“You pay the bills,” I answered, laughing lightly. He smirked and crossed the threshold.
“I wish you had acknowledged that when you were younger. Instead, I got an angsty teenager telling me I didn’t respect her boundaries,” he said, straightening a frame of me, him, and Mom at one of my track meets. I was holding a gold medal and a bouquet of flowers in my arms. “Do you remember this?” he asked, becoming nostalgic.
“Of course I do. I broke a record.”
“I was in the stands cheering you on, and I hate to admit it, but I was praying for the girl in the next lane to trip.”
“Dad, that’s awful. She did trip and skinned her chin pretty badly.”
“Spare me. I didn’t give a shit then, and I don’t give a shit now.”
“You’re such a villain,” I teased, turning around and catching him eyeing my packed bags in the corner of my bedroom.
“You have more bags than usual.”
“I do.”
He smiled faintly. “You’re dead set on breaking an old man’s heart, huh?”
“I won’t be far,” I insisted.
“Chicago is far.”
“I’m not returning to Chicago.”
“Well, wherever the hell you’re going is far,” he said, sitting on my bed with a sigh.
“Did you need something, Dad?”
He sighed and slid his palms together, as he usually did when he was about to discuss a sensitive subject.
“Grant? Have you heard from him?”
“Why?” I asked curiously.
“I texted him a few times earlier this week, but he hasn’t responded. I tried to catch him at work, but Casey said he’d taken off the remainder of the week.”
He didn’t text you because he hates himself for hurting you.
“Have you tried swinging by his place?”
“Nah, you know how Grant can be sometimes. He doesn’t like it when we fuss over him. Casey confirmed he’d heard from him daily, so I know he’s alive.”
“He should be here in a few hours to ride to the rehearsal dinner. You should talk then.”
He shook his head. “No, thank you. For the next three days, I will focus on your sister and that hoodlum Anthony raised.”
I snorted. “Dad, give it a rest. I remember watching Daisy fly off the back of the couch like a flying squirrel with every intention of landing on Nori.”
“You would remember that.”
“Do you have your speeches ready?”
“I do. I plan on keeping them short and sweet. I don’t want to lie too much.”
“Felt.”
“I guess I should get to the point so I can leave you to get ready. A few little birdies told me that Governor Hopeful Thaddeus Branson Jr. came by the office with your cell phone and flowers. What’s that about?”