Chapter 31
A FATHER’S TALE
LANEY
“You going to be okay?”
Megan swung our hands between us a few times, tipping her head while she watched for my reaction.
God, I was tired of her looking at me like that. It was the same expression she’d worn all the way to her hotel in Boston to get her things (including some ill-fitting sweats for me so I wouldn’t have to go near Ronan’s house), then to the airport, where we’d caught a redeye home to Seattle.
I’d been on edge expecting Ronan, or at least Mac, to find us. As phantom-like as he was from the start, it really would have been just like him to step out from behind a pillar or a random TSA agent.
But he hadn’t shown up, and I hadn’t given him any other ways to find me after turning my phone off as I left the reception, then keeping it off the entire way home. Now, hot off a flight that Megan had managed to get us on last minute, I was exhausted and in no mood to be disappointed.
“I’m fine,” I bit out as I took out my keys, managing to fit them in the lock on the third try. “I just need some sleep and a lawyer. In that order.”
“Kennedy’s boyfriend is a lawyer.”
I gave her a look. “Isn’t he an environmental lawyer?”
Megan shrugged as I opened the door to the stairs leading up to my apartment. “They all probably know each other.”
She was antsy, bouncing on her toes in a way that told me she was eager to get home to her own husband, as if the bomb that had just dropped on my marriage made her want to check on the health of hers.
I wanted to tell her she had nothing to worry about. That Kevin was as safe as a kiddie pool, whereas Ronan was the equivalent of rip tide.
But what did I know? Clearly nothing.
“I’m good, Megs.” I gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Go home to Kev. I’ll call you tomorrow after I wake up.”
“You sure?”
“Go.”
I practically had to shove her away, then closed the door behind me quickly so she couldn’t ask any more questions while I climbed the steps to my apartment. Even the alley cat didn’t have time to come around, looking for food.
I let myself in, expecting quiet and the stale scent of a space not lived in for a few weeks. Instead, I found my dad sound asleep on the pullout with the scent of coffee wafting through the air.
He stirred at the sound of the door closing and sat up. “Laney, sweetie? Is that you?”
I hung the clutch I’d brought with me from the party—I hadn’t dared to go back to Ronan’s house to retrieve my things lest he follow me there—on the coatrack, followed by Megan’s sweatshirt. “Hi, Dad. What, ah, are you doing here?”
He covered a yawn, then shoved a hand back through his thinning hair.
“Well, I was supposed to be on a flight back to Arizona after signing those papers, but Megan called. Said you were pretty upset about the whole thing and she was bringing you home.” He looked me over, like I was still a little girl back from the playground with a scraped knee she needed her daddy to fix. “Seemed like I should stick around.”
I sniffed. Then bit my lip. And before I knew it, I had burst into tears.
“Ah, shoot,” said my father as he hopped up from the couch and crossed the room in four quick strides to pull me into his arms.
It only made me cry harder.
“Hush, honey. I’m here. My goodness.” He rocked me back and forth like he hadn’t in years, stroking my hair back from where it had escaped from its bun. “Shoots, kiddo. Your old man really messed up, didn’t he?”
“I—you didn’t—” I could barely get my words out as I stood up from his shoulder and swiped at my tear-stained cheeks. “It wasn’t your fault, Dad. It was theirs.”
“Whose, Laney bug?” He continued to brush my hair out of my face and rub my shoulder. “The Blacks? They said it was what you wanted—”
“Who, Ronan?” That hurt more than anything. He knew what Mom’s company meant to me. He knew.
He also knew you didn’t want to run it anymore, a smaller voice mentioned.
I scowled. This was no time for logic.
“Well, no,” Dad admitted as he guided me over to the couch, then sat down beside me. “But his brother. His dad. I figured you were on board.” He brushed his hair back again. “I’m so sorry, kiddo.”
“Dad?” The tears had almost stopped now, only continuing when I remembered that this was the longest conversation my dad and I had had in over a year.
“What’s that?”
“Why didn’t you answer any of my calls about the company? We’ve been trying to hire a creative director for weeks.”
When his eyes met mine, I saw for the first time just how tired my father still was. Mom’s illness had left him a shell, so when he moved away and got a tan and started doing things like golf and pickleball on a regular basis, he suddenly seemed so happy.
But there, in his blue-gray eyes, was still the deep grief and pain I saw in my reflection every day.
“At first, it was because I was camping up in Sedona,” he replied, rubbing his jaw. “And then… I just couldn’t, kiddo. I know I’ve been running away from things. I hear it in your voice, your disappointment in me.”
“Dad, no—”
“But the truth is, I’m ready to let go. Not of you, of course.
And if what you really want is to keep the shop open to hold on to your mom’s memory, then I’m all for it.
I’ll call a lawyer or do whatever we need to cancel that contract, and we can, I don’t know, order more sweaters or whatever you think she would have liked. ”
I giggled. I couldn’t help it. Dad loved my mother, but he didn’t know the first thing about clothes.
“But… is that really what you want to do with your life, Laney?” he pressed.
“Give up school to manage a struggling clothing company? Call me crazy, kid, but I don’t think your mom would have wanted that for you either.
” He picked up my hand and squeezed. “As crazy as this whole ‘got married in Vegas’ thing was, I was actually kind of relieved. You were getting out of your box. Seeing the world again rather than living in a memorial. But if it’s still what you want… ”
“It’s not.” It came out as a whisper. And while I thought I should feel guilty, I didn’t.
“It’s not, Dad. I was… I was excited about the idea of someone else running it.
” I shook my head. “I don’t like that you sold it without talking to me.
And I’m really mad that Ronan’s family used it to manipulate us both.
But if you were ready to sell, I would have done it too.
I understand now why you moved on. I’m ready to do that too. ”
He slid an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, so that we could lie back on the couch together, snuggled the way we did when I was still a teenager, living at home. “I’m glad to hear it, kid.”
“But, Dad?”
“What’s that?”
I sat up so that I could look straight at him. “I still need you. When Mom died, I needed my dad. And you just… left.”
Grief flashed across his face, followed by guilt. “I know. I’ve been lost too. But that was no excuse for leaving you here the way I did.” He squeezed my shoulder again. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“Will you disappear again?”
He yanked me close, and I inhaled the familiar scent of coffee, Irish Spring soap, and his favorite aftershave. “Never.”
“I still miss her so much,” I whispered. “Will it ever stop?”
His sigh filled his entire chest, and I could hear the tears clog his throat. “I don’t know, kiddo. Hasn’t yet for me.”
We sat there for a long time, crying together the way we should have long before now. When I finally sat up to wipe my eyes, I suddenly felt more tired than I had in a very long time. Maybe my body and soul were ready to heal in more ways than one.
“I could move back,” Dad said as I got up to make myself some tea. “They’ve got golf and pickleball up here too.”
“No, don’t do that. You’re happy in Arizona, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “As happy as I can be right now, sure. But I want you to be happy too, hon.”
I sighed as I set the kettle on the stove to heat. “I will be. One day.”
Dad twisted on the couch toward me. “You gonna tell me what happened with you and your new husband, or will I have to bribe it out of you with chocolate like when you were a kid?”
My chest tightened, but my heartbeat remained the same. Thankfully, that hadn’t gone too haywire at the reception. Stress was always a trigger, but Megan had gotten me out of there before things had gotten too bad.
“The truth is, I think it was all a sham. Not for me, I mean. My part was just a mistake. A stupid, drunken mistake. But for him… I think he just wanted to stay married so he could prove himself to his father and his board and become CEO of their big company. I was just a—” I cut myself off as I selected a chamomile.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over.”
Dad watched me for several moments while I chose a mug and took too much time to put the tea bag in place. “Are you sure about that?”
“I have to be.” I couldn’t quite meet his gaze, though.
“I see.” Dad twisted his mouth in that expression I knew well—the “let Laney figure out Laney” look he and Mom used to share when they thought I was being stupid. All the same, they allowed me to make my own mistakes. Just like he was doing now. “Well, if you ever need to talk, day or night…”
I managed a weak smile. “Thanks, Dad. Right now, I just need a cup of hot tea and a very long nap. Things will look different after a few hours of sleep.”
He nodded. “How about I rustle up some mac and cheese tonight for dinner? Your favorite boxed kind with minimal nutritional value?”
I grinned. “Only if we make Mom’s cucumber salad too. She’d want us to eat something healthy.”
He grinned right back. “It’s a date.”
Unfortunately, once I was ensconced in my bedroom, belly full of warm tea, one of Mom’s knit blankets around my shoulders, sleep didn’t come quite as easily as I hoped. Even less so when I did the one thing I knew I shouldn’t and turned on my phone.
It exploded with messages and missed calls.
All of them from the same curly-haired, mischievous-faced man I knew I’d be dreaming about for a long time, whether I wanted to or not.
Ronan
Where did you go?
Ronan
Laney, please. Let me explain
Ronan
I know you’re angry, but I swear to God, it’s not what you think
Ronan
I’m sorry. I’m beyond fucking sorry
Ronan
Talk to me. I deserve that much
Ronan
I love you, Ari. Please
I had decided to turn the phone off again when another call buzzed in my hand, this time from an unknown number in an area code I recognized as Vegas.
“Well, you didn’t waste time, did you?” I muttered, then sent it to voicemail. If Ronan had decided to drink himself into another oblivion to deal with his problems, he could do it without me.
The phone buzzed again.
It was clear he wasn’t going to give up.
I answered it without even thinking. “Ronan, I do not want to—”
“This isn’t Ronan.” A deep and very unfamiliar male voice sounded through the speaker. “Am I speaking to Delaney Fisher?”
“I—yes.”
“Ms. Fisher, this is Detective Dylan Rodriguez with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. I’m calling about your recent visit to Las Vegas last month. Do you have a few minutes to answer some questions?”
“I… can I ask what this is regarding?” Something in my stomach tightened.
“An article was recently published in The Boston Herald about your recent marriage to Ronan Black, and it states that you met and married him on the evening of June fifth. Can you confirm when and where you first met Mr. Black that night?”
The room lurched.
This was the exact question Ronan had wanted me to answer. There was something he was hiding. Something he had been doing that night before he met me.
Something for which he needed an alibi.
“Ms. Fisher?”
“I’m here,” I sputtered. “Sorry, I’m not running on much sleep.”
“That’s all right. Can you tell me what time you first encountered Mr. Black on June fourteenth?”
“Why? Did he do something?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss, Ms. Fisher. If you can answer the question…”
I closed my eyes. I didn’t know what Ronan had done that was so terrible, but I wasn’t under any illusions. He had plenty of regrets, and while I never knew the specifics, I never thought he was an angel.
But was I mad enough to condemn him for it?
“I’m sorry, but I’ll need to call you back,” I said suddenly. “I don’t think I should be speaking to the police without a lawyer present.”
“I see. Well, you have my direct number. Please call me back within the next forty-eight hours. The sooner the better.”
I lay in my bed, staring at the phone for what felt like hours. What could Ronan have done that had the Las Vegas police calling across state lines, trying to track him down?
I had a feeling it wasn’t an unpaid parking ticket.
As if summoned, my phone buzzed again with one more text.
Ronan
Please, Laney. Just tell me where you are. I need to know you’re safe. You owe me that much, at least
I stared at the message for a long time. I wasn’t sure I owed him anything right now, much less my safety.
Nevertheless, I found myself typing out one more message before turning the phone back off so I could sleep.
I’m home. I’ll be fine without you. For both our sakes, please let me be.