Page 84 of Wilder Puck
I lean my head into my hands as the tears fall down my face. My dad would never allow me to talk openly about my mom. It was a wound too close, so I’m grateful for this.
“I miss you, dad.”
“I miss you, too.”
“I’m sorry if it’s hard to be around me. I see her more and more in the mirror as the years go by, and I understand.”
“I’m sorry, Addison.”
The phone is silent as I continue to cry. I hear him sniffle a few times.
After a minute, I wipe my eyes. “Do you remember Ryan?”
“The Wilder boy?”
“Yeah,” I smile through the tears. “The Wilder boy.”
“You still friends with him?”
I nod. “Yeah. I’m shacking it up with him now, actually.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, but maybe not anymore.”
“Well, what happened?”
I explain the story as much as I can without getting sidetracked. But in the end, my dad says, “It sounds like he loves you and wants to take care of you, Addie. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
I sigh. “But even with the going behind my back and making a secret deal with my landlord.”
He says, “Yeah, even with that. If he told you he was doing it, would you have let him?”
“No.”
“Okay. So, there’s a young man who’s in love with you and doesn’t want to see you struggle––”
“Dad,” I stop him. “He didn’t have to go behind my back though. He could’ve let me work the second job and let me figure this out on my own.”
My dad says, “You’ve always been able to take care of yourself, and I’m so proud of you for that. Maybe I’m from a different time, sweet pea, but I don’t see a damn problem in a man trying to help you. It doesn’t matter if he did it this way or that way, in the end, did it help you?”
I sigh, not wanting to hear this perspective. “I stopped stressing out, so yes, it did.”
“You know what I call a man that wants to help a woman?”
“What?” I ask.
“Husband material.”
Now I’m laughing because I thought he was going in the opposite direction with that.
“I love you, Dad. Thank you. For picking up the phone, for talking me down.”
“I love you too, sweet pea. More than anything in this world. I know I haven't always shown it the way I should have, but I'm here, Addie. Whenever you need me.”
Tears prick at my eyes, but for once, they don't feel like defeat. They feel like healing. “Promise?”
“Yes, what do you say I take you out for breakfast.”
