Page 32 of Dare You to Run
She takes a swig of her glass of wine and nods her head. When she pulls it away from her lips she says, “Yes, I most certainly think you want Henny to grind your corn. I say you go for it.”
“Grind my cor—you know what, just no. The last thing I will ever do is have sex with Hendrix Dare. He’s a pig and I had temporary amnesia the other night, but he quickly reminded me what an asshole he is.”
I pop a chip into my mouth to punctuate my statement, making the point to both her and I. Because, I’m not going to lie, I did think about taking him up on his offer. If my brain hadn’t started working again, I would have followed him right back downstairs and helped him kick that woman out on her ass.
My phone begins to ring and I wipe my hands off on the napkin and flip it over to see Dad’s face on the screen.
“Hold up,” Kinsley says, and stops me from swiping my screen and answering the call. “Is that Daddy McCallan? Good gravy. You wouldn’t by any chance be open to a step-mama only slightly older than you, would ya?”
I tug my hand away from her. “Gross. Stay away from my Dad. My mom will gut you if you lay a finger on him.” She shrugs as if to sayI tried, and I finally answer the call. “Hi Daddy.”
“Hey baby bird. How are you doing today?” His voice is welcoming and the equivalent of a warm hug.
“I’m good. The same as when I texted you this morning…and last night…and yesterday afternoon.” Much like his voice, my tone is currently that of an eye roll.
“I just worry about you. Is that man feeding you? Has he been any sort of inappropriate with you?” If I was hooked up to a liedetector, the needle would be going off the charts with as much as I’m about to lie right now.
“Hendrix has been very accommodating. He’s quite nice and has been gracious enough to let me use basically his entire home. He even invited me to join him and a group of his friends for dinner the other night.”
“Well that was nice of him. But you didn’t answer my other question. Has he been inappropriate with you? I need to know if I should get Luca on the phone and have him employ some of his shadier family.”
“Oh my god Dad, no. Stop that. Hendrix has been nothing but a gentleman with me. You have nothing to worry about.” Visions of my Dad and Zio Luca, along with some Italian gangsters, filing off a private jet and ready to dump Hendrix in the Mississippi Bay fill my head.
Kinsley does a comedic level spit take when Hendrix’s name is followed by the word gentleman. I shush her and she covers her mouth, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks. My Dad is already suspicious about everything. I don’t need him catching Kinsley cackling in the background sending up his hackles even more.
“Well that makes me feel a helluva lot better knowing I can trust that man to keep an eye on you. I can’t have my baby bird alone and scared and so far away.” His voice softens like he’s speaking to my three year old sister, Autumn Jade.
“Dad. In case you’ve forgotten, I live three hours away most of the year. It’s not like this is the first time I’m away from home.”
With a sigh he tells me, “Yes, but even at school you’re still in the state of Texas. This has given me a glimpse at what it would feel like to have you living so far away and I don’t like it.”
I forget sometimes that before Mom and Sloane and AJ came along, it was just him and I. We were not only fatherand daughter, but best friends too. When mo-Stephanie died, he was all I had. We only stayed in Florida a few months after she passed away, and even though Grams and Pops and Uncle Hayes were waiting for us, our little family was now Vaughan and Dagen. So the fact that the thought of him and I being separated by more than a few hours is unbearable, isn’t totally ridiculous.
He cried more than Mom did when they dropped me off at college. Mom got all of her crying out early which I’m fully convinced sent her into labor on my graduation day. But by the time move-in day was upon us, Mom was calm while Dad was bawling his eyes out like I was heading off to war.
“Well rest assured Dad, I am just fine and will be home before you know it.”
“Possibly sooner than later,” he tells me.
“Oh?” My stomach drops, not sure what he means by that.
“Yeah. Hendrix called me this morning and said he was doing what he could to get the few parts needed sooner so that he can get you back on the road to home. He said he’s made our car a priority.”
“That’s, uh, that’s really nice of him.” Silly as it may seem, my feelings are hurt knowing that he wants me gone as soon as possible.
I can only guess it has to do with me turning him down not once, but twice. I suppose he thought he’d get a little bit more than monetary payment out of this deal and now that he knows he won’t, he wants me out of his house asap. I’m sure my interruption last night was a major kink in his plans.
“It is. I’ve already told him that I would love to shake his hand in person one day. You know, look the man who took care of my baby bird in the eye and thank him personally.”
“Yeah, that would be something Dad.” In the background I hear Uncle Hayes yell out.
“Uncle Hayes says hello but that he needs me in the barn. Make sure to call Mom later. She’s missing her best gal pal.”
“You two have serious problems,” I joke but in all honesty, I miss them too.
The last few days have been more than a rollercoaster, and I could really use a hug from Mom, then crawl into her lap while she combs her fingers through my hair. It’s those small comforts that mean so much more when they seem so far out of reach.
“I’ll call Mom when Sloane and AJ are home so I can talk to everyone at once. Love you Dad.”
