Page 120 of Someday You Learn

The tears start to fall right then and there. “Dad…”

“What you did here, what you’ve created? It’s incredible—such an accomplishment. I’m so disappointed in myself for making you feel like you couldn’t share it with me and let me be proud of it with you.” He steps forward and takes my hands. “I’m so sorry, June Bug. And I promise to do better.”

I lunge for him, holding his as tightly as I can. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you more than you’ll ever know, Cashlynn.”

“And I’m sorry I lied to you.”

He releases me and wipes the tears from under my eyes with his thumbs. “I know that now. And I know that it took a lot of guts for that man to stand up for you the way he did.”

“I love him.”

“I know that too. He told me that he feels the same way, and asked for my permission to marry you when the time is right for you both.”

I’m so relieved to know that he still wants that with me. “Please don’t punish him for what happened, okay?”

“If this is about the practice…”

“It’s not just that,” I say, interrupting him. “It’s forourfuture too. I don’t want you to hold this against him.”

“I won’t, June. But there’s something else we need to discuss.”

I nod, knowing what’s coming next. Placing my hands on my hips, I tilt my head at him. “You and Beth?”

He sighs, glancing down at the ground while shaking his head. “I was so hurt when your mother died, I never thought I’d love again, June. In fact, I had no plans for it. But Beth broke down my walls, she made me see that true strength doesn’t come from pushing people away, it’s from letting them in again knowing the risk of being hurt is still there. I’m retiring so she and I can enjoy the rest of our lives together, and I hope you can accept that.”

“You deserve that, Dad.” I reach for his hand this time. “And I adore Beth. She’s good for you, keeps you in line.”

He laughs. “That she does. She threatened to leave me if I didn’t make things right with you.”

“I think we would have gotten here eventually.” I smile, feeling more relieved with each passing second. “Parker and I got through our own issues too, so you weren’t the only one that was having relationship disagreements.”

“It’s normal for couples to have conflict, to hurt one another intentionally and unintentionally. What matters is how you solve your problems, rebuilding that trust, and whether you can compromise to make sure it doesn’t continue being an issue.”

A thought crosses my mind. “How did you and Mom handle disagreements?”

He grins, thinking back over his memories for a minute. “Well, if it wasn’t something we could agree on, we’d play for it.”

“And what did you play?”

He laughs and leans toward me. “Rock, paper, scissors.”

***

“I really need to get back to the gallery and balance the drawer, Dad,” I say, trailing after him into his house, eager to finish up my day after a whirlwind of emotions.

“This won’t take long. Parker said he’d wait for you there, but I have to drive you back with this stuff, so your day isn’t over yet.” He smirks at me over his shoulder.

“Wait a minute…what stuff?”

The whole day has been a blur—I lost track of how many people I spoke to and how many paintings I sold. It felt like the entire town made an appearance throughout the day, and I had so many people eager to submit their artwork or request certain types of art they were looking for. My classes are also entirely booked for the month, and I already have a waitlist forming for the summer.

I was sitting at my desk, trying to wrap my head around the day, when my father came into my office and asked if he could take me somewhere. I turned him down initially, but he insisted and then Parker encouraged me as well. Now, I’m more than curious about whatstuffhe has for me.

When we step inside, he leads me to the basement, unlocking the door and urging me to go ahead of him.

“Are you sure it’s safe? I mean, this is where you fell and hurt yourself, isn’t it?” I tease him as I head down the stairs.

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