Which means that if we have a chance of making this work, I need to let him think it through by himself. To discuss it with his daughter. My being here is doing more harm than good.
I've said what I came to say, showed him that I'm serious. If he doesn't accept my traveling all the way here and confronting him face to face as proof that I mean what I say, then nothing else I can say or do will.
There's only one thing I can do now that will make this better.
I stand abruptly, just as the two of them are arguing about some other detail, getting into semantics rather than really discussing the important points. They're getting nowhere. And they need to get somewhere, otherwise, this whole thing has been a waste of time, and I might as well have stayed at home and practically kidnapped her so that she didn't have to face him.
“I need to give you some room,” I say. “Joe, please. Think about what I’ve said. I wouldn’t have come all the way here to say it to your face, and risk our friendship if I didn’t mean it.”
“Risk?” Joe sneers. “You can consider our friendship dead and gone!”
“All the same,” I say. “I’m going to leave and give you some space to think.”
Ashley gasps beside me, reaching for my sleeve, but I shake my head at her, I need to give Joe some space to think. He knows me and knows I’ve never wanted another woman, now he just needs to come to terms with the fact that the one for me is his daughter.
“Good riddance,” Joe says. “Get back to the airport and you can probably be out of here by tonight. See, Ashley? All hot air and no substance.”
“You misunderstand,” I tell him, taking a few steps towards the door. “I’m going to check into a local hotel. I’ll be there when you’re ready to talk.”
I step outside, grabbing my bag from the hall, and give Ashley one last look. She darts forward to the doorstep and I kiss her forehead, murmuring at her to stay and talk it over, and then I walk away.
My heart aches as I hear the door shut behind me, and then Ashley yelling at her father for chasing me away. I walk down the block until I get to a busier road where I can hail a cab, not wanting to linger on the curb outside their home like a bad smell.
I have to get checked in somewhere so I can recoup my thoughts. Think of another plan of attack.
The last thing I’m going to do is give up – so I need to approach this from a new angle, find a way to bring Joe around. Before this goes too far and Ashley loses her father forever.
Because she’s sure as hell not losing me.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ashley
It doesn't matter what I say, I can tell that my Dad isn't listening. I shout and scream at him, but it makes no difference. Just the same as when I pleaded with him, begged him, none of it seems to sway him.
As I look at him, standing in our living room, I realize that nothing is ever going to make any difference. He's not going to come around. This is all a waste of time when I could be spending it with the man I came here for. The man I love.
The man who just left to go to a hotel, making me wonder if I'm ever actually going to see him again. What if he gets cold feet because of how my dad has reacted and decides that I'm better off with a father than with a lover?
What if I’m losing him right now?
“I can’t do this,” I hiss, sobbing, at my dad, and dash into the hall. My suitcase is still there, and I grab it before heading for the door. Fernando only left a couple of minutes ago. Maybe, if I’m quick…
I run down the street, hoping that I can keep up with him. I don't know where he went exactly, but I have a feeling that if I just keep going, I might find him. Something is drawing me to him, like a thread between the two of us that I can feel tugging at my heart, telling me where to find him. I run, not heeding the fact that my dad calls my name behind me, not caring about the heavy suitcase that I drag behind me. It skips and bounces across the pavement with my speed, and all I can do is hold on to the handle tightly and hope that we both make it in one piece.
Where is he? I run on in a straight line, right down the street, never deviating to either side, because I'm thinking about what I would do if I was him in an unfamiliar place. I guess Fernando has been here before, but not for so many years, it will all look new and fresh to him. I run on that straight line down the street, out of breath already but not caring, determined just to keep going until I see him again.