Realizing I have a few moments to maybe do some fishing about my Daddy, I seize the opportunity. “You mean no one else is ever here?” I try to make it seem like I’m making general conversation, but the look Maria shoots me tells me she’s wise to my game.
Taking a deep breath, Maria sets the pan down on the stove, turning to look directly at me. “I’ve been with Mr. Darkling for three years now, and aside from his weekly poker game or football on Sunday, no one is ever here. In fact, you’re the only woman I’ve ever seen in this house. Period. Well, besides myself. Get me?”
Nodding, I sit down at the breakfast bar. “Thank you. I don’t know why I’m panicking. I’m guess I’m just a little scared and a tad jealous at the idea of some other woman having maybe been here,” I admit.
“Normally, I wouldn’t share what I just shared with you, but I did it because I see the way you look at him and the way he looks at you. Mr. Darkling has been moping around this house for the past few years, and then today I walk in here and it’s like he’s finally woken up. I’m guessing you were the one to wake him.”
I can’t help but think of how I really did wake him up this morning and I burst out laughing. “I guess I did.”
Giving me a knowing smile, Maria hands me two plates. “Go put these on the table. Your father is going to be here any minute and I’m guessing you guys are going to want to get right to it. No sense in dragging it out.”
Maria’s words bring me back to reality, causing my stomach to knot once again. Sitting at the table, I hear a knock at the door and the sound of William greeting my father. Moments later, they’re in the dining room and my father is pulling me into a hug. I hold him a few seconds longer than I normally would, in case it might be the last time for a while. The idea of not talking to or seeing my father is unsettling and heartbreaking, but I will not allow him to rip William and me apart.
“Haley, I’m glad to see you’re doing better. I was so worried about you. I was so angry about what happened. I knew it wasn’t your fault, but I just couldn’t think straight, and I didn’t want you waking up in the house you were just attacked in. William has been treating you well, right?”
“Of course, Father. He’s always doing what he thinks is best for me.” I move to take a seat at the table. William slides into the one next to mine and my father sits across from us. It’s like we’re already gearing up for battle.
“It seems like it’s been forever since the three of us sat down to a meal together. With Haley going off to college, I guess there won’t be that many for a while,” my father says.
Well, fudge, I figure it’s now or never. “Father, about that. The thi—”
Cutting me off, William slides his hand into mine. “Let me, sweetheart. I really should be the one to tell him.”
Glancing down at our locked hands, my father’s eyes go hard and I can see his jaw clench. “What the fuck is going on with you two?”
“Before I start, I want to make it clear I never touched her before yesterday.”
My father is on his feet and I follow suit.
“Are you fucking shitting me right now? My daughter? My fucking daughter?” my father yells.
William remains seated. “Roger, please let me say what I have to say before you go off the rails. You know I love this girl. There’s no denying that.”
Taking a step back, my father lets him continue.
“I know I haven’t been around much lately. The reason for that is because my feelings for Haley started to change. I thought with some space and time they would pass. They haven’t. They don’t seem to be lessening, but growing stronger.”
William runs his hand across the stubble on his chin, as if trying to put together what he wants to say.
“I’ve felt like I’ve been going insane and, well, I just can’t fight it anymore, and I’m not going to. You really have two options here, Roger. I want you to bear in mind that I love this girl more than anything in this world, and I will do anything to make her happy. Option one, you can lose your shit, we have a full-out fight and you walk out the door without her. Option two, which I hope you pick, you get on board and you walk out the door without her. Either option you choose, her ass is staying right here.”
William’s words make my stomach flutter, and I’m so happy that he isn’t letting me out of his grasp. But my attention is focused on my father. It feels like forever before he slowly sits himself back down in his chair. Releasing a breath that I didn’t even know I was holding, I sit back down as well.
“What about her future and college?” my father asks. “Have you forgotten about that, or is this all about you, Will? Tell me that.”
“I’ll be honest, I’m not too keen on the idea of her going away to school, so that won’t be happening. There are plenty of schools around here, but if she’s dead set on a different location I’m sure we could move. I’ve actually—”
Are they really planning out my life for me as if I’m not even here? “Hello! I’m sitting right here. Freaking son of biscuit, doesn’t anyone want to know what I think? The person everyone is making plans about? You, Father, have been driving me nuts telling me that I’m a grown woman and it’s time to go out into the world!”
Shocked at my outburst, they just stare at me as if I’ve grown two heads, so I continue. “Father, like you said, it’s time for me to go out into the world. It just so happens that the world I’ll be going into is William’s. It’s my decision and that’s the one I’ve made. As for you, William, I understand what you laid out for me last night about how you want this to be between us. I also understand that in doing things your way, it’s really you just doing what you think is best for me.”