Page 123 of Secret Love

“I’m her goddamned father. It’s not like she has another option here,” my dad yells.

Henley limps into the room. His eyes land on me and he exhales in relief before they settle on my dad. The expression on his face is unlike any I’ve ever seen on him. Cold and fierce.

“It’s yourhonorto call Tru your daughter,” Henley says. “A privilege,nota right. One that you should cherish until your dying day because you’ve got such a special daughter here.”

“Who the hell are you?” Dad snaps.

“I’m Henley, Tru’s boyfriend, partner, man…fill in the blank. And it’s only because you’re her father that I don’t wipe the floor with you for talking to your daughter and her mother like you just did.”

I smile despite the tension in the room.

My dad swallows hard.

“You ladies okay?” Henley asks, looking at me and then my mom.

“Allen showed up out of the blue and I was just leaving,” my mom says. She looks at my dad pointedly. “I hope you brought the divorce papers and signed them. There’s no sense in prolonging this.”

“We need to talk about this, Stephanie,” he argues.

“I’m done talking about it.Sign the papers.” She leaves the room and a minute later, I hear her pulling out of the driveway.

There’s an awkward pause as we all stand there, no one knowing what to say.

“You and your mom sure are in a big hurry to get rid of me,” Dad says.

I lift a shoulder. “You haven’t exactly made being around you an enjoyable experience.”

“It was a mistake for me to come here.” My dad’s face is red, the vein in his forehead popping.

“Feel free to see your way out.”

He huffs out a disbelieving breath and walks to the door.

“Sign the papers!” I say to his back.

The door slamming is his response.

Henley puts his hand on my cheek and looks at me with concern.

“I’m okay.” I sag into Henley and he puts his arms around me, holding me tight.

“How about we get takeout from Starlight Cafe or Rose & Thorn tonight?” he suggests on our way to his house. “Or The Fairy Hut…”

It’s almost seven o’clock on a Friday night and Jupiter Lane is bustling.

Black and silver wreaths line every lamppost and there are pumpkins and ghosts and witches and skulls everywhere we look. Silver Hills makes Halloween the classiest I’ve ever seen it. The color theme is mostly silver, black, and green with more white pumpkins than orange. I’ve always loved Halloween in every look, so I’m here for all of it, but this is a really fun and gorgeous take on it.

“What sounds good to you?” I ask.

“I’m not really hungry.”

He hasn’t had much of an appetite for a while now.

“I wish we could think of something that sounds good to you,” I say.

“I’m such a fucking downer all the time,” he mutters. “I don’t know why you keep putting up with me.”

“Hey. You are not. You’re going through a hard time. I want you on your bad days and your good days, and everything in between.”

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