Page 40 of Worth the Wait

“Why would he hate you?” I asked at the same time Patrick said, “He could never hate you.”

“Do you think he’s mad that I never came back here?” My little sister looked so uncomfortable that I thought she might be sick.

I put my hand on her leg and leaned my head on her shoulder. “He would never blame you for that. I know you don’t know him the way you know our mother, but they couldn’t be more different.”

I saw Patrick’s head swivel to look at me out of the corner of my eye before he focused back on the road ahead.

“Really?” he asked, and I noticed the surprise in his tone.

“Oh, yeah. They’re like night and day. No. Whatever is even more opposite than that. Honestly, I can’t even imagine them together. They don’t have anything in common,” I said, and I suddenly wasn’t sure if I was helping Sarina or making things worse for her.

“We’re almost there,” Patrick said, and I felt Sarina tense. “Your dad is a giant teddy bear, New York. Looks scary as hell with all those muscles, but he’s a big softy.”

“Dad has muscles?” Sarina perked up with a slight grin on her face.

“You have no idea,” I said with a laugh right as Patrick turned onto our road.

He pulled into the driveway, and my eyes started to mist over already.

I’m home.

A dog came running toward us before Patrick even shut off the engine and put the car in park.

Patrick opened his door, hopped down and patted the dog’s head. “Hey, buddy. One sec.”

“Whose dog is that?” I wondered, hating how much things had changed since I’d been away. Had my dad gotten a dog? Even the smallest changes felt huge.

“He’s mine. His name’s Jasper,” Patrick said, and I wanted to cry.

He’d gotten a dog. Without me.

It was silly. Stupid even. And there was no reason for my over-the-top emotions about it all, but I suddenly felt so left out. I’d done it to myself. What had I expected? For time to stop moving the second I left?

We all got out, and Patrick started undoing our bags from the back before pulling them out.

“My girls,” my dad’s voice boomed as he hopped outside with crutches underneath his arms.

“Dad,” I said, running to him without a second thought.

I collided into him, almost knocking him off-balance as I hugged him. I’d missed him so much.

His dark curls were filled with gray, but the salt-and-pepper suited him.

“I like the gray,” I teased, and he made a face.

“Calling me old, sweetheart?” he asked, the lines around his eyes even deeper than they had been before I moved.

Time stopped for no one. Not even me, apparently.

“Never.”

It was funny, the way I’d compartmentalized everything about Sugar Mountain, my dad and Patrick included, acting like I was okay without them because I was busy and focused on school and work.

But the second I’d stepped foot back here, it was like opening up a vault that had been sealed shut and watching all the contents spill out, with no way to contain them again. There was no way I’d be able to go back to pretending after this.

Sarina cleared her throat, and I removed myself from our dad’s arms to give them a minute. Sarina’s eyes were already watering, and when I looked up at my dad, I noticed his were too. That was when I realized the similarities between them. I always thought Sarina looked more like our mother, but seeing her with our dad, I started second-guessing myself.

My dad wiped at his falling tears before he sucked in a quick breath and straightened his broad shoulders. “I missed you both so much. Sarina, you’re so grown up.”

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