Page 33 of Wasted
Her father’s shoulders visibly lowered, and his glowering expression lessened a fraction. “Good.”
She wouldn’t mention that Hank was pondering pediatrics now. Hopefully, that was only temporary, and he would soon return to his goal of becoming the neurosurgeon their father had planned he would be since Hank was born.
“I’ll continue to guide him through this time of upheaval.” She infused her tone with confidence. “He’ll be fine.”
“He can’t throw away his talent and his future. I won’t let him do that.”
She nodded. “I know. He won’t. I’ll make sure of it. He respects you too much to….” she almost said hurt you, but that would suggest a vulnerability her father wouldn’t appreciate her assuming he had, “…disregard your advice.”
“You had better be right. I’ve invested too much in that boy’s future to watch him throw it away for nothing. He’ll thank me for it in the end.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Victoria didn’t want Hank to regret any of his decisions either. And decisions made in the midst of confusion and emotion where almost always regrettable. She had firsthand knowledge of that.
“Good. I’ll trust you to take care of it then.” He lowered his gaze to the thick hardcover book lying on the desk in front of him.
They were apparently done. She let out a breath slowly enough not to be heard and stood. “I wanted to confirm the time for your birthday dinner next Tuesday. Is eight o’clock the best?”
“Birthday dinner?” He didn’t lift his head from the book.
And Victoria knew why. She heard it in his voice—the subtle shift she’d only learned to recognize after Mom was gone. The reason he hadn’t met Victoria’s gaze for months after Mom’s passing.
“Yes. Eight p.m. sharp.” He’d regulated his voice to his normal firm, no-nonsense tone, and he still didn’t lift his gaze.
Victoria took a few steps toward the door, but something made her pause and look back.
And for a moment, she didn’t see his head angled down toward the book.
She saw him as she’d come upon him sixteen years ago, sitting upright but slumped, a posture she’d never seen him in before then. She saw his vacant, lost stare across the room at nothing. And she saw what she’d heard now in his voice, at the reminder of the annual birthday dinner her mother had cooked for him every year of their marriage.
Pain. Grief. Emotions she hadn’t known her father could feel until that night when their lives had changed forever. That night she’d seen, as if through the tiniest clear streak across a dirty window, what her mother must have known about the man she’d married. The man she had loved.
That he, too, was human. That he loved. And that he, perhaps more than most, needed to be loved.
Victoria didn’t have her mother’s infinite compassion and love, but she would keep trying to do everything Mom would’ve wanted for her family. “Good night, Dad. I love you.” She said the words as her mother had, often and generously, though Victoria had never heard him respond in kind.
So Victoria didn’t wait for a response as she left. She only hoped and prayed that she would continue the witness her mother had begun of the love of Christ in her father’s life so that, someday, he might realize his need for that love and salvation.
There she was. The woman Cillian hadn’t been able to forget in sixteen years of trying. Now that was a sight a man could get used to seeing first thing in the morning.
Cillian couldn’t shake the smile that stretched his mouth as he watched Victoria, looking impossibly elegant with her upswept hair and wearing navy blue scrubs as she talked to Racquelle at the counter in the open office area. Then again, he didn’t want to lose his grin or the heat that shot through him when she was near. He would never get tired of the way she drew him irresistibly to her.
And the feeling was still mutual. That had been clear yesterday when her cheeks had flushed and her eyes lit like they used to when he’d leaned in close. When he’d been tempted to kiss her, right there in front of a bunch of cops.
She hadn’t moved away. Which meant she still felt something for him.
Fired by the encouragement, he sauntered toward her.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, but it sounds like you handled it correctly.” Racquelle’s dark curls swung as she tilted her head to one side. “We’ll have a staff meeting to cover what happened and refresh the instructions on what to do in a home visit situation like that.”
Must be talking about Victoria finding Thomas Briscoe’s body.
“Morning, ladies.”
Racquelle gave him the bright smile he’d hoped to get from the other lady.
But Victoria’s eyes widened slightly as they landed on him. And not in a good way. Like she was alarmed to see him there.
Well, setting her back on her heels could be a good thing. Maybe she’d reach out to him for balance. And realize she needed a change, especially when it came to letting her dad run her life.
