Chapter 39 I Knew Something Was Off
I Knew Something Was Off
I’m sitting at the local coffee shop, outside, with Allison while she tries to get my mind off of deciding whether I’m throwing myself headfirst into a relationship with Jake or if I’m going to be miserable for the rest of my life. Fun.
“Do you think I give Riden false hopes?”
“What? You? Never.” I say still staring into the distance, but very much paying attention.
“He’s cute and all, but I’m used to edgy.”
“And assholes.” I take my eyes off the drywall and look at her. “Riden is one of the best guys you could have by your side.”
She nods, pensive and resting her head on her hand.
“Aren’t you swearing off guys for a while, though?” I drink my juice from the straw, looking suspiciously at her.
“Yeah, this is all hypothetical, Maddie, Jesus.” She rolls her eyes, and I just sigh. And that’s when I catch a man in the corner of my eyes, walking with a massive bouquet of flowers into a back street. That man is my dad.
I get up right away and drag Allison by the wrist.
“Hey, I was asking you-”
“My dad is carrying a bouquet of flowers.” I tell her, and she shuts up immediately.
We catch up to him pretty quickly without him noticing. He turns several times and scratches his head, like he’s nervous.
“Do you think he has a date?” I ask Allison, my gut feeling horrible.
Poor man, he deserves it, especially a good woman after the trainwreck that was my mother.
My sister and I never saw him go on dates, and he rarely had female friends he talked about.
Of course, I want him to be happy, but he’s my dad, you know?
My only parents, and selfishly, I want him to stay mine and my sister’s secret super dad.
“I don’t know if we should be following him. If he has a date, he’ll tell me when it’s time.”
“Mads.” Allison stops in her tracks and points to an entrance. “Are your grandparents buried here?”
“No! My grandpa is buried in Jersey, and my grandma is very much still alive, you know that!” What a dumb question.
“Then why is your dad going to the cemetery?”
My eyes glue themselves to Mailview’s Cemetery entry, and my heart drops.
Deep down, I know. But I don’t really want to believe it.