Page 48 of Wish For Me

“That’s why you took her to Europe,” he mutters. “That’s what you meant when you said you wanted to get her mind off things.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “I would have done anything to cheer her up at that point.”

He curses under his breath. “We knew there was something wrong. We fucking knew it. Karen kept saying she would come to us when she was ready. And I thought…”

“You thought she was stuck married to a guy who was forcing her into a life she didn’t want.” I don’t bother to hide the bitterness in my voice. I’m not sure I’m ever going to get over what he said to me in the hallway earlier, that he thought I was putting my career over what she wanted.

He’s quiet for a long time. I stare out the window, watching the dark trees whip by in a blur. I’m fine with not talking the rest of the ride. The only thing I want to think about right now is Alex, not this thrumming anger I have toward her dad.

Actually, anger isn’t even the right word. I’m fucking hurt. He’s known me since I was nine years old. How the hell could he think that about me?

The minute he parks in front of the farmhouse, I go to open my door. But Levi’s arm shoots out, keeping me in my seat. “Wyatt.” He sounds like he’s been gargling gravel, his voice is so ragged. “I’m so fucking sorry, kid.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. I turn to look at him and I’m shocked to see tears in his eyes. “I fucked this up so badly. Jesus, I’m lucky my daughter will even talk to me after what an ass I’ve been.”

“Your daughter loves you,” I say, my voice sharp. “And she has a tendency of believing the best in people—even when they haven’t shown they deserve it.”

He closes his eyes, and I feel a tiny pang of regret. I could probably try a little harder to meet him halfway, if only for Alex’s sake.

“That’s the only reason I got to be with her,” I admit. “Because she always saw me as better than I was.”

“She’s a pretty amazing girl, isn’t she?” He wipes at his eyes. “That’s where I really messed up—I should have trusted her judgement.”

“She is way smarter than either of us,” I say, and he gives a watery laugh. But he sobers pretty quickly.

“It’s my fault. That she didn’t want to tell us about her struggles with this.”

“Levi, that’s not—”

“It is. I made her believe she couldn’t trust me to be there for you. For both of you. Shit, with the way I acted, she probably thought I was going to blame you.”

“Would you have?” I can’t help but ask.

He studies me for a minute. “I don’t think it would be possible for me to see you the way you were with her tonight and not realize that you love my daughter. I might be an idiot, but even I’m not that stupid.”

“I love her more than anything,” I say simply. “And I always will.”

“I know you do.” He pauses. “I’m really glad that she has you, kid. I know I can trust you to take care of her.”

Well, shit. Would it be lame to admit that I’ve wanted him to say that to me from the very beginning? This is a man I looked up to growing up. He taught me about sound systems and all the technical aspects that go into performing. He introduced me to a dozen musicians that would eventually hire me as a session artist when recording their albums. He helped me negotiate my first album contract, even though he didn’t know the first thing about classical music. He was always a steady, welcome presence in my life.

I don’t think I realized how much I missed him until right now.

“You know,” Alex says from the back seat, and we both startle in surprise. “You really shouldn’t be saying all this sappy shit around me. I’m a pregnant lady now. My hormones are totally unpredictable—I might just start crying.”

“Maybe a pregnant lady shouldn’t be cursing,” her dad says, and we all laugh, the heavy emotion lifting.

“We should all get some sleep,” I say. “Everly is going to kill us if we have bags under our eyes in the pictures.”

“Don’t think Aunt Paige won’t put concealer on both of you,” Alex says, laughing. I catch Levi’s eye. He’s grinning at the sound and for once I know we’re completely agreed—it’s really damn good to hear her so happy.

FROM THE TEXT MESSAGES OF CECE AND VEGA

CeCe:Tell me you didn’t go back to the hotel.

CeCe:Why is your bed empty, Vega? You better be in this house somewhere.

Me:I’m just going to check on a few things. I’ll be back in an hour.