Page 53 of Myself

“Sir?” she asks hesitantly.

“Your mother also informed me about your plans for the future.”

At those words, she lifts her chin and pulls her shoulders back. I smile at her. She believes in her plans. And so do I. “And you want me to come to a meeting to hear about how stupid it is?” She shakes her head. “You can save that speech, Dad.”

He smiles at her as if he’s proud. “No, I want to hear more about it. I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

Her eyes light up, and she smiles excitedly. “You do?”

“Absolutely,” he says with a nod. Then he looks at me. “But right now, I need to talk business with Mr. Barnett ...” He lets his words hang in the air, and it takes her a few seconds to understand them.

“Oh, of course.” She walks over to me and gives me an awkward hug. “I’ll uh, see you later,” she whispers and then goes to walk out.

I open my drawer and grab my keys out of it then walk after her. “Becca?” I call out, and she stops before opening my office door. “Here.” I hand them to her.

“I can’t take your car,” she says, shaking her head quickly and pulling her hand back from me.

“Yes, you can,” I assure her.

She goes to open her mouth to argue, but her father clears his throat. He has business he wants to discuss, and he doesn’t like to wait. She finally closes her hand around them and says thanks before walking out.

I walk back over to my seat, straightening my suit jacket, and sit down. “Fredrick said they suspect another two weeks, possibly three—”

“So you’re dating my daughter?” he interrupts me.

“Yes, sir,” I say without hesitation. “We’re together.”

“Together?” he repeats the word slowly.

I feel like I’m back in high school. You know when you put a label on your relationship. It sounds so childish. But I need him to understand where I’m at with his daughter. “We have been together ever since she moved back here. And it’s serious,” I add.

“That was what? Not even a week ago.” Four days actually, but I don’t tell him that. “How serious can it be?”

“I love her,” I say simply. “And she ...”

“Loves you,” he finishes. I nod. “Again, how can it be that serious so soon?” he asks.

This is where it’s going to get complicated. This is where he could think I took advantage of his underage daughter. “It’s not what you think, sir,” I decide to say.

He crosses his arms over his chest. “And what is it I’m thinking?”

All of a sudden, my tie seems too tight. I clear my throat. “We saw each other before she left for Seattle.” He lifts a brow. “I won’t go into details, but I assure you I loved her then too.” It’s hard to explain to a man how you feel about his daughter when he doesn’t know the details of how you got to that point. Some things you just have to keep to yourself. And he’ll just have to understand that.

After a long moment of silence he asks, “Does Ryder know?”

I shake my head. “She doesn’t want him to know.”

“Why?” he asks.

“She’s just not ready to tell him.” Is all I’m going to say about that.

“You’re okay with that?” he asks curiously. “Keeping this big of a secret from your best friend?”

Not really, but I say, “For now.”

“What happened with her and Conner?” he questions, uncrossing his arms while he walks around the chair and sits down. He plans to stay a while. Just my luck.

I grind my teeth. “He’s gone.”

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