Page 116 of Pinch of Love

Font Size:

Page 116 of Pinch of Love

“Something’s got you smiling over there.” My gaze flashed to Millie’s, and I knew I certainly wasn’t going to tell her what was on my mind.

“Maya made some donuts. It’s time for me to take off anyway.”

My parents and Millie all traded excited looks, and I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t get your hopes up. She’s been clear that she’s leaving at the end of the month.”

Millie rolled her eyes, and my dad stood up to walk me out.

When we’d made it to the foyer, he reached up and rubbed my shoulder.

“I just want to check in with you.”

I glanced up at him. “About what?”

“Things. How you’re coping? How you might cope if she leaves?”

I groaned and closed my eyes. “Did Hunter put you up to this when he was here?”

My dad frowned. “No. Of course not. I’m just concerned. It’s not like you’re dating a woman a town over, and by the looks of things, you’re really falling hard.”

I wiped my brows and blew air out of my mouth while trying to regroup.

“I’m fine. I will be fine.” I stared at my dad. “You and Hunter found me at a low point, and it will never happen again.”

“What if it does, and what if we aren’t there to find you?”

I gritted my teeth, hating that they looked at me as if I were wounded and needed to be coddled. I was a grown man who’d felt more loss and guilt than they could fathom.

My dad squeezed my shoulder. “Son, I know you’re braver than most men, tougher than most. But I know a level of the pain you feel. I went as low as you went.”

Surprise filled me as I eyed my dad. “How? When?”

“When I lost my best friend from childhood. We were on a mission together in Afghanistan. He was picking up the slack for me, and I made it home. He didn’t.” My dad brought me in for a hug, but I knew he needed it more than me. He sniffed and continued to embrace me. “I didn’t even tell your mom everything. I couldn’t.”

He took a step back, and he nodded at me. “I am always a phone call away.”

For the first time in a long time, I felt understood. My father was the bravest man I’d ever encountered, and he even knew what it was like to see only darkness.

“You’ve always been my hero, Dad.” I smiled and shook my head. “And now you’re like a god.”

My dad shook his head. “I’m just a lucky man to have you kids and your mother.”

And I left the house knowing I needed to do what was best for me, even if I didn’t know what that was.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Maya

“How’d the house go today?” I asked Cash when he walked into the kitchen.

Most of my day had consisted of trading texts with Grace about wedding venues and reading over documents from my attorney. In between that, I tried to come up with a plan for the inevitable—the moment three weeks from now when I’d have to tell Cash goodbye.

I’d received another letter from Rob that just saidHi!But I had no intention of telling Cash. I was exhausted from the drama I’d managed to coat myself in. I wanted it to just be us tonight.

Cash set down a bag of groceries and smiled. “It went well until my parents called.”

“Everything okay?”




Top Books !
More Top Books

Treanding Books !
More Treanding Books