Page 95 of Making the Save
Okay, that made more sense.
“A father can’t come see his newly wed son and meet his famous bride?” Wyatt’s dad turned to face me and I saw Wyatt’s brown eyes in his weather-worn face. “Hello there, I’m Daniel Locke, this knucklehead’s father.”
He marched across the cabin to shake my hand. His hand, much like Wyatt and Liam’s, was massive and calloused. He winked at me and I couldn’t help but smile at him.
“Sydney Malloy,” I said.
“Well, Sydney, let me get a look at you.” Daniel said, taking a step back and assessing me from top to bottom. “You’re a tiny little thing.”
“Dad,” Wyatt barked. “What are you doing here?”
“Liam told me he met Sydney, and once I knew that, I couldn’tnotmeet her. Didn’t seem right.”
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Locke…” I said.
“Danny, honey. My friends call me Danny. Actually, they call me Dannyboy, because they think they’re real clever, but we’ll stick with Danny for now.”
“Danny, you know we’re not really together,” I said. I was not about to lie to a man who looked like Santa Claus. “It’s only for appearances…” the words stuck in my throat.
Because Wyatt was right. It was almost easy to forget we weren’t real. When we’d felt like the most real thing I’d ever known.
“It’s not a real marriage, Dad. We’re just lying low for a little bit before making the announcement,” Wyatt said, like he felt nothing.
“Of course I know,” Danny said. “Shotgun Vegas wedding. Honestly, Wyatt, I expected those kind of shenanigans from your brother.”
“He’d definitely be better at it,” Wyatt grumbled.
“You got anything to eat or drink around here?” Danny asked, smacking his lips. “Driving up that mountain in the dark is enough to drive a man to drink.”
“Have a seat,” Wyatt said, and stepped forward to belatedly hug his dad. “Good to see you, Dad.”
They pounded each other on the back and I saw that their relationship was as full of gruff affection as Wyatt’s relationship with Liam. It was really very sweet.
Danny collapsed with a heavy sigh into the recliner we never used. “Place looks good Wyatt,” he said, looking around at theart I’d picked out and we’d hung up last week. “Real homey.” He looked over at me and lowered his voice. “You’re a good influence on him.”
I smiled but kept my mouth closed. For some reason, I felt like crying.
“Whiskey good?” Wyatt asked, pulling the bottle down from the cupboard where he kept a couple of good bottles of booze. One night we’d gotten drunk as skunks on a bottle of tequila he had up there. We’d danced in the moonlight and he’d chased me…
Stop. Stop thinking about it.
“You know me, son, I’m not picky,” Danny said and kicked off his shoes, making himself comfortable.
“Sydney?” Wyatt asked, and his politeness killed me. “You want a drink?”
“No, thank you.”
“Tea?” He asked, and I caught his eye across the cabin.
I’m sorry, his eyes said.I don’t want to fight.
Me neither,I tried to say back.
“That would be lovely,” I said through a pinched throat.
“You know,” Danny said. “Your brother said I had to see the two of you in action to understand how all this went down, and I can see it now. Opposites attract and all that.”
“Well,” I laughed. “There was a lot of tequila involved.”