Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Halley insisted on Olive Garden. That was fine with me. Better to break the news there than ruin a restaurant I liked with what was sure to be an ugly memory.
“I told you the breadsticks were amazing,” she said, biting into one.
“I’ve had the breadsticks before, Hals.” I’d ordered a beer when we sat down. I drank it now, wondering how the hell to start.
“So what are you doing here?” Halley asked when she’d swallowed. “Not that it’s not nice to see you, but it’s also weird, considering I’m coming home for Thanksgiving soon.”
I squeezed the cold bottle tightly. Halley tilted her head at my silence. “Does it have something to do with Lily?”
My eyes jumped from the bottle to hers, shock reverberating through me. Did she know? Was she okay with it? She certainly didn’t look pissed.
“If the job didn’t work out, you can just tell me,” Halley said.
I cleared my throat. “Why do you think it didn’t work out?”
My daughter shrugged. Her dark curls bounced from her shoulders. “I haven’t been able to get a hold of her in a few days. You showed up unexpectedly. I’m just trying to put two and two together.”
“Well,” I said slowly, “you’re right. I’m here because of Lily. But it’s not because the job didn’t work out.”
There wasn’t a flicker of comprehension in Halley’s hazel eyes. She had no fucking clue. Kim hadn’t had a chance to drop the bomb in her lap yet. That meant I was going to get the full force of the detonation.
I drained my beer, throttling the neck, then set it down with a thunk.
“Dad,” Halley said in surprise. “What’s wrong?”
Garrett had coached me through this, but now it was all fucked up. We weren’t supposed to be talking about Lily. I was supposed to tell her I’d met someone. I was happy. Then I was going to tell her everything, and end with leaving the choice in her hands.
But as I stared at the grown woman across the table, something in me unknotted. I’d done my job as a father. She was a happy, well-adjusted, intelligent adult. In a few months, she was going to shred the last layer of the cocoon I’d tried to wrap her in and pursue her acting dream. The one she kept hidden from me because she didn’t want to disappoint me. The same way I’d kept Lily from her.
“Dad?” she prompted, concern shadowing her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m in love with Lily,” I said abruptly.
Halley’s mouth dropped open. She laughed, then she stopped short and stared at me. The color drained from her face slowly. Her eyes and her mouth formed Os. “You’re what?”
“Neither of us meant for it to happen, but it did.”
“What happened exactly?” Halley asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
My jaw tightened. “I told you. I fell in love with her.”
“Right, but I guess I’m asking how you fell in love with her.” Halley’s voice rose and on the word how and broke at love. The shock and pain in her eyes sent darts of pain and guilt into my heart. I’d worked my whole life to avoid seeing that look on her face. The indisputable knowledge that I’d let her down in some fundamental way.
“Was it her personality?” Halley pressed, tart sarcasm creeping in to patch the cracks. “Her kind heart?”
“Yes,” I said shortly.
Halley’s laugh was hollow. “Yeah, I bet. Just like she fell in love with you for your sense of humor.”
I curled my fingers around the empty beer bottle so tightly I thought it might break. I didn’t want to rise to her bait, not when I saw tears gathering in her lower lashes, a silvery underline to her hostile glare. I’d never seen her look more like Kim. It disturbed me.
But just as the comparison formed, her face collapsed, and it evaporated. “God, Dad. You could have had half the women in Hollywood. You decide to fuck around with my best friend?”
I didn’t say anything.
“And her–” Halley shook her head, her tears starting to stream down her face. She wiped them away angrily. “No wonder she hasn’t been answering my calls. She’s too busy being a–”
“Stop right there, Halley,” I said quietly. I couldn’t defend myself, but I had to defend Lily. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Neither had I, for that matter. We were all adults, and it was time to fucking act like it. I’d put myself in this position by lying to my daughter, but it was time to tell her the truth.
Despite how shitty I felt, my shoulders felt lighter. I straightened them. “I’m in love with Lily, and I drove her away because I never wanted to see that look on your face.”
Halley’s eyes flickered in surprise. Her face didn’t soften exactly, but some of the anger slackened. “What do you mean you drove her away?”