“Right,” I agree through gritted teeth.
We’ve gone through the same song and dance before. When I was growing up, my father was always worried about election season and collecting votes, which meant I needed to be on my best behavior. Which I guess also means I maybe shouldn’t have stolen the mayor’s microphone an hour ago and used it as an opportunity to start a rant about the patriarchy and how archaic it is that we’re auctioning women off like cattle.
To be fair, I was right, and if their cheers were any indication, many people in the crowd gathered in Pine Square for the Mid-Summer Fling agreed with me.
Sure, we were raising money for repairs on the community center that was destroyed by a tree falling on it during a bad storm, but my point remained the same.
My father sighs loudly. “So, the Mid-Summer Fling, huh?”
“It’s a crock of shit!” I explode. “Can you believe we’re still participating in that thing? It’s ridiculous! And so embarrassing. This town is so much better than parading women around for the sole purpose of selling them for dates. As if weneedmen. It’s—”
He lifts his hand, putting an end to my tirade. “I agree with you, Summer. You know that.”
I smile. Idoknow that. My father raised me as a single parent from the time I was eight, and for as long as I can remember, he instilled in me that women are strong and that we can do anything men can do, damn whatever anyone else says.
I’m sure he didn’t expect those words of wisdom to be the reason I’m sitting handcuffed to a table today.
“While I’m very proud of you for standing up for what you believe in, I do think there were better times you could have chosen to relay your feelings to the entire town.”
A flicker of guilt shoots through me. He’s right. I shouldn’t be riling everyone up, least of all him, given what happened last month and brought me back home in the first place.
I didn’t think anything could be worse than losing one parent, but the idea of losing both might just be it. Getting the phone call that he was having a “heart incident” at 2:00 a.m. wasn’t on my bingo card, and I booked a ticket back to Washington as fast as I could.
He swears he’s fine, and I believe him to an extent, but it’s not enough to send me back to Chicago anytime soon. Not like I have anything to go back to anyway. I burned too many bridges, and I have nobody to blame but myself.
Staying in Port Harbor just makes sense right now.
“It wasn’t the entire town,” I say, trying to cross my arms and failing because I’mstillhandcuffed. I lift my wrist, the metal clanking against the table. “Can we please take these off?”
He nods, rising from his chair and pulling the keys from his pocket. He undoes the lock, tossing the cuffs onto the table as I rub at my wrists.
“Fucking Jenkins,” Dad mutters, talking about his deputy who likes wearing his badge just a littletoomuch some days.
I have no doubt he’ll be getting an earful from the sheriff later.
“Thank you.” I fold my hands together on the table. “So, what’s my punishment other than embarrassment from being cuffed in front of the entire town?”
“It wasn’t the entire town,” he echoes, grinning when I roll my eyes. “I’m sorry Deputy Jenkins did that to you.”
“Not as sorry as he’s going to be if I catch him around town again. I’ll make him a cheesecake. He still gets the shits from dairy, right?”
“Summer ...” my father warns, but I see the amusement in his eyes.
“Fine. I’ll just politely jaywalk away from him.”
“Do not jaywalk!”
“Why do you ruinallmy fun, Father?”
He shakes his head, sinking lower in his chair like he’s exhausted by me. “I swear, you remind me more and more of your mother every day.”
I grin. “I take that as a compliment.”
My mother passed away from breast cancer when I was young enough to remember only a few things about her, and one of those things was her tenacity. Rebecca Turner never let anyone off the hook, not even my father, and I always admired her headstrong nature.
Apparently I picked up the same trait.
“Good. It’s intended as one.” He clears his throat, and it’s because he still misses her, even though it’s been eighteen years since she’s been gone. He’s dated a bit over the years, but nothing long term, and while I wish he had someone so he wasn’t so lonely, I understand it. He loved my mother more than anything, and love like that only happens once.He’s not looking to try to replace her, and I respect that. “Now, about your punishment.”