Page 12 of Wilde Abandon
He pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it, their fingers still entwined.“We have all the time in the world.I’m not going anywhere.”
She quirked a brow.“You’re staying in town?”
“I have a place downtown.I’m doing some work at the New Adult Education Center.”
“I’ve seen that place.The building was completely renovated over the last couple months.What do you do there?I thought you worked at a big software company.”
He hesitated for a moment.“I do work for a big company, but I also run the center and teach an intensive computer programming course for certification in certain programming languages for young adults who age out of foster care and need to learn skills quickly to get work and be independent.”
“Wow.That’s amazing.You’re giving back to others like you.”
“I had help to get to where I am.I’m just paying it forward.”
“Who helped you?”
He paused.“Your dad.”
The news shocked her.
Fox glanced over at Wade.“He looked out for me ever since I went into foster care.Didn’t matter how many times I moved, he found me.”
Joy and pride lit her heart because her dad had kept watch over Fox, but anger twisted her gut because he’d kept it from her.“I had no idea.”
“I asked about you every time we spoke.”
A shrill whistle went up from the bar.Her dad.“I need to get back to work.”
Fox pointed to a booth to the right of them.“Dean’s waiting for me.We’ll hang for a little while, but then I have to head home and finish some work.Can we meet up for lunch tomorrow?”
She desperately wanted to see him again.If for no other reason than to believe this was real.It seemed so surreal.“How about the diner at two?I know that’s kind of late, but I don’t get out of here until at least three in the morning, and I sleep until noon most days.”
He brushed his hand up and down her arm.“I’ll meet you anytime you want.”
She turned to head to the bar, but spun back around and threw her arms around his neck again.She hugged him close and whispered, “Don’t disappear on me again.”
He kept one hand at the small of her back and the other fisted her hair.“Never.You want me, I’m here.”
She wanted to hold on to him, but let him go and rushed away to get his beer and food, so he’d stay a while.She brought enough for Dean, too, then started working her way from table to table taking orders, filling them, and collecting her tips.Time, like most nights, slipped by quickly and before she knew it, Fox and Dean were standing in front of her as she held a tray full of drinks.“Thanks for stopping by.Sorry I couldn’t talk more.”
“Tomorrow.The diner downtown.”Fox made it sound like an order but one filled with anticipation.
She nodded.“Lunch is on me if you promise to fill in the gap between third grade and now.”
“Like always, I’ll tell you all my secrets.”
She was still spinning about her dad being in touch with him all these years and not saying anything to her.She intended to have a talk with him about that very soon.
Maybe he thought she’d moved on and forgotten Fox over the years, but she never had.She never would.Not after he’d broken her heart in so many ways years ago.That was too much history, even for a child, to let go of the person who touched her heart and changed her forever.
She watched him walk out of the bar with Dean, knowing this wasn’t the end of their reunion but a new beginning.
She just hoped this time around it didn’t end in tragedy.
Which made her think of his mother.Melody had heard she was sick.
Maybe that was why he’d come back to town.
Did he know his mother hadn’t changed over the years?She was still the manipulative, mean woman she’d been when Melody was a kid.Once, she’d cornered Melody in the grocery store and told her that it was Melody’s fault the state had taken her son.Melody ran back to her mother crying and made an excuse because she’d been too scared to tell her mom what the mean woman said.As an adult, she knew better, but Melody had believed it was true back then.