Page 16 of Accidentally Forever
Alexander Montgomery twirled me around a few times, before setting me down and hugging me tight. Herested one hand on the back of my head, as I wrapped my arms around his waist and let out a deep breath against his chest—something I had done ever since I had been tall enough to do so.
We stood there for a moment, as my breath finally eased. I didn’t cry, which surprised me, but hearing my father’s heartbeat under my ear settled me.
“That was the welcome that I wanted,” he murmured.
I smiled against him before finally taking a step back. “I always like to keep you on your toes.”
“You never have to worry about that, Aria. You have always been that way.” He winked and gestured toward my table. “Working on anything fun?”
I tried to hold back the cringe, but I wasn’t successful. My dad studied my face, frowning again.
“What’s wrong? Beyond the thing that I know you do not want to talk about right now.”
Grateful he wasn’t going to broach the Travis conversation, I let out a breath. “I’m not working on anything.” I shook my head. “I should be working on something. We have a show coming up soon, and I’m not going to have anything for it.”
“You don’t need to show something every week. Or even every year. You want me to look at anything?” He held up his hands. “Which is pretentious as fuck for meto even say. But if you want to talk about it, I’m here. Hell, my camera is in the truck. We can head up I-70 and see what we can capture.”
Tears pricked at my eyes, because I had the best father in the history of ever. I knew he had been surprised when I had followed in his footsteps. Mostly because I always hid my passion for photography. I had wanted it to be something of mine and hadn’t wanted to be compared to my father. I knew the chip on my shoulder was probably large enough to have its own zip code by this point, but I couldn’t help it.
In answer I shook my head. “Not today.” I paused, freeing my hands in front of me. “I just feel off. Frankly I need to talk to Crew.”
It was funny, because while I usually liked to keep my thoughts to myself, I also knew that I could tell my parents anything. I had never been forced to keep secrets from them. Never worried about what they would think. And yet, I wanted something just for myself. So I wasn’t even sure why I had said Crew’s name at all.
“I would offer to drive you there, but if Crew and I are in the same room, we’re going to get in the car and go do something that will probably end badly for both of us.”
My lips twitched at that, even though I knew itwasn’t a joke because my father was a boxer just like Crew and had been in fights before I was born. I was pretty sure he had been in a few afterward, but he had hidden those from us. Sebastian most likely had been to a few with him and by himself, because somebody had to train my brother before Crew had entered our lives. I had never really been interested in the whole boxing thing, except for when I watched Crew work out.
But those thoughts were for myself.
“You’re probably right.”
I looked at my desk again, my fingers itching. Maybe I should take my dad up on his offer. It would give me more time to think about what to say to Crew, and it would be nice to take photos again. Or just watch my dad do it. Maybe I’d find what I needed then.
But before I could say anything, someone I didn’t recognize walked into the back room. A woman with ruby red hair, a nice linen suit, and a broad smile looked around the space and danced on her toes. “Hello there, I don’t know if I’m supposed to be back here, but I was just looking around and couldn’t help but take a peek.”
“This is the work room, so no, it’s off-limits to guests for privacy and safety reasons, but I can take you up front to see any art pieces you like,” I said, using my most professional voice.
But the woman wasn’t looking at me. Instead shestared at my father, her eyes wide. She put her hand on her chest and staggered back. “You’re Alexander Montgomery. I saw your work in Washington, as well as Paris. The life you bring to your studies is just amazing. And amazing isn’t even a good word for it. I’m a fan clearly.”
My dad, always uncomfortable in these situations, put his hands in his jeans pockets and smiled. “Thank you. It’s always nice to meet someone who enjoys art.”
I did not look at my dad’s face because if I did, we would both burst out laughing.
Then the woman looked at me. “Oh, you must be his daughter. It’s so nice that you followed in his footsteps. He must teach you so much. You’re going to do so many amazing things one day. With those genes, you have to.”
Every word was like tiny shards of glass sliding into my skin before rubbing a rough towel over the punctures and burying that glass deep within.
I knew I wasn’t my father. I did not possess his talent. But sometimes I couldn’t help the voice that told me I had zero talent at all. That I was just playing pretend with my father’s old camera.
Then the voices would grow louder when people said things like that straight out as if they couldn’t wait to toss me in the shadow of my father’s presence.
And I couldn’t even blame them.
My smile turned brittle, but I wasn’t even sure the woman noticed. Thankfully I didn’t have to say anything, because Riley was there, running in behind the woman, a scowl on her face one moment before she smiled it away.
“Hello, ma’am. I’m going to take you out front. I’m sorry, this is where the artists work, and we need to keep it private.”
The woman sighed, but her smile stayed in place. “Um, I’m so sorry. It was lovely to meet you both.”
