Page 91 of Pitcher Perfect

“Why on Earth would you want to stay there?” I could sense my dad’s desperation. He wanted to be the guy who snatched up another hot chef to brag about.

“That’s whereyour sonis.”

My knees buckled, and tears stung the corners of my eyes.

“That’s where my life is. My family. It’s where I want to be. Dahlia Springs is an amazing community, and I would be honored to be a permanent part of it.”

Before I realized it, my feet had carried me around the truck to where they stood. I had to see Caleb, wanted to wrap my arms around him, needed to ask why he was such an idiot to turn down an offer like that while also thanking him for being so fucking wonderful.

My dad saw me first, and his chagrined expression was one I would remember forever.That’s right, Dad. Someone loves me enough to stay.

Does Caleb love me?I wanted him to. I wanted that more than anything. With complete certainty I felt to my bones, I knew we would get there. Caleb spotted me then, and the look of disgust on his face fell away. He seemed nervous, almost regretful.Why did he feel bad?He hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Excuse me. I’ll go grab the last of my stuff.” He barely made eye contact with me.

I took his hand before he could walk away and rubbed my thumb across the back of it. “I’ll be here.” I gave him a promising smile.

The tension seeped from him. “Be back soon.”

I watched Caleb walk away then turned to Dad.

“Congratulations, Austin.”

The smile he gave me was the same I saw in his YouTube videos, polished, fake. I felt more like a constituent than his son.

“Thanks,” I said brusquely.

“I’m so pleased you continued my legacy. I’m sure my publicist can arrange some local TV interviews while I’m in town to capitalize on the press for your brewery. They’d love a father-son interview.”

“A brewery that you’ve never visited.”

I looked at the man who had consistently been a smaller and smaller part of my life. I barely knew the man before me in his obviously expensive slacks and button-up shirt, a haircut perfectly styling his hair into an artful swoop on his head. Long gone was the man I had fuzzy memories of who had taken me to the kitchen he’d worked in when I was a kid, where he’d sat me on a stool and let me watch him work.

I was tired of giving him so much space in my mind. Just because he was my dad didn’t mean I owed him anything. He hadn’t earned it.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

His smile dipped. “I wanted to surprise you. After you called me about needing the kitchen, I reached out to some people with the competition. I thought it would be fun.”

“By making a big scene and ambushing me?”

He frowned. “I thought you’d be happy.”

He just didn’t get it. I doubted he ever would. “I would’ve been happy with a good luck call or with you showing up like Aunt Carolyn or Caleb’s dad. Instead, you tried to turn me into a spectacle. You aren’t here for me. You’re here to capitalize on some PR for your show, a show you never told me about, by the way. Did you plan to tell me you would be filming here?” The anger crept up through my body, steadily growing like a brushfire, slowly filling all the gaps.

Dad’s bravado slipped, and he looked at me like he saw me for the first time. “I’m not good at this.”

“You weren’t a good cook out of the gate, either, but you worked at that. Guess you didn’t care enough about learning to be a good dad.”

Dad’s eyes went wide.

“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I don’t expect or need anything from you. I have my family in Dahlia Springs.”Blood and chosen.

“I’m your father,” he said sternly, but I could see him grasping at straws.

“Sure, you helped create me and gave me a home for part of my life, but it takes a lot more than that to be a dad. I gave up on counting on you a long time ago.”

Saying those words aloud, saying themto him, freed me from emotional shackles I hadn’t realized were so heavy until I didn’t feel them any longer. I had built a great life for myself in Dahlia Springs. I was fortunate to have people who loved me, supported me, and actually wanted me around.

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