Page 117 of The Love Ambush
We take seats at the table, and Dad gives Daisy his most charming smile. “I’m afraid there must be some mistake,” Dad says. “I’m the girls’ biological father. We don’t need a visit from CPS.”
“You lost all parental rights when you left the family three years ago. In the eyes of CPS, you are a new adult male who hasn’t been vetted in the home of two teenage girls . Are you planning on requesting a restoration of your parental rights?” Daisy bends down, pulls a thick folder from her bag, and sets it on the kitchen table with a thump.
Dad glances at me, and I don’t like the look in his eyes. “That is correct. I’m going to be taking care of my daughters. But I’m their biological father. My name is on their birth certificates.”
“I do understand,” Daisy says. “But it’s my job to make sure you’re a suitable guardian for your daughters. Do you have a stable job here?” Daisy is nailing her role. If our actual caseworker wasn’t constantly buried under far too much work for one person, she’d probably have already been here doing exactly what Daisy’s doing.
If I had called her, which I haven’t done because I don’t want to lose custody before I know exactly what Dad’s up to.
“Not yet,” Dad says. “But I shouldn’t have any problem finding one. Do you need to see my work history?”
“That would be helpful. I’ll also need an explanation for why you’ve failed to provide any financial support for your children for the past three years.” She opens the folder and pulls out a stack of papers, setting it before my father. “This is a detailed report of the back child support owed to your children.”
I stare at Daisy, beyond shocked. We didn’t discuss this.
Dad stares at the stack of papers, his face going pale. “Well, now, I’ll need to review this. It’s not as though Ineversent any money.”
I turn my shocked stare on my father. He never paid a penny. At least not according to my mother. Did she lie about that?
“Of course,” Daisy says. “Now, let’s talk about the house. It looks like you’ve put this house on the market?”
“That’s right,” Dad says, puffing out his chest. “Financially, it’s the best thing for the family. We’ll downsize and have more liquid money to work with.”
“I’m afraid that’s not a great idea,” Daisy says, her expression all sympathy, her voice soft. “Your daughters have just had a great shock with you coming back into their lives out of the blue. Further change, especially something as huge as moving them out of their childhood home, won’t be good for their mental or physical well-being. I’d recommend you take the house off the market immediately.”
Dad loses all of his natural charm. “And what if I don’t? I have a right to do what’s best for my family.”
“Of course you do.” Daisy closes her folder and stands, shoving it into her bag as she does so. “We’re going to need you to provide us with the address of your new home as soon as you’ve found one. We’ll also need to view the home before you move in and determine whether it’s suitable.”
“I’m their father.” Dad’s still smiling, but his hands are fisted and his body radiates with tension. He hates being told what to do. “You can’t tell us where to live.”
“Until we’ve determined whether to restore your parental rights, Gentry will remain their guardian, and she is to be the one to make all important decisions regarding their well-being. Please call my office if you have any further questions. I’ll be in touch.”
Daisy walks out before Dad can say another word, and we both stare after her.
“This is bullshit.” Dad scans the paperwork she gave him. It looks genuinely official. Daisy works in publishing, and she must have used the publishing house’s resources to create the papers. Or she has connections in the local government. Neither would surprise me. “But I know how the government works. If we even manage to make any money off selling this shithole, CPS willlabel it as unpaid child support and force me to put it into a college fund for your sisters or something.” He sighs and rubs a hand over his face. “Or, they’ll decide you should be the guardian and make me give all the money to you.”
I stare at my father, my heart sinking. He doesn’t sound like a man concerned for his children, he sounds like a man worried he’s not going to get the payout he was expecting. My throat is tight with heartbreak as I say, “I probably should get some of the money, since I’ve put a good bit into the maintenance and taxes on this place. And Emily and Sophie should get a college fund. You’ve given them nothing for the past three years, and you don’t think you owe them anything?”
His smile turns oily. “Your mother wouldn’t accept anything from me, kiddo. Now, I’m back, I’ll be helping you out with whatever you need as soon as I get the money. I can’t do that if the government takes it all.”
But I don’t trust him to ever give us anything. He’s never proved himself capable of it. Even when he was still here, Mom had the better job and complained more than once about him spending everything he made carelessly and on himself. Back then, I thought she was being too hard on my fun-loving father, but now I get it.
And I’m losing the last bit of hope I had that he’s changed. “If you want to stay here and be a guardian to the kids, Dad, you’re going to have to do what CPS asks. Like it or not, you’re going to have to do it.”
An emotion I can’t name flitters across his face before he smiles warmly. “You’re right, kiddo. I don’t like it, but I’ll do whatever it takes to make up for the years I’ve lost with Sophie, Emily, and you. I know you don’t love the idea, but selling this house is the best way to do it. It’ll give us a nice nest egg, and I can start paying off that child support bill.”
I study his face, wanting so badly to believe him. For Emily and Sophie’s sakes, but for mine, too. Maybe he is doing his best. If he is, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I just can’t turn off my brain. “Even if you downsize,” I say. “It might be hard to find a place cheap enough for you to make any money once you factor in the real estate agent’s fees and moving costs. It makes more sense to stay here, where the house is already paid for and you won’t have rent or a mortgage payment to deal with. I don’t understand the urgency to sell this place.”
Dad’s expression eases slowly into a weary frown. “It’s the memories in this house, kiddo. That’s why I can’t stay here. Your mother broke my heart in this very kitchen.”
My head spins with this new information. Mom broke his heart? Hard to believe when she was the one who moped for months after he left. And I still feel, down to my very bones, that letting him sell this house is a mistake.
But if he’s still determined to do it after everything we’ve tried to do to stop him, I don’t have any options left but to minimize the fallout for my sisters. “Okay, Dad. If that’s what you want. I’ll help you.”
He grins, leaps to his feet, pulls me out of my chair, and hugs me tight. “That’s my girl. I’m so glad I came home again.”
