Page 20 of Finally Home

Everyone laughs, and when Dad’s gaze catches on the two men standing next to me, his eyes widen. He blinks several times before rubbing the heels of his palms on his eyes. “Whoa…” he whispers to me out of the corner of his mouth. “Is it just me, or did you find a male clone?”

My eyes widen and Jamie snickers next to me. I choke on a laugh. “No, Dad. I didn’t find a clone.”

He ignores me, staring at Jamie for a few seconds longer. He snaps out of it with a shake of his head and a bright smile and holds out his hand. “Sorry! I swear I do have all my mental faculties. You just look exactly like my father did at y’all’s age. It’s nice to meet you boys.”

Jamie throws me a confused look but shakes Dad’s hand with enthusiasm. “My name is Jamison Reed. It’s so good to finally meet the man who raised such an incredible woman.” His words start out heavy with inflection, no doubt because of his sibling theory, but turn soft when he compliments me.

“Aww, J. You’re such a softy.” I wrap an arm around his waist. As much as I tease him, he really is one of the best men I know, and I’m so thankful to have him as a friend.

His eyes light with mischief as he smirks down at me. “Anything for my sister.”

Everybody is chattering on around us, but I see the way my dad’s eyes rake over Jamie curiously. But when I arch an eyebrow his way, he waves me off. I’m distracted when Kaci claps her hands together and smiles fondly at Dad and me. “Why don’t we give you two a few minutes to catch up. Rhodes, be polite and give the boys a tour of the house.”

The four of them clear out, and Rhodes kisses the top of my head before doing the same. He stops to raise an eyebrow, asking if I’m okay, and I grin at him and nod. He smiles back before joining the others.

As soon as the room clears out, the tears I managed to hold off earlier come back full-force. “Daddy,” I sniff, throwing myself into his chest.

“When Dom called and told me you showed up in the middle of the night, I caught the earliest flight back I could.” He strokes my hair like he did when I was a little girl. “Whose ass do I need to help you kick?”

I let out a choked sound, burying my face in his gray polo. “Asher kind of already punched him in the dick.”

His chest rumbles under my cheek with his soft chuckle. “He’s the quiet one, right? I didn’t really get to meet him, but it sounds like we’ll get along just fine.”

“Yeah, he has pretty bad anxiety, so meeting new people is hard for him. I’m sure you’ll get him to open up at some point since I told them they could stay with you,” I mutter sheepishly.

He barks out a laugh, startling me. “Of course, you did. I haven’t had this many boys around since you told Benny we could host the baseball team’s bonding dinner at our house your sophomore year.” He ruffles my hair and shakes his head. “You know our house is always open for friends and family.”

Appreciation for my dad overrides my stress, and I feel like I can relax for the first time since I opened the email that changed my whole life. “Derrick cheated on me,” I whisper into his chest.

My dad stiffens and pushes me back to arm’s length. I’m worried he’s going to blow up and insist on saying his piece, but instead he inspects my expression, heaving a sigh and leading me toward the large sitting room just off the foyer.

We sit on the plush, cream-colored loveseat that faces the street. He tosses an arm over my shoulder and hauls me into his side. “I’m sorry, Starshine.” He’s quiet for a long minute before he grunts and turns sideways on the seat to look me in the eyes. “You know you can tell your old man to mind his own peas, but you don’t seem all that upset about your marriage ending.”

I cringe and grimace. “I’m not not upset,” I sigh. “Things weren’t good between us for a long time—longer than I wanted to admit even to myself. It hurts, but mostly I just feel stupid for ignoring the signs. I left my family for him, Dad!” Angry tears burn the backs of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I don’t want to spend another minute crying over a man who made his indifference to my feelings so painfully clear.

He nods and brings me even closer so my head rests on his shoulder. “The day your mom found out she was pregnant, she was getting ready to leave me,” he says quietly, pain lacing his tone.

My body jolts against the couch and I pull back to stare at my father with wide eyes, too afraid to say anything and stop his story. My mom was always kind of a taboo subject, but I caught my dad staring at some of their old pictures a few times when he thought I wasn’t home. I know next to nothing about the woman who gave birth to me—only that her name was Madelyn.

“Your mother was a nurse at the local hospital, and we started dating while I was completing my doctorate degree. I was on a fast track for a professorship at Ridgeview and Lyn was someone I never knew I wanted until she made space for herself in my hectic life. She said she didn’t mind how busy I was, and for a while, it really seemed like she didn’t. We moved in together after only three months of dating just so we could see each other a little bit more often between my classes and her twelve-hour shifts.”

His eyes gloss over as the tops of his cheeks flush. “I wasn’t a perfect boyfriend by any means, Starshine. I won’t lie and say I didn’t understand why she wanted to break up. I was so obsessed with my career and school that I wasn’t able to give her the consideration she needed. And then one day she came to me in a panic with a positive pregnancy test.”

I can’t even imagine how stressful that must have been for them, especially in such a new relationship.

A radiant smile takes over Dad’s face and that brings a smile to my own. “And then a few months later, just days after I got my doctorate, I was holding you in my arms. In the space of a single moment, my entire world turned upside down in the best way possible, and suddenly, nothing else mattered. Not my job, or how much your mom and I were fighting, or how little you slept those first few months. All it took was one of your tiny pink fists wrapping around my finger to know I’d always have a little bit of starshine in my life no matter how hard things got.”

The tears finally fall unbidden from my eyes, and I throw my arms around the only person who’s loved me unconditionally for my whole life.

He hugs me tight, smoothing my hair back. “I know growing up without your mama wasn’t ideal, but I hope you know I wouldn’t change a thing, Wren. Raising you was the highlight of my life, and I’m so damn proud of the woman you are now.”

Sniffling, I give him a squeeze before pulling back and waving off his words. “Having Kaci around through college took care of any absence I felt from not having a mom, but I wouldn’t change a thing about my childhood, Dad. You made me feel so heard and loved every day, just like you do now. I didn’t need another parent when I had you.”

“I love you, Starshine. I thank our maker every day that I was blessed with you.”

“I love you more, Dad.”

CHAPTER 11

---