Page 93 of The I Do Over

“And what? You never once asked me where I wanted to go to school or what I wanted,” she snapped. “All my damn life you never asked, you told! That one weekend was the chance for me to take some happiness for myself and I was foolish enough to think it was enough.” Shaking her head, she looked up at him and found that she didn’t really feel anything—not anger, not remorse, and certainly not love. “I made a bad decision and ruined lives. The blame is 100% on me. Not Knox. He was innocent in all of this. You can continue to believe whatever you want, but you were wrong in the way you reacted—then and last month.”

Jeff stood there in silence and Maddie watched as all the cocky arrogance sort of withered away.

“You never listened,” she told him quietly. “I tried talking to you about it—right after you threw Knox out and for months afterwards. You sent me away and refused to talk to me and that’s why we are where we are today.”

“No, you didn’t…”

“I did, and you know it.” The weary sigh was out before she could stop it. “Now, I’d like you to leave. Maybe somewhere down the road we can talk, but it’s not now. Now it’s my turn to be selfish; it’s my turn to chase after my own happiness, and this time you’re not going to ruin it for me.”

Just over her father’s shoulder, Maddie saw a movement.

Knox.

He stepped into the office just as Jeff turned to walk out. There was a brief pause on both of their parts, but neither said a word. Maddie felt like she couldn’t breathe until she heard the front door to the clinic open and close.

Then she nearly slid out of her chair with a huge sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?” Knox asked worriedly as he came to her side.

“I really think I am,” she told him as she straightened and then stood to hug him. His arms immediately went around her and she let herself enjoy it for a minute before pulling back to look up at his face. “I had no idea he was even in town again.”

“To be honest, I expected him back sooner.”

“I didn’t expect him to come back at all. After the snarky text…”

“What snarky text?”

Maddie told him about the text her father sent after his last visit. “That was sort of my lightbulb moment—like I knew then that my relationship with him was beyond repair. And I wasn’t even sad about it.”

Knox pulled her in close again. “I’m sorry, Angel Face. I know that’s got to be hard. No matter what, he’s still your father and…”

“Please don’t try to say all the things you think you’re supposed to say. It’s really okay. He and I haven’t had a good relationship in years. Possibly ever.” Turning her head, she kissed his chest. “There are so many amazing things happening in my life and he never would have seen it that way. Why would I want someone like that hanging around to rain on my parade?”

When she looked up at him, he looked ready to argue—or at least comment—and then chose not to.

“And how did you get here so fast? I mean, I figured you’d be here within the hour, but it seems like you’re here much earlier than I expected.”

He grinned. “I left a little earlier and didn’t call you until I’d been on the road for a while because I wanted to surprise you.” With a chuckle, he added, “It turns out I was the one who was surprised.”

“What…?”

“I’m proud of you, Maddie,” he said gruffly. “I know that took a lot for you to confront your dad like that and I hate that you even had to do it. We talked about it and I would have been fine if we just let it go. I’ve come to realize that some things just don’t need to be said anymore.”

“No,” she said firmly, shaking her head. “It needed to be said, and it should have happened a long time ago. But now I feel like that was the last of our past that had to be dealt with, and now we have a free and clear path to our future. I feel like I finally have some peace.”

Knox reached up and caressed her cheek. “I love you, my brave girl. You are everything to me.”

“And I love you, my knight in shining armor. I can’t wait until we get our lives started in Raleigh. I am definitely ready for a fresh start.”

“Have you talked to the realtor yet? Any bites on the house?”

“Oh!” she said excitedly, moving out of his arms. “I can’t believe I almost forgot! I got an offer today!”

His entire face lit up. “Seriously? Was it good? Was it what you were hoping for?”

“It was better. The paperwork is already in the works and with luck, we will close in thirty days.”

“Thirty days? Holy shit!”

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