Page 37 of The Vet's Unconditional Love
"Okay, thanks, but...If I don't see you later, can I call you later?"
She pressed her lips together in an attempt to hold in a smile."Of course, I'd like that."
"Okay, I'd better get back to it.Talk to you later."
~ ~ ~
There was still plenty of space in the parking lot behind the town's small theater when Emmett arrived an hour later.He spotted Harper's truck and parked his own beside it.He should have known that he wouldn't be able to get here on time, but with a bit of luck, he'd still catch the last part of the rehearsal, and that meant he'd get to see Alana do her thing.
More than anything, she wanted him to hear her sing.She was good, he knew that; she'd been singing around the house for the last couple of years, and she had a great voice.Sure, he was her dad, so he was bound to think so, but it was more than that, he knew it was.She'd been telling him for weeks about how different it was to sing on stage, and how good everything sounded with the sound system.
He turned the collar of his jacket up against the wind as he hurried across the parking lot and quietly slipped into the back of the theater.The place was hardly packed; there were a few families and groups of kids scattered around the seats.But he didn't want to interrupt proceedings by marching down there.Instead, he stood with his back to the wall, watching the kids on stage.Alana wasn't out there right now, but he'd heard her rehearsing often enough to know that she'd be out to sing soon.
He checked along the walkway that ran behind the seats and went to stand under one of the overhead lights.He might not have been here for the whole thing, but he wanted her to see him and know that he was here to see her.Given that his work interfered with his life so often, he'd set up this system with both Alana and Tanya years ago.They knew that if ever they didn't see him in the crowd or amongst the parents at one of their events, they had to look for a light at the back of the room.If he could make it, he'd be standing under it.And even if he didn't get there in time, the light would shine at them for him.
Once he was positioned, he scanned the audience and soon spotted Tanya and Harper sitting halfway down on the other side of the theater.He could probably make his way down to go and sit with them, but he didn't want to be a distraction to anyone.And he wanted to be damn sure that Alana would spot him.He'd made it; he wanted her to know that he'd made it.
He smiled at the sight of Tanya and Harper whispering to each other.Tanya chatted away, no doubt in a stage whisper that everyone around her would be able to hear, and it was easy to see that Harper was paying attention to her while still keeping an eye on the stage.
He chuckled when Tanya bounced up and down in her seat and pointed, then he turned to see his older daughter step out onto the stage.His breath caught when she began to sing.She really did have a fantastic voice—it wasn't just his dad pride talking.But more than that, she looked...she was beautiful.She looked just like Emily.
He swallowed, caught in a strange limbo, hit hard by the loss of his wife and now the realization that he'd lost his little girl, too.She was a young woman in her own right and becoming more so every day.He was proud of her, of course he was.He did everything he could to help guide her into becoming her own woman.But seeing her up there on the stage looking so much like her mom was like a physical blow.
His eyes stung but he refused to blink.He didn't want to miss a moment of it.His heart felt like it swelled in his chest when she looked up and spotted him.He raised his hand and finally had to blink away the blurriness behind his eyes when her voice rang out louder and clearer now that she'd seen him.
He wasn't surprised when Tanya turned in her seat to check the back of the room.She knew what her sister's reaction meant.She waved madly at him, and he waved back, but jerked his chin toward the stage.He didn't want either of them to miss Alana's performance.Tanya grinned before turning back around to face the front.
As soon as Alana's solo was over and she left the stage, Tanya turned in her seat again, tapping Harper on her shoulder as she did so.When Harper turned, he lifted his hand in greeting to her too, and the way she smiled and held her hand up in return made something loosen in his chest.He didn't know why she had that effect on him.He wouldn't have said he was a tense or stressed kind of guy, but something about her made him...relax, that was the only word he could think of for it.
Tanya beckoned for him to come over, but he shook his head slightly.The show was almost over, and by the time he sat down with them, it'd be time to leave again.But more than that, standing up here at the back like this, observing Alana on stage, Tanya sitting watching, and Harper here for both of them, was something he felt like he needed to see from a distance.Check out how he felt about it before he stepped inside it.
When Tanya beckoned him again, and he shook his head, Harper smiled at him before turning back to his daughter.From this distance, he had no idea what she said to her, but Tanya nodded happily, gave him a little wave, and then sat back down in her seat.He watched her rest her head against Harper's shoulder as the two of them began to sing along with the cast and most of the rest of the audience to the final number.
It gave him an answer he didn't know he'd been looking for.
If he stayed on the periphery like this and let Harper build her relationship with the girls separately from him, he wouldn't be doing any of them any favors.
He looked up at the recessed light above his head and murmured to himself, "You might turn out to be right in the end, Em.But I'm not saying I’ll keep that promise, not yet."
~ ~ ~
When the final curtain came down—or tried to, at least—the actual curtain stuck halfway, leaving the cast and crew laughing as they scrambled to fix it.From what Harper could see, that was the only part of the production that was going to need a whole lot more rehearsal.
Tanya watched, laughing for a few moments, then jumped to her feet, and Harper followed.
"Come on, let's go see Dad.I kept my fingers crossed the whole time.I knew he'd make it if he could.He always does, you know.I mean, sometimes he can't, but when he can, he comes.He does his best."
Harper chuckled to herself as she followed Tanya up the steps to where Emmett was waiting at the back of the theater.She stood back as Tanya flung herself at him and then laughed at the way she climbed up him, like a little monkey, until she was sitting on his shoulders.That was a new one.
Emmett laughed and leaned forward, holding her securely as he bent, until Tanya was standing on the floor again, laughing."You're getting too big for that, Button."
"I might get too big," Tanya replied, "but I'll always be your little girl, right, Dad?"
Harper's heart felt as though it melted in her chest as she watched him ruffle his daughter's hair."That's right, kiddo."
"Hey, Harper."He turned to her with a smile.
"Hey, I'm glad you made it."
