Chapter 15
Delaney
“Come on, you two. We’re going to be late for dinner!” I yelled to Cole and Amaryllis. We were invited over to my parents’ house. Cole came hopping down the stairs with Amaryllis following behind him. Amaryllis had two long braids in her hair. “What took you so long?” I asked.
Amaryllis smiled and said, “Coley braided my hair for me.”
Cole braided my girl’s hair. Was there anything he didn’t do? He was a dream. He was the kind of father I had always wanted Miller to be, and he just never met the task. Amaryllis deserved so much and then in came Cole filling that role in so many ways. The relationship that Cole and Amaryllis have is unmatched. She took to him from the first moment she met him, and they’ve been inseparable since, even when I tried to put distance between us, like an idiot. Cole has been the best thing to happen to us and I was done fighting it.
***
Pulling into the ranch, I was feeling nervous. I wasn’t sure why because my parents had already met Cole and knew how wonderful he is. It was our first official dinner together though with them.
I parked and we all got out. Cole opened the door for Amaryllis, continuously demonstrating what it means to be a gentleman and it made me smile. “You ready?” I asked as Amaryllis hopped out of the backseat.
She was all smiles. “Yep!” She reached for mine and Cole’s hands. “Do I get to see Pepper?”
“A little later. Don’t beg. When we are all done with dinner, I promise we will go out visit her. Ok?”
“Oookay.” She said and then ran ahead when she saw my mom and dad come out on the porch to greet us.
Cole wrapped an arm around my shoulder and said, “You ok?”
“Yeah, I’m ok. Tonight feels weird and I can’t put my finger on it. Ignore me. Dumb anxiety.” I grinned at him.
“Don’t worry so much, babe. Everything’s fine. Let’s enjoy dinner with your parents.” He kissed the side of my head.
He was right. I wasn’t sure why I was so on edge, but I guess I just chalked it up to being close to my period, the full moon, and being tired. Those are all things that will mess you up, right?
***
Dinner was delicious. Mama made her famous potato salad and we had porkchops and asparagus with it.
We were all laughing as Amaryllis told us about how school was going for her. She’s a clown and even though I’ve told her jokes are mostly meant for at home, she hasn’t listened well. Luckily, her teachers are wonderful and don’t try to squash her personality. I have a feeling though I’ll be getting calls from the school as she gets older. It hadn’t helped that mama told her she was the same way when she was Amaryllis’ age.
There was a knock at the door. Daddy said, “I’ll get it. Why don’t you help clean up.” He looked at me and winked. Mama, Cole and Amaryllis all stood up and started to take their plates to the kitchen when I overheard dad talking.
“You shouldn’t be here. This is not the time.”
“When is the time, David. I haven’t seen my daughter in months and when I tried to go to her school, some other man was able to get her and not her own father.” It was Miller. Miller wasn’t going away.
“Are you drunk, son? Amaryllis doesn’t need to see this version of you.” My dad was always levelheaded when he spoke, calm. He could calm any situation.
Cole came over to me, “What’s wrong?” He whispered.
“Miller is at the front door. My dad is talking to him. I don’t want Amaryllis to see him. I think he’s drunk.”
Cole nodded, “Take your mom and Amaryllis out back. I’ll go to the front with your dad and just make sure he’s ok.”
Miller seeing Cole again wasn’t going to be good, but I didn’t want my dad dealing with Miller alone either. He was unstable. The most reliable thing about him was that he was unreliable. It made every decision easy as it pertained to Amaryllis. He didn’t get a choice. He blew his choice on drugs and prostitutes instead of taking care of our daughter. I was seeing red all over again because now he kept showing up to places where he had no business showing up. First my house, then Amaryllis’ school, and then my parents’ house. The audacity was high with Miller, and I was done. “Delaney. Go. Take your mom and Amaryllis outside, now.”
Cole snapped me out of my thought spiral. “Mama, Amaryllis, let’s go sit out back. Baby, you can feed the fish in the pond.” Amaryllis’ eyes lit up and she ran for the sliding door that led to the deck and backyard through the kitchen. If I could keep her distracted, then the situation didn’t need to touch her.