Page 67 of Always a Chance
With a sigh, I dragged myself from the bed. Our intercom had been broken since we moved in, so it meant going downstairs to see who needed one of us so badly they’d bother us at home.
Stuffing my feet into sneakers, I shrugged on a pink sweatshirt with NYC sprawled across the front.
Out on the sidewalk, I didn’t see him at first. I held the door open with my foot as I peered right and left. Then, he was there, right in front of me.
“Dad.” My foot slipped, but I caught the door. “What are you doing here?” In the city. It was strange seeing him here.
He shifted from one foot to the other, his mouth opening and closing. He started speaking as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “I couldn’t look at you.”
“What?”
“For so long after Gianna’s accident, I could not look you in the eyes. My baby was hurt, and I blamed you because you were there. I knew that wasn’t fair to you, but I couldn’t seem to help it. Eventually, that faded, and I realized how badly I’d messed up. It was an accident, not anyone’s fault.”
“Dad—”
He kept talking. “I was a terrible father to you, and I knew it. What kind of father blames his own daughter for something out of her control? By the time I realized what I’d done, I’d already lost you. Each time you came home, you spent time with Gianna, but I tried to be out of the house as much as I could. Not because I couldn’t look at you anymore but because when I did, I saw my own failings reflected back in your eyes.”
“I blamed myself too.” For so long, it kept me from moving on. “We almost lost her, Dad.” I let the door slide shut as I stepped closer to him. “But we didn’t. She’s still with us. We’re still a family.”
He tugged me into a hug, and I froze before melting into him, letting myself live in this moment. “Yes, we are.”
“Is this why you’re here? To tell me all of this?”
He pulled back and shook his head. “No. I just came to make sure you know I love you.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “I love you too.” I fell back into his hug, not caring that I hadn’t brought my keys and we were now locked out. Not caring that he was the last person from Gulf City I expected to follow me here.
My phone chirped, and I leaned away to look at it. There was an email from Mr. Irons with the subject FINAL DRAFT.
My eyes widened as I scanned it, and I looked up at my dad. “My roommate will let you in if you go up to the apartment. I have to go.”
32
JOHNNY
The wave collapsed over me, and I went tumbling into it again. There was no getting it right today. No getting anything right.
After sitting around all morning, trying to put words on paper, I gave up and headed to the one place that usually made everything make sense.
The ocean.
Yet, today, not even that helped.
Aidan waved to me from the beach, and I headed in toward him, throwing my board onto the sand with as much force as I could muster.
“Not feeling it today?” he asked.
“No.” I didn’t want to talk about it, so I surveyed the blanket Aidan sat on. Tubs of food surrounded him, and I lifted a brow. “Did you make me a picnic, darling?”
“Don’t be a jerk. I figured you could use some food since I wasn’t around to cook for you this morning.”
I bent to pick up one of the containers and opened it. Aidan’s pasta salad. I didn’t care that he brought it in an actual picnic basket or how nerdy his blanket was. When he fed me like this, I’d do just about anything.
Sitting next to him, I grabbed a plastic fork and dug in. “Thank you,” I said, my mouth full.
He shrugged. “We need to talk.”
I lowered my fork. “Not words I like to hear, but go for it.”
