“You mean give away the bride?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. And you’re upset about it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, whatever you want to do is all right with me, but—”
“But I’d look too unreasonable to everyone if I said no, right?”
“Most people don’t know about your problems with him, and—”
“But they will, eventually.”
He stood there quietly. I knew he was afraid to offer advice either way and was ruminating on what words to choose. “What did you tell my dad?”
“I said I would think about it.”
“So, do that,” he said. “I repeat. Whatever you decide is all right with me.”
I wanted to tell him that he didn’t know my father. Whatever I decided wouldn’t matter. He was coming here one way or another. There was, of course, the ever so slight chance that he was accepting my decision and wanted to pretend to be a normal father. Was it better to declare war and tell Mr. Dolan to say no, that I didn’t want him, or was it better to take the chance? The third choice always remained: to run off again.
Liam came around the desk and knelt beside me. “I don’t like to see you upset, even for a little while, Lorelei. What can I do?”
“Nothing. This is all on me, Liam.”
“I don’t understand how he could have been so indifferent to your feelings and now suddenly care so much.”
What was my clever answer to this?
“As your father says, the reality of my being out of his life has finally sunken in, and then he found out about our wedding,” I told him, practically parroting Mr. Dolan.
“Well, it’s not a bad idea to start anew and give the wedding another layer of goodwill and happiness,” he offered timidly.
I smiled and ran my hand softly through his hair. “I don’t know what your mother was like, but I think you have more of your father in you than you can imagine.”
“Maybe you do, too,” he said.
That soft, intending-to-be-warm reply felt like a clap of thunder in my ears. I nodded.
“Maybe I do. Okay. I’ll say yes,” I said.
He smiled and rose slightly to kiss me. “We’ll celebrate your father’s resurrection Saturday night. See you later,” he said and hurried off.
He was so full of energy and hope, while I sat there like someone on death row.
Somehow I managed to get through the remainder of the day. I told Mr. Dolan my decision, but I asked that he be the intermediary. I told him I wasn’t ready to talk to my father. He said he understood and would handle it all. I shouldn’t worry. Liam came by at the end of the day to take me home. He had made reservations at what was now our favorite little Italian restaurant. I really didn’t feel like going out, but I knew he would be very upset and worried about me. More than ever, he wanted to do what he could to distract me and talk about happier things.
Before we left, Mr. Dolan came out to tell me that he had spoken to my father.
“He’s pretty pleased with your reaction,” he said. “I warned him that this was no five-and-dime wedding, but he didn’t seem at all concerned about the expense. What does he really do?”
“That’s not it, Mr. Dolan.”
“Ken,” he said. “It’s after hours.”
“That’s not it, Ken. My father’s inherited a great deal of money.”