Page 2 of Wicked Ties
Beckett chuckled and arched his eyebrow at her. “My first Thanksgiving, too.”
Cross wrinkled his nose. “Mine, too.”
“I’m not sure what Thanksgiving really is.” Penny sniffed at the plate in her hand. “But I think these mashed potatoes smell amazing. So, I’m ready to eat.”
“So, are you gonna knock on the door or not?” Zinnia took a step toward it. “Because I’m starving. If you don’t knock, then I will.”
“No, I got it.” I didn’t knock. I just grabbed the doorknob and twisted it and shoved the door open. This was my home I should be able to walk in whenever I like. Should be being the key words.
My dad stood in the living room, waiting. It had been so long since I’d last seen him, and so much had changed. Yet there he was, looking exactly as I remembered him. He was tall and slender, with dark brown hair that was trimmed closely to his head and combed back perfectly. He wore tailored black dress pants and a blue button-down shirt. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Hi, honey.”
“Dad, hi.” Though he hadn’t been around, part of me reverted back to that little girl. The one who wanted her parents with her and wanted so desperately to believe all the things my mother had said. He opened his arms to me, and I walked to him to give our traditional little bitty hug, but when I got to him, he threw his arms around me and pulled me in tightly. It was very different, warmer.
He squeezed me then let me go. “Are these your friends?”
“Oh, yeah. This is Zinnia and Tuck, her, um, boyfriend? Ophelia and Cross. Catherine and Penndolyn. And this . . .” I motioned to Beckett. “This is my boyfriend, Beckett.”
The others all filtered into the apartment. Ophelia pointed toward the table and started ordering everyone around. “Okay, I saw it on TV. The turkey goes in the middle.”
“Boyfriend.” Beckett chuckled under his breath. “Yeah, that sums it up.” He extended his hand out toward my father. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Please call me George.”
“Actually, he’s her soulmate.” My mother walked into the room and my father’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. Wrong holiday.
“Rosalie.” He practically ran toward her. He threw out his arms, and she jumped right into them. He cupped his hand over the back of her head and held her tightly to his chest as they rocked back and forth comforting each other. “It worked? Did it work?”
She pulled back from him, and tears trickled down her cheeks. “Yes, she’s safe. We did it.”
Part of me didn’t believe it, but the other part of me had hope. Hope that maybe we would be a family, and this was all part of my fate. But deep down, I knew that one of the most important members of my family was missing and in pain.
“Wait. You were in on this? On leaving me alone this whole time?”
“Your mother told me you needed to be free to fall into all the magic you could. If I sheltered you, you wouldn’t have gotten stronger. Toughest decision of my life. But you know how Evermore works.” He shrugged and brushed away the tears on my mother’s cheeks.
“Do you know how it works?” I arched my eyebrow at him while the others were a fury of activity around me, setting the table and laying food out.
He nodded. “Alataris took my family magic ages ago. So, no, I don’t have powers, but I am as much a part of the world as your mother.”
I dropped down onto one of the pristine white leather couches. “But you just left me.”
“Honey, I would never . . .” He pulled a ring from the necklace around his neck, put it on his finger and twisted it. Suddenly, my father was gone and, in his place, sat an old familiar face. She was smaller, with deep wrinkles fanning out around her eyes and her gray hair combed back into a low bun.
I jumped back. “Nanny Finestein?”
He twisted the ring again and this time switched to an older neighbor who was always home and being nosy as hell. One more twist, and he was back to himself. “Nanny Finestein was your favorite.”
I didn’t know what to say or do. “But then what about the step-monster?”
As if on cue, the Barbie doll herself descended the stairs with her designer luggage clanking behind her. She tippy-toed across the floor on her crazy high heels and stopped in front of my father. “So, the jig is up?”
“I’m afraid so.” My father smiled and offered her his hand. “Thank you, Karen, for everything.”
She shrugged. “I get to keep the house in Boca, right?”
“She’s all yours.” My father nodded with a smile.
“Great.” She picked up the luggage and headed for the door. “It’s been real.”
