–Me: Me too!
I send him a bazillion hearts. Since I’m not taking a selfie, I add the following:
–Me: At a business brunch with my boss right now.
–Dad: I understand. Man, that guy works you too hard. :(
Yeah, no kidding. But honesty would worry him, and it’s unnecessary when I’m going to be done with Emmett Lasker soon.
–Me: That’s why he pays me the big bucks. Anyway, gotta go. Love you! XOXO!
–Dad: Love you too, sweetie pie!
“Someone from the firm?” Emmett says as I put away the phone.
“No, it was my father. He’s going to visit at the end of next month.” I smile, then sober a little. “By the way, you aren’t going to make me work on that weekend, are you? I really want to spend some time with him.”
Emmett looks a little surprised. “You’d rather hang out with your father than work?”
“Well…yes.”
“Why?”
Because I’m normal, and don’t love work above literally everything else in the universe? “Because I love him. He’s the best dad ever.” I give Emmett my most pleading look. “I’ll work nonstop until then if that’s what it takes.”
The skin between his eyebrows furrows. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll let you have the time off. But if you change your mind, just let me know.” His tone implies he won’t be surprised if I do.
I look at him. In a way, it seems like it’s for the first time. “Don’t you love your father?”
He smiles. “Of course. I wouldn’t be here with you if it weren’t for one of his errant swimmers.”
I can’t decide if he’s joking or not. The smile is a bit thin, but then, it isn’t often that Emmett really lets go with a grin. And even somebody as vile as Emmett probably loves his dad. “So you understand why this is important to me.”
“I suppose. But tell me what makes him special to you.”
A direct question, in the same
tone he uses to ask me to justify assumptions on the latest projections. It’s almost like he can’t imagine what would make a father special to anybody. “It’d take the entire day to tell you everything.”
“Give me some highlights.”
“Okay, well… He gave up so much for me, including a career in the military. You can’t really be in the Marine Corps and raise a girl as a single parent.”
He frowns a little. “What happened to your mother?”
“Gone,” I say, not wanting to get into the sordid details of how she abandoned us.
“I see. Sorry to hear that.”
I give him a tight smile. Most people assume my answer means she’s dead. Which is pretty close to the truth, since she’s dead to me. “It was a long time ago.”
“Still. That’s gotta hurt. I can’t imagine not having my mother around.” His expression changes. The eyes soften; the smile warms a bit. Even his tone turns…tender.
Which is weird, because all the tabloids and gossip sites basically labeled his mother a gold digger. But then, maybe he doesn’t care about that. After all, she fulfilled the most basic of all motherly duties—sticking around. Mine didn’t bother.
“Anyway, Dad didn’t have a social life or anything. He was too busy learning a trade and taking care of me. He’s a mechanic now. A really great one,” I say proudly. “He taught me how to do basic repairs and change tires. Says a woman needs to know how to do that stuff more than men, since more bad things can happen to a woman who gets stuck because of a breakdown. Plus, some unscrupulous mechanics think it’s okay to rip a woman off because they think we won’t know.” I shake my head. “Anyway, I wouldn’t be at GrantEm Capital if it weren’t for my dad cheering me on, believing in me and making sure I knew I was loved no matter what. So once I sort out my student loans, I’m buying him a beachfront cottage.”
“He wants you to buy him a property?” Emmett sounds stunned.