whatever.” I laugh, wrapping my arm around his waist as he pulls me to his side with one arm over my shoulders. “What did you do this time?”
“And still she sasses me.”
I look over and up, way up, and stick my tongue out at him. His soft laughter vibrates against me, and I smile at him.
God, I love my dad.
“Went head to head with Asher at Crossfit the other day. Little shit still can’t handle the fact that I can kick his ass with one leg.”
“I swear you two act like kids sometimes,” I joke.
We walk the rest of the way together, and I selfishly soak up the comfort his nearness brings me before we walk into the madness of family dinner night. As usual, the Reid’s house is full to bursting and the echoes of two dozen or so voices carry from the back deck. When we round the corner to where their back family room is, I stop short at the sight in front of me.
“I think the little fucker has some cross-dressing tendencies if you ask me,” I hear and take my eyes off the scene in front of me to look over and meet Cohen’s laughing eyes.
“I’m starting to agree,” my dad jokes, releasing me and walking through the open patio door that leads to where the rest of our huge family is.
“Molly!” I look up when Megan walks in from the porch and give her a smile.
“Yes, Mommy,” Molly sings from her spot in the middle of the living room.
“Would you leave Nate alone and come on out?”
“I can’t. He isn’t a princess yet,” she continues with her singsong voice, the smile in her tone matching the huge toothless one on her face.
“Yeah, definitely has some cross-dressing tendencies,” Cohen repeats, taking a huge pull from his beer. “Hey, Em,” he says and walks over from the kitchen island to give me a hug.
“Hey,” I softly respond, looking back at Nate.
“The girls are asking about you. They’re down at the dock acting like little schoolgirls. All you hear is giggles coming every few minutes. They’ve been like that for the last half hour, ever since Dani got out of time-out.”
“Time-out?” I laugh, my eyes moving back to Nate again.