Page 21 of Seven Summers Ago
I look at him—deadpan. “Almost seven.”
He props his hands on his hips. “You’re sure she’s yours?”
“Milo,” I mutter on a released breath. “Have you seen her? She looks like me. Hell, she looks like you. That girl is definitely a Stone.”
Milo lets out a low whistle. “I can’t believe she had a baby and never told you. What are you gonna do?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.” I dig my toes into the wet sand. “What can I do?”
“I hate to say it, but now that you know, bro, you can’t just be an absent father.”
Of course I can’t. I won’t. But I don’t know how this is going to work. “Her life is in Seattle, mine is here. What am I supposed to do? Just move over there and start over? I don’t even know the girl. What if she wants nothing to do with me? What if she hates me for not being around these last six years?”
Milo glances out toward the ocean and shakes his head slowly. “I don’t know. But what I do know is you’re not gonna let this go. You’re too good of a person. Even if she ends up pushing you away.”
“What if I don’t have a choice?”
“Don’t give her the choice.”
“What if I suck at being a dad?” I finally ask the question that’s been haunting me since I heard the news. “We didn’t have the best example.”
He turns to face me. “You’re gonna be an awesome dad. You know how I know?” But he doesn’t wait for me to answer. “Because you were an awesome dad to me,” he admits, thehonesty of his words hanging in the air between us. “You stepped up to be a father figure for me. And now, you get to do it for this little girl.Yourlittle girl.”
“That was different. I had to.”
“That’s bullshit. You didn’t have to. And you need to stop saying that. What you did was selfless. Not just anyone would do that, but you did.”
My eyes burn.
“But now, I’m good. Thanks to you. And Dad is coming around. Now that he’s sober, he’s trying to make up for lost time. We’ll get there.”
“What are you suggesting? That I move to Seattle? Because that’s crazy.” I shove my hands through my hair and slide them to the back of my neck, interlocking my fingers.
“I’m not saying that. All I’m saying is maybe keep an open mind. But you need to start with getting to know this little girl. Because you’re probably right, she’s going to have a lot of questions.”
Turning to face the waves, I stuff my hands in my pockets. A few seagulls swoop down to the sand to peck at a crab that’s belly-up. “Yeah, and how am I supposed to answer them?”
“With honesty. That’s what I would want of our dad.”
Sounds so simple. But it’s anything but. “How’d your ass get so wise?”
“I had a great role model.”
I glance at him and he’s looking at me, grinning. I hook my arm around his neck and haul him into my side. He allows a second of brotherly love before he retreats, breaking free from my hold and then tackling me from behind.
He may be grown up, but he’s still my kid brother and I know him. He’d rather roughhouse than get emotional or affectionate. So I let him lighten the mood.
He nearly takes me down, but I’ve got a least an inch on him and use it to my benefit. I escape and he chases me before hopping onto my back to try to take me out that way and we both end up in the water.
8
BECK
“Thanks for squeezing me in this morning.” I jiggle my knee while my fingers fidget in my lap. The scent of cucumber melon filling the small office triggers unwelcome memories of my mom to flicker into my mind.
My gaze takes a trip around the room, trying to look at anything but Dr. Sam Bailey. The office is void of color. The couch is beige, her desk and chair are both white, the boho artwork on the walls vary in shades of ivory, white, and light beige. My brain fixates on the wonder of why this is. Maybe to avoid distracting her patients. But it’s having the opposite effect on me.
“You’re welcome,” she replies. She crosses her legs in the white pants.Enough with the white already, I want to shout. But instead, I suck in a deep breath and release it. “You said it was urgent. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
