Page 19 of Their Secret Hideaway

I perk up. “A good time for me to do what?”

“For you to meet my parents.”

I smirk.

I love this man. And now, more than ever, I am convinced everything is going to work out just fine.

TEN

fox

The moment of truth is terrifying.

I always thought of myself as a man's man. I stood up for myself, didn’t back down from fights, but I also didn’t go looking for those fights either.

Standing up to my father was never easy. It wasn’t like he was particularly intimidating or anything. He’s a good six inches shorter than I am, and I got all my muscle from my Mom’s side of the family apparently. It is just that I know how much he’s worked to make sure I had everything I needed to succeed and flourish, and be healthy and happy.

Just that he did it through some nebulous means. Which in some ways made me appreciate it even more.

We’re gathered around our dining room table. The table itself is more expensive than the house we grew up in back in the day. Tabitha is by my side. I told her to dress up formally, and she obeyed in the most Tabitha-way possible. It’s a black dress, but with hand-crafted sequins that made a sort of spider web pattern over the fabric. It’s nothing you’d ever see on a Paris runway, but I love it all the same because it’s just her.

“So,” Dad says, sipping his wine, “This is your new serious girlfriend.”

He’s dressed in a suit, no tie. He always took the ‘dress for the job you want’ advice completely seriously, so it was rare to ever see him in anything casual these days.

“Yes, is that going to be a problem, Dad?” I ask, leaning forward on my hand.

“You’re lovely, Tabitha,” my mom adds. “So creative. And I can see she really makes you happy, Fox.”

Dad stares into his wine glass. “I guess you and the Finkle girl didn’t hit it off.”

“Never even talked to her. Not once,” I state, with total honesty.

“So there goes the plans to get us closer to the family.” He speaks wistfully. His disappointment is clear. “I take it you wouldn’t be bringing her to meet us unless things were really serious with her.”

“Serious as sin.”

“Hank, you should be happy for our boy,” my mother chimes in. I never had any doubt that she would be supportive. I just kept her in the dark because, as much as I love her, she’s terrible at keeping secrets.

“I’m not just here to introduce you to the woman I care deeply about, Dad. I’m here for something far more important.”

He clasps his hands as he looks my way. “And that would be?”

“I’m done with the company. And whoever the company is affiliated with.”

Dad lets out an even longer sigh of disappointment. “And what’s bringing this up, Fox? Is your girl bothered by what we do?”

“Slightly?” Tabitha says with a smirk. “Mostly the big fancy estates in small town Evergreen Valley thing. I couldn’t care less about the rest.”

“And that too,” I nod. “I want you to stop agreeing to build in Evergreen Valley, Dad.”

He’s silent for a time. The lack of him saying anything is nerve-wracking, as I can see he’s wracking his brain on how to reply to me coming at him with all of this at once. I’m expecting the worst, and start preparing myself mentally for a massive shouting match.

“Alright. It’s done,” he says, all too suddenly.

I raise an eyebrow. “Wait, what? That’s it?”

“Fox, I’m proud of you. You’re standing up for what you believe in. And if that’s what you want, I’m going to support you all the way.”

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