Page 61 of Say the Words
Yet.
He cleared his throat and scraped a hand across the shiny scruff on his chin a few times, the sound like scratching sandpaper. He pulled his palm over his silver hair, smoothing it down.
“June, I’ve invited someone to join us for our family dinner tomorrow night.”
“Oh.” That information seemed…random.
“Marilyn Wells.” He paused, waiting for some acknowledgement.
“Sure, Marilyn from Fine & Dandy. She brought you the pie.”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “That’s the one.”
He glanced up at me, and in that hesitation, the pieces clicked together.
“Oh.Oh.” If only I could manage to say something more useful in this conversation thanoh.
“We’ve been seeing each other,” he said, watching for my reaction. “Romantically.”
“I gathered that.”
His mouth pulled into something between a smile and a grimace. “I haven’t been quite sure how to tell you.”
My father was dating. This news swept through my mind, searching for something to hold onto. I couldn’t rightly say it didn’t make sense—a kind, decent man, whose good looks defied his sixty-five years, Pop would be a catch. And yet, he was my pop. Imagining him squiring anyone other than my mother around Magnolia Ridge just didn’t seem right.
“How long have you two been...seeing each other?” The question felt all wrong in my mouth, like reading words from a language I didn’t understand.
“A couple of months now.”
I sucked in a breath, my thoughts slamming against a wall. “A couple ofmonths? Do Wade and Jed know?”
“Yes.” For a moment, he looked almost guilty, but his eyes sparked. “I didn’t want to say anything to get you worried if it wasn’t serious.”
I guess I could understand that, but his confession only brought up a whole new set of questions. “So itisserious?”
He hesitated. I marveled at how much could be said in those little gaps of silence.
“I care about her. Very much.”
A tiny, terrible part of me wanted to rail against him for forgetting my mother so easily. How could he move on after only two years? I knew how much he loved my mother, had seen that love play out in their everyday interactions my whole life through. And I had seen how losing her had gutted him. Now, he was suddenly over that, ready to move on with Marilyn Wells, the pie-making home decor queen?
“I’m not asking for your okay, June. But I sure would like to have it.”
I paused, torn. I couldn’t give away my approval just like that, as if this wasn’t a monumental adjustment, but I wouldn’t rage like a little girl who hadn’t gotten her way, either.
“I just want you to be happy.”
His face lit up, and I knew he had feared the sort of sullen resentment that had crossed my mind. The sort of resentment that still felt like a very real possibility, even though I’d meant every one of those words.
“Iamhappy.”
“Good.” I forced a smile and reached across the table to hold his hand.
He squeezed my hand right back. “So. About Ty—”
I stood from the table. “I’m going to go take a shower. Running through the rainstorm doesn’t count.”
He didn’t try to talk me out of my abrupt departure, but I saw the gleam in his eyes.
