Page 198 of Distant Shores
Pops, dressed in his Sunday best, kissed her hand before they started swaying to the beat, his cane lifting off the ground as he hugged her.
Even though Cole was discreetly snapping shots of them, I wished I could take my own photo. It was a gorgeous sight, especially when Jillie and her wife, Rachel, started dancing beside them, Rachel’s bump cradled by chiffon.
I took a step back, intending to do another circuit of the room, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
The song faded out, and I inhaled deeply as I felt him.
Feltthem.
A shiver raced across me as that iconic piano glissando tore through the speakers, and Dad came to a stop beside me, Adair right behind him. They shared a brief, meaningful look I couldn’t begin to interpret before Adair’s hazel eyes met mine.
His lips parted, his cheeks flushing as his gaze danced over me from my hair to my heels. “Beautiful,” he mouthed the second our gazes touched again.
I took a moment to drink in his simple dark suit and tidy hair, then read his nametag, smiling at his familiar handwriting. But then my gaze flicked to Dad’s chest, and my heart stuttered. Those tears, the ones that were determinedly on standby today, threatened me again.
Ireland’s dad
“It’s our song, Dancing Queen,” Dad murmured.
I glanced at Adair one more time, rolling my lips together before looking into Dad’s eyes, bracing for what I might find there.
But they were just….oureyes. Blue and clear, his full of extra mischief.
He offered me his arm. “Let’s show them what we’ve got.”
Panic seized me at losing this moment, and my hand flew to his arm, holding on tight.
We faced each other when we claimed our spot, and I couldfeelAdair nearby, bearing witness, but I was too scared to look away and confirm it.
There was no rhyme or reason as Dad and I danced. No structure, form, or shape.
And every moment was a gift.
Dad smiled freely, his movements slower than they would’ve been a year ago, but he laughed whenever I did, which made me want to do it more.
Before the song ended, he pulled me close, one hand around my waist and one holding our hands out beside us as we swayed.
“Did you… did you ever read that note?” he asked.
I frowned, looking up into his eyes, but the memory came quickly.
“For a sad song and a rainy day, Dancing Queen.”
“The one from the day we met Wilbur?” I asked, searching his face.
He hummed, mouth pulling down as our swaying slowed. “I think… yes. Yeah. When we met Willie and his boy.”
I glanced past Dad’s shoulder to Adair. He looked up as soon as he felt it and raised his eyebrows in a“You good?”
I raised my chin slightly, giving him my answer with a soft small“Yes. I am now.”
“Good kid,” he said, gesturing with his head toward Adair. “Repeats himself something awful, though. Might be disturbed in the head.”
I frowned and almost asked him what he meant, but then the song ended, and as couples disbanded around us, Dad stilled. I didn’t think anything of it until he started fidgeting with the sleeves of his linen button up, and I gently covered his hand with mine. “Want something to drink?”
He jerked his hand from under mine and cursed at his shirt, tugging it more aggressively. Before I’d even lookedfor him, Adair was there, his limp barely perceptible. “Come on, Mr. Beck. I’ve got you a mocktail ready.”
Adair glanced at me, concern in his eyes, but I just shook my head, as disoriented by it as Dad had been.
