Page 25 of Fight Or Flight

“I don’t,” she argues softly. After a beat, she blows out an exasperated breath. “This wasn’t the plan, Eric. I wasn’t supposed to land on your parents’ doorstep.”

I don’t know about that.

“What if you were?”

“What?”

“Plans change, that’s why there are detours.”

“Detours,” she repeats, looking shocked by my choice of words.

Danny’s voice sounds in my head.

“You’ve got it planted in your head that you took her father from her, but if you tell her about him and give her a chance to know him like we do, it’ll be like you’re giving him back to her.”

I lift my eyes back to hers.

What if all this is just another detour?

“I don’t know what you know about your dad, but he was big on them,” I rasp, clearing my throat.

She swallows hard and I swear there are tears in her eyes. While the sight makes me want to take her in my arms, I keep my distance and continue, reminding myself I’m doing her a favor. I’m doing Bones a service. I’m introducing his daughter to his memory.

“My mom and dad didn’t plan on me. They weren’t even a couple when I was conceived. When my dad found out my mom was pregnant, he lost his shit. He swore his life was over and your father sat him down and told him to man up. Actually, his exact words were, take the detour and own it. I can’t tell you how many times me and my brothers and sister have heard that exact saying throughout the years.”

I pause as a tear slides down her cheek and without thinking, I close the distance between us. A voice sounds in the back of my head warning me not to touch her, but I’ve never really been one to yield on the side of caution.

I brush the tear away with the pad of my thumb.

“Your dad’s words became my dad’s creed. So, maybe you’re exactly where you are supposed to be, Brooklyn. There’s not much I’m sure about, but I can guarantee you, you’re very much wanted here and so is your mom.”

“You say that now—”

I cut her off.

“And I’ll say it again and again. Everyone in this house will because the only one doubting you’re not where you belong is you.”

She draws her lower lip between her teeth and stares at me skeptically.

“You can’t be happy sleeping in the basement.”

I’d sleep out on the front lawn and be perfectly fine, so long as she was comfortable.

And that, my friends, is a fucking hard realization to swallow.

“I couldn’t give a fuck less and that’s the truth. Between school and my part-time job at Kate’s, I’m barely home, anyway.”

She looks away for a moment.

“I like your dad a lot,” she says softly, lifting her eyes back to mine. “Your mom is great too, but your dad…” Her voice trails. “I don’t know if I would’ve made it through the last couple of days without him. You know, my mom told me a little bit about him, but he’s so different from what I expected.”

Wait until she settles in and really gets a dose of him. An early spotting of him doing the downward dog on a Saturday morning should do the trick.

“Yeah, he’s something,” I mutter.

“I didn’t really care to know about my dad. It sounds awful because now I know he’s dead, but I spent my entire life believing he wanted nothing to do with me. Then, when your dad was helping me pack my things, I wondered if my dad was anything like him. Was he kind? Did he have a sense of humor?” She wraps her arms around herself and peers back at me. “He believed in detours.”

“Yeah, he did.”

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