Page 57 of Keeping the Single Dad
I held my father while he cried. Mel couldn’t even do the decent thing and comfort him. Anger lashed in my gut, but I swallowed it down, weary of the argument. The hollow sound of Dad’s sobs engulfed me in a tide of despair. Mel turned and watched us from the sink. Her brows set in a straight line, but her normally aloof eyes held an imperceptible note of pleading. The truth hit me like a punch in the gut. Maybe, it wasn’t that Mel didn’t have emotions. Maybe, she cared, but she’d buried the pain so deep, it had got stuck.
This is too much for her.
I held out my hand to beckon her. “He needs to let it out, Mel. We all do. There’s nothing wrong with crying. We miss her. It’s okay to miss her…”
Mel’s bottom lip trembled, and she took a step toward us. My hand brushed hers. Discomfort clouded her expression. She snapped her hand away and shook her head. Her brittle voice rattled through the kitchen. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
She walked out of the room.
Chapter 32
Lana
?“Haveyouheardanymorefrom that journalist?” Mel descended the stairs, slowly.
She’d disappeared for a couple of hours after she’d walked out on us. Now, as usual, she would pretend that nothing had happened. I slipped my coat on in the hallway, ready to go back to my apartment. My shoulders ached so much from the burden of carrying this mess with Karen Delaney.
“I’ve given her two stories on Sean Wallace. Now, she’s asking me about Alex. She won’t drop it. This is not going to end. You don’t beat bullies by caving in to their demands. We accept that it’s coming and deal with it. Sean Wallace is one thing, but I won’t sell out Alex, or anyone else on that team.”
She leaned back against the kitchen door frame and closed her eyes. “The timing couldn’t be worse. Look at the state of Dad. He’s sat at the kitchen table sobbing.”
“Maybe he needs to sob. Maybe that’s a good thing. He’s going to AA, and he’s talking about Mum. This is how people heal. What if he’s stronger than we think? There will never be a good time for Dad to get dragged through the gutter press. This shitstorm is coming. We have to put up our umbrellas and wait for it to pass.”
She frowned in exasperation, and spaced each of her words out evenly as though talking to a child. “Fine. It’s coming. I know, but the relapse is still fresh. You need to buy us some time. Even if it’s a couple of weeks...”????
My temper flared and clawed at my chest like talons. I flung out my hands. “Are you listening to me? I can’t keep doing it. There’s nothing left for me to tell her. She wants a story about me and Alex. I won’t do it.”
She sighed heavily, and her eyes slipped away. “I can’t keep doing this with him. I’m tired.” Her voice was so quiet, I had to lean in to listen. “I just need him to be okay. It’s me here doing all of this. Always me picking up the pieces.” A sudden choked laugh escaped her lips. “Not that it matters. Whatever I do, you’re still the favorite.”
A suffocating tension tightened my throat. Me? The favorite? Shock yielded quickly to fury at such an outlandish accusation. I’d offered to help Mel so many times but she was a control freak and wouldn’t allow it. Now, she was moaning that nobody helped her? “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You’re the one that went to university, and got all of your fancy certificates, and your fancy job. You’re so perfect, and sensible, and put-together.”
Her mouth opened in dismay. “Right, and it’s not enough. It doesn’t matter what I do, or how many certificates I hang on the wall. I’ve looked after Dad. This house. When there’s a leaky tap who do you think calls the plumber? When the garden overgrows, who cuts the hedges back? I’ve carried this family for ten years, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t kick a ball around a pitch, so Dad will never be proud of me the way he’s proud of you.” She drew a sharp breath. “I can’t fix things this time. This is on you to make right. If you care about this family, you will do everything you can to stop us from breaking.”
“Of course I care about this family.”
“Talk is cheap. Show us.” She covered her face with trembling hands. “Tell this journalist whatever you need to tell her. Keep her off our backs. Buy us time. Wait until Dad is stronger, and then we’ll all put up our umbrellas and deal with a shitstorm. Alex is strong. He won’t bat an eyelid about a story in the press. It won’t affect him the way it affects Dad.”
The pain in my heart became sick and fiery. I’d never seen Mel like this. It was awful to see her crack. I kept my voice as soft as I could. “I can’t do that. You can’t ask me to throw Alex under the bus.”
She gave an impatient shrug. “He’s just another notch on your bedpost. What does it matter?”
No. He wasn’t. A swell of panic hit me with the realization. It was different with Alex. It might have started as fun and done, but it was so much more than that. I couldn’t lose him. Alex kept his name out of the papers to protect Brodie. A story in the press would drive unwanted interest in his direction.
I kept my tears rigidly in check, and for the first time in a long time, Mel and I had swapped roles in our dance. I was the mountain, cold and composed, and Mel was the waves breaking around me.
Hiding my panic behind defiance, I straightened my spine and tossed my hair over my shoulder. “I love Alex. I won’t hurt him on purpose. He'll never forgive me.”
Mel’s face was pale and pinched. She looked as gaunt and hollow as her voice sounded. “Then you need to make a choice, because if you let that story about Dad go to the press, thenI’llnever forgive you.”
Chapter 33
Lana
Softbluelightfromthe TV illuminated the room in a cozy glow. A fire crackled in the hearth. Brodie lay over us on the couch. His head rested in my lap and his feet stretched across Alex. A soft snore drifted from my lap. I craned my neck to watch Brodie’s peaceful form. I smoothed my fingers through his soft curls and warmth lit my chest. Sometimes, when it was the three of us in these quiet moments, I understood how it was to feel content. There was nothing to chase. Nothing to improve upon. Everything was just…how it should be. I’d never felt like that before. I’d trade all of it—the partying, the late nights, the one-night stands—for a moment like this. Being here made me whole. I’d walked into this thing with Alex, with my heart shut tight, and him and his little boy had blasted my heart wide open.
Everything about us was cozy, but I couldn’t shake Mel’s words from earlier in the day. She wanted me to choose between this and Dad. How could I? Alex leaned across and pressed a kiss to my temple. The glow of his smile warmed me, despite my distress.
?“You hardly ate any dinner.” Alex kept his voice low so as not to wake the sleeping boy laid across us. “Are you okay?”
