Page 38 of By The Book
A huff of air left her lungs at her father’s intuitiveness. It wouldn’t do her any good to blame Scott, not now. She had to own her part, which included not arguing harder against the purchases they hadn’t been able to afford. Sixty-thousand-dollar trucks and Jeeps, the homes, Harley… “The, uh, house has a lot of equity. I talked to a friend in real estate, and she thinks I could get enough out of it to pay off all my debt,” she said honestly. “Also, there’s Tommy.”
“What about Tommy? Is something wrong with him?”
“What? No, nothing’swrongwith him, it’s just… I told you Tommy hasn’t been able to find his groove since Scott was killed, and I think he needs a solid male role model. I thought maybe you’d like to spend more time with him.”
“He is at that age,” her father said with a nod.
“Right. So, yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. You know, if you wouldn’t mind us moving here.”
“Why would I mind?”
She inhaled and seated herself on the edge of the coffee table. Why? Did he hear his tone of voice? “Because there are times when I think you hate me, Dad.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“Hate is hardly something to joke about.”
Her father swung the reclining footrest in with a bang and shot out of the chair. He stalked into the kitchen and then turned to glare at her.
“You know good and well I don’t hate you. You’re my daughter and you’re welcome here any time.”
“You mean we were welcome to stay in the apartment?” she asked, clarifying.
“That again? Claire, you should’ve called first if it bothers you so much to stay here in the house with me.”
“Dad, that’s not what I meant.”
“Don’t know why I’m surprised you don’t like it when you made it clear at seventeen that you couldn’t stand—”
“Oh, for the love of— Enough! Dad, that wasfourteenyears ago! Scott was the father of my baby and I was in love. Did you really expect me to stay?”
“Yes! Yes, I did! I expected you to use the brains God gave you.”
“To raise Tommy alone?”
“You wouldn’t have been alone. Your mother and I would’ve helped you.”
“But Scott was hisfather. Scott wanted to be a father andyou…Dad, you wanted to control my life and I couldn’t let you. Give me some credit for beinglikeyou in that way.”
“That boy took you away from us and then abandoned you.”
“Hedeployed, Dad, not abandoned. Big difference.”
Her father wiped a hand over his head and paced the floor.
“You should’ve stayed with us instead of dragging that baby all over the country.”
“I wanted to be with myhusband.”
“You broke your mother’s heart. She never got to see much of Tommy, and now here you are talking about moving back—something she always dreamed you’d do—and she’s not even here to see it.”
Her father’s voice cracked with emotion, and the impact hit Claire in the very depths of her soul.
She shoved herself up off the coffee table and stood on trembling legs. “I know. And I’m sorry for that. But it’s not too late for you to know Tommy and help influence his life—unless you keep acting like this, in which case I might as well stay in Virginia.”
She turned to head outside, needing fresh air and space and the soothing sounds of the waves crashing in the distance.
“Claire.”
