Page 115 of The Wild Card
“Absolutely. But hang on—let’s do an action shot. Watch my high kick!”
Winnie gets an action shot, all right, but Wolf’s high kick busts one of Kalli’s pendant lights, and she chases him out of the store with a broom. She waits, holding the door open as a small group enters. James, Chase, Harper, and, finally, Deacon, who earns a full-body hug from Kalli. She locks the door and turns off the neon Open sign.
The Graham planning meeting has officially begun.
“Where’s Pat?” Collin asks.
“Lindy wasn’t feeling well, so he’s with Jo,” James says, and Collin nods, like this is the only acceptable answer.
Kalli and I clean and shut down the shop while Winnie helps Collin keep everyone on track. I listen half-heartedly as ideas and suggestions are tossed around. Collin and I have talked through everything together, so I don’t mind listening from afar as they discuss things like funding and facilities. Deacon, Kalli’s boyfriend, wants to be in on the investment level, and as a former pro football player, he has lots of good suggestions.
By the time we’re done cleaning the espresso machine and doing the other closing duties, they’ve made quite a bit of progress. Still, though, Collin looks tense.
“Hey,” I whisper, taking a seat on one of his thighs. “You know this is going to be okay, right? It’s a great idea. It’s going to be amazing.”
He sighs, leaning into my touch as I run my hands through his hair, lightly massaging his head. “Thank you. I know. It’s just?—”
Whatever he would have said is interrupted by a persistent knocking at the door.
“Who’s that guy?” Kalli asks.
We all look up, but only Chase and I react. Our shocked eyes meet and lock before we jump up together and head for the door.
“What is he doing here?” I hiss.
“I have no idea. When’s the last time you talked to him?” Chase asks.
“I haven’t.” The last communication Dad and I had was before he cut off my phone. I didn’t really see the point in talking to him after that.
But now he’s here … at the door of the coffee shop where I work and where Chase and I both happen to be. My brother meets my eyes before he flips the lock. I only realize Collin is right behind me when his hand finds my hip and squeezes.
“I’ve got you,” he says. “Whatever you need.”
I’m too choked up to say thank you. Too shocked by the sudden appearance of my dad here in Sheet Cake. Making matters worse is the fact that I still haven’t talked to Chase about everything. I told Collin, and I know I need to talk to my brother about how things have been with my dad. But … I haven’t.
And now he’s here.
Chase unlocks the door and holds it open. “Hey, Dad. How are—whyare you here? Sorry. That sounded rude. It’s just … a surprise.”
Dad looks between me and Chase, his steely-blue eyes cool. He looks older than the last time I saw him somehow. His gray combover is like a sad attempt at relevancy. I almost feel sorry for him.
“As a kind gesture, I drove Molly’s car down. Though it took some searching to find her. This street is where your phone location last pinged, then I asked about you from some man wearing … stilts?”
His frown shows complete disapproval. I want to laugh at the mental image of Dad talking to Wolf in his stilts. But my hands are also trembling, whether from nerves or anger or some combination of the emotions building up inside me, looking for release.
Dad drove my car down, which seems on the surface like a nice gesture. But it feels invasive—more like he’s checking in or spying on me. I’d put money on the fact that he probably assumed he could convince me to drive back to Kansas with him.
“You wouldn’t have needed to use my phone’s last location to find me if you hadn’t cut off my phone service.”
I manage to speak the words evenly, without any shred of the anger stemming from his actions. Speaking it aloud, stating this true thing actually helps me release a lot of the pent-up emotion I’ve been carrying. Not all. But some.
The room goes quiet, and I’m aware everyone else is listening to this exchange unabashedly. Knowing this adds strength to my spine. Because I know any one of them, even Kalli and Deacon, whom I know the least, would jump in to defend me if I needed them.
“You cut off Molly’s phone service?” Chase frowns at Dad.
“She wanted to be independent,” Dad says. “I was simply being supportive of that goal.”
Collin makes a quiet noise beside me—somewhere between a growl and a snort. His big hand curls around mine and squeezes.
