Page 28 of When We Dare

“It’s been a whole week since I talked to you,” he said.

My dad called me every week. I figured he would until the day he died. I knew it would hurt when I didn’t hear from him. “I’ve been expecting your call. What’s up?”

“Not much. Trying to stay out of trouble, and I’m doing pretty well so far.”

I chuckled. “I’m proud of you, Dad.”

My eyes stung a little. After most of his adult life, as far as I knew, running one illegal thing after another to make money, my dad had started this resale business online. It was all on the up and up. The man loved collecting things, always had. When he realized maybe he could do something with all the shit he’d collected, he did. He met some woman who was actually decent. She helped him set up a website and it was working.

“Dad, I hope it keeps up for you. I love you no matter what you do.”

“I know, I know. I love you too. I wish I’d met a girl like Martha sooner. She’s good to me. Makes me want to stay out of trouble.”

I knew as well as anyone how hard it was to walk a straight line once the path you’d been following was crooked. It was hard to break away. I’d had a good probation officer who pointed me toward a job program. I did my community service at the fire station. Each little step was a cascade into something better for my life.

“How are you doing?” my dad pressed.

“I’m good, Dad. I like Willow Brook.”

“How’s Nate?”

“Pretty good.”

“Give him a hug for me. Fire season should be getting busy soon, right?”

“In another few months.” I glanced around at the snow still blanketing the ground.

“Well, my latest life advice is for you to find a good partner,” my dad said.

A laugh rustled in my throat. “Seriously, Dad? Are you giving me romance advice now?”

“Martha’s been a life changer for me,” he insisted.

“Dad, you’ve always had a good heart. I’m just glad you found someone who sees it.”

He laughed softly. “All right now. I’ll catch you next week, okay?”

“You got it. Love you, Dad.”

“Love you, son.”

After the call ended, I turned off the engine and sat in the quiet for a minute. I suppose if my dad could settle down and find love, maybe I could. But Stella was a lawyer. She would have all kinds of opinions about my youth. There was misspent youth, and then there was running drugs with your dad and spending months in juvenile detention.

I shook those thoughts away and climbed out of the truck, the cold air striking my cheeks as I jogged into the house. Disappointment struck me when the kitchen was dark and there was no sign of Stella. Seeing as we’d broken our rules already, I wanted to keep breaking them.

Yet, we hadn’t talked about what was happening. Every encounter was by chance every night. Butter came walking out of the kitchen, meowing up at me. He crossed over to Stella’s door, pacing in front of it with his tail twitching as he purred loudly.

I kicked off my shoes and hung up my jacket, walking into the kitchen instead of going down to my apartment. Butter lingered in front of Stella’s door for another minute beforehe stopped and sat down, staring up at it. I glanced over at him before pointlessly opening the refrigerator. I walked out to the back deck to look outside. The moon was crescent-shaped, shimmering over the icy lake outside and the stars were bright, like shards of diamonds thrown up against the inky black.

As I turned to close the door, I heard Stella. “Hey, Butter,” she said conversationally.

I walked across the kitchen toward the entryway where the door to her place was. When she saw me, her eyes widened and pink crested high on her cheeks.

“Hi!” she squeaked.

She leaned down to pet Butter who was twining around her ankles, purring like crazy. His purr was as loud as the cacophony of the rising storm inside of my body.

We studied each other as she straightened.

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