Page 93 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

Someone bumped into me on the boardwalk and I almost dropped my phone. “I used to. But I told you I was transferring. I forwarded you the email a few weeks ago.”

“I never check my personal email. I’m a busy man, Mila.”

Too busy for his own daughter? “Can you please send the payment tonight? There’s an online portal…”

“I already did.”

What? I really was awful on the phone. I had no idea what he was talking about. “But you said you didn’t send tuition to the University of New Castle.”

“Because I already sent it to SMU.”

“Dad.” I felt like a wave had just crashed down on top of me. “What are you talking about? I asked you not to send it.” I pushed through more people until I was on the sand. Usually stepping onto the beach was relaxing but the sand was too hot tonight. The beach was too crowded. Everything felt wrong.

“I don’t remember all that,” he said. “You mentioned you were on vacation somewhere this summer or something. Mila, I really need to go.”

“I’m not on vacation. I moved here for the summer because I hate California. I hate it there. I can’t go back.”

“Tuition’s already been paid.”

“Then un-pay it.”

“That’s not how it works. You’ll be fine. Chin up, Mila.”

Tears were currently dripping down my chin. “Chin up? Are you serious? Did you not hear a word of what I said the last time I called?”

“I was busy. I was in the middle of a game with my daughter.”

“I’m your daughter. Me. Just because you left my mom doesn’t mean I’m not your blood!”

“We all make mistakes. Marrying your mother was mine.”

There was a double meaning to that. If marrying my mother was a mistake, that meant having me was too. My tears started falling faster. I couldn’t be strong when I talked to him. He had this way of making me feel weaker than ever.

“Maybe leaving SMU would have been yours,” he said. “So…you’re welcome.”

“I’m miserable in California, Dad. I told you all this before. I don’t have a single friend. I…”

“Make friends then. If you’re having trouble doing that then maybe you need to take a good look at yourself.”

What the hell did that mean? “My friends are here. My life is here.”

“Lives aren’t built around summers. They’re built around hard work and dedication.”

Dedication? Who was he to say life was built on dedication? He certainly wasn’t dedicated to my mom when he cheated on her. Or me when he left. “There has to be something we can do. If I call admissions…”

“I’m not going through that hassle just because you like the east coast more than the west coast. You need to grow up.”

He wasn’t listening to me. “I was depressed, Dad. I felt like a ghost. I couldn’t eat or sleep. My grades started to slip because I couldn’t focus. I’ve never been so miserable in my life.” Listen to me. Hear what I’m saying. Help me.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. I have to go…”

“The last time I was that down was when you left in the middle of the night. Do you know how much that hurt me? How much it hurt Mom?” My voice cracked on “mom.” He had hurt both of us. My mom dealt with it by flitting through relationships. And me? Clearly I hadn’t learned to deal with it at all. Or else I wouldn’t be standing on the beach sobbing all alone.

“I’m not having this conversation with you, Mila. It’s been years. Get over it.”

“How am I supposed to get over it if you won’t talk to me? You can’t erase me, Dad. You can’t undo me just because I was a mistake. For once in your life would it hurt you to care?”

“Excuse me?”

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