Page 15 of Thanksgiving Daddy's Girl
“He’s gone,” I whisper. “No, no, no!”
10
MYLES
My phone buzzes in my pocket and when I see it’s Maeve—again—I send the call to voicemail. Again. I’ve already taken a blowtorch to my relationship with Howie. I’m not going to ruin her relationship with her dad by being a stubborn prick and being with his daughter when he clearly doesn’t want me to. What the fuck was I thinking? I knew she was forbidden fruit the moment I tasted her and yet, once I got my first bite, I couldn’t stop.
The thought of life without Maeve in it is tearing me up inside. She somehow managed to open doors within me I never knew were there. She made me feel things I’ve never felt before. Things I never knew I could feel. She opened me up to a feeling of love I never thought I’d have. And I didn’t realize it until those words fell out of my mouth. Until it was too late.
She was right. I spent too many of my years living in fear. Living scared. I let my fear over what people might say or think guide my actions. And maybe that’s why I’ve spent most of my life wandering the world. Maybe I’ve been searching for the verything I found in Maeve. The thing that’s been under my nose this whole time. And now it’s gone.
“Another, please,” I say, tapping my empty glass.
The bartender comes over and refills my glass. I pick it up and stare into the amber liquid, giving it a little swirl as I do. I throw it back then set the glass down and check my watch. I still have two fucking hours to kill before my flight. I guess I’m lucky I was able to get a flight out at all, given that it’s almost Thanksgiving.
“Forget how to answer your phone?”
My heart lurches as Maeve slides onto the stool next to me. “What are you doing here?”
“Came to find you.”
“How’d you know where I’d be?”
“Where else would an Irishman be but at a bar?”
“But how’d you know I was at the airport?”
She smirks. “My dad’s a tech genius, remember? He pinged your phone.”
“Ah. And why would he do that?”
“So he could tell me where to find you in the first place,” she says. “Duh.”
“No, I mean why would he help you find me after he tossed me out? I’m persona non grata in the Finley household in case you forgot.”
“Yeah, about that,” she says. “My dad wants me to bring you back so he can apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“Yeah, we had a come-to-Jesus talk and I made him see what an asshole he was being,” she says. “He wants you to come back with me. He wants to tell you he’s sorry in person.”
“Sorry,” I say. “So?—”
“He said he’s okay with us being together,” she says, her smile brighter than the sun. “He said it’s going to be weird for a minute, but he says you’re the best man he knows, he actually used the word, ‘integrity’, and that he knows you’re going to be good to me.”
“He said that?”
“He did.”
“And what did you say to get him to say that?”
She shrugs. “I just gave him some hard truths. All that matters is that he sees the error of his ways and he’s okay with us being together,” she says. “So, the only question left to answer is, do you still want to give this a shot? Because I do. I love you Myles. And I know you love me.”
“I do.”
Her smile is followed by a breath of relief. “So, what do you say we get out of here? We still have a Thanksgiving dinner to plan.”
It’s all happening so fast, I’m caught in a web of surprise and disbelief. But the idea that I’m getting a second bite at the apple fills me with a sense of relief that’s second to the feeling of joy filling my heart. I pull some cash out of my pocket and throw it on the bar then pick up my bag in one hand and take Maeve’s in the other.
