Page 83 of Savannah Sweethearts

Dad followed her in and dropped their luggage to give us hugs. Though he was half Asian, he had taken after his American father and towered over the three ladies in the room. At fifty-five, he was thin as a rail with the metabolism of a hummingbird.

“Let’s go eat and you can tell us all about these men you’ve caught,” he said as he clapped his hands together. “I want some shrimp and oysters.”

“Just you wait, Emil,” Mom said, smacking him on the arm. “I need the ladies’ room, and let’s visit for a minute.”

Nope, nothing had changed at all. They were still our parents. Linaya looked at me and rolled her eyes at their antics.

The next day, Mom took Linaya shopping for graduation supplies while I took Dad with me to The Promenade to show him around. There was about an hour before the event happening in one of the smaller ballrooms, so I told him we needed to be quick. Our first stop was my office, which he was properly impressed by.

As we walked down the hall, Cordelia came our way and greeted us. “Who is this, Amaya? You bear a striking resemblance to him.”

My entire life I was told I looked just like my father, while Linaya looked more like Mom. Thankfully, Dad was an attractive man.

“Cordelia, this is my father, Emil Journet. Dad, Cordelia Daniels. She’s the owner of The Promenade.” They shook hands.

“Actually, I’m the former owner. Orlando, my son, has taken over for me. But I still like to be here, and help your daughter out, when I can.” She turned and walked with us down the hall.

“So Orlando is your son? We’ve heard a good bit about him from Amaya. Is he here today?” Dad made a show of looking around.

“He was here a bit ago,” she replied. “I’m not sure where he might have gotten off to, though.” She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I didn’t warn him, I mean, tell him, we were coming by.”

Cordelia laughed. “Smart move.”

Around the corner we did find Orlando, speaking with Aaron.

“Well, Dad, I guess we can kill two birds with one stone. You get to meet them both at once.” I stopped in front of Orlando and took his hand. “Dad, this is Orlando Daniels. And this is Aaron Tierney. Guys, my dad, Emil Journet.”

Never had I seen two men stand straighter so quickly. They both were quick to shake Dad’s hand and tell him how nice it was to meet him. For his part, Dad played right into it, puffing his chest and squeezing their hands. I could only shake my head at their displays.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Cordelia said. “It was a pleasure, Mr. Journet.”

“Emil, please. And it was lovely to meet you. My wife will be sad she missed out.” He bowed to her.

“I have a feeling I will meet her soon enough.” Cordelia gave a slight wave and walked off, her steps silent.

“I’m sure these two have work to do today, Dad, so let’s get out of their hair.” I released Orlando and took my dad by the elbow.

He resisted my pulling. “Wait, wait. Why don’t you two join us for dinner tonight?”

“Dad!”

Orlando flashed a mega-watt smile. “Sure.”

Aaron nodded. “Sounds good.”

“The girls will send you the details once we know them. Does seven sound good? We’ll have to pick somewhere impressive since we have a real chef with us.”

With called out goodbyes, I pulled my dad away to show him the garden area. “Dad you’re a pain sometimes.”

“Don’t you want Mom and me to meet them?”

“Yes, but you put them on the spot.”

“Nah.” He put his hands in his pocket. “Hey, Amaya, do you know why Cinderella was so bad at soccer?”

I grumbled, but I loved his awful dad jokes. “No, Dad, I don’t.”

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