Page 31 of The Maid

"Mom. Aunt Nina!" Addie looked over her shoulder and gave him an apologetic look.

"It's okay, Addie. I'll handle it," he whispered and inside they went.

Addie walked to the family room where her father was watching a baseball game. He stood up and said something to her that he couldn't hear, and she nodded and then they hugged. When he let go, he turned to Gun.

Gun extended his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you Mr. Finney."

Instead of shaking his hand, he turned and said, without looking at Gunther, "Follow me." Fuck. That voice that sent fear down his spine

"Dad," Addie warned but Mr. Finney kept walking. Gun didn't like to see Addie worried, especially since the reason they didn't like him was Gun's own fault. He'd hurt Addie and now he had to face the consequences.

"Don't worry, it's okay." Gun assured her as he walked out to the backyard with Mr. Finney.

Once the door was closed and they were by the barbeque, her father began to talk. "Hope you like barbeque chicken."

"I do, sir."

"I hate it. Dry as hell. But after my heart attack all we eat is chicken. Turkey and chicken. I'm going to grow feathers soon."

Gun chuckled. "Mr. Finney. I'm sorry to hear about your health and I’m sorry about—"

"Adalyn should never have started anything up with you back then. She was older and it was work."

"It wasn't her fault, sir."

"Not entirely no. You had a part in that debacle too. You were just a kid, but you broke her heart, nonetheless. But that's life. Shit happens and you grow up and you move on. Now I see my daughter's in the same predicament. You hold her career and her heart in her hands, again."

Gunther's heart ached. He pulled the top of the barbeque down and turned to Gun. "So, what is your intention with my daughter, Gunther McCall?"

"I'm not going anywhere, sir."

"You sure about that?"

"I am. I'm positive. I know that I hurt Addie, I had my reasons. They were stupid, they were the reasons of a stupid naive --eighteen-year-old kid. I can't undo the past, sir."

"I understand that."

"So, now I don't really know how to keep her. She has a huge wall built around her heart."

"And it was built to keep you out." Mr. Finney added. It was a one-two punch that he felt right on his chest.

"I know that,” he swallowed. “She won’t admit she has feelings for me, but I know she does. So, I guess I'm just going to keep picking and digging at that wall until I get in. I won't give up. I'm in love with her sir. I don't think I ever stopped being in love with her, actually. But back then, I was just a kid, I wouldn’t have wanted my daughter to be with me. An arrogant --eighteen-year-old kid with no dreams. I didn’t feel worthy of much back then."

“And now?”

“And now I’m ready. Now I can give Addie everything she needs, and I’m not just talking about money,” he said with a hand on his heart.

"I see the sincerity in your eyes and because Nina spoke so highly of you throughout the years, I'm going to believe you, Gun. But if you hurt her, we're gonna have big problems, Gunther. Problems that no money in the world will get you out of."

He looked through the glass door and saw Addie with her mother and aunt in the small humble kitchen cooking something while in deep in conversation. It was an unfamiliar sight. He only ever only saw chefs and hired help cooking. He never saw his mother in the kitchen or any extended family. Even on Thanksgiving, there were other people cooking. But that's not how he wanted to live or how he wanted to raise a family, if he ever had one.

"Mr. Finney, my word may not mean much to you, but I swear I'm not going to hurt her. I would give everything up to be with her." He'd even surprised himself by saying that. But it was true. He needed to have Addie in his life as much as he needed to take the next breath.

"Dad, I hope you're not giving him a hard time." Addie’s voice startled him.

"Nothing I didn't deserve," Gun replied.

"Come on, we were young. I moved on, you all can move on too," she said, but the truth was she hadn't move on. Not really. She was so closed off that it was obvious she had been broken and never put completely put back together after he'd left.

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