“Thanks, Dr.Harrison.I’m heading home.”
He takes the notebook and checks the times but doesn’t acknowledge me.I shake my head and leave.
The second my butt hits the driver’s seat of my car, I think about Dad again.He’s threatening not only me and Seth but the whole Blackwood family, their employees and all the visitors who love the place.I clench my jaw and try not to drive too fast.
It doesn’t take long, and I pull into the driveway at three a.m.Dad won’t be up for another few hours, and I really should get some sleep.I should’ve slept at the bunkhouse and come in the morning, but I’m too impatient.
Dad’s bedroom is upstairs and on the opposite side of the house, so he won’t hear me come in.I could go back to my room, but I want him to know I’m here when he gets up.He has a lot of explaining to do.I gather a few blankets and pillows from the hall closet and collapse onto the couch.
I pull out my phone and scroll through the photos I’d taken of me and Seth over the last couple of weeks.Pictures that were innocent, but also, I’ve never seen either of us so happy before.There’s light in our eyes that I can’t describe.
I set my phone down on the floor and pick up Chunk, my dad’s too-fat cat who is meowing at me.I mutter a prayer of patience for my father while Chunk settles into the crook of my arm, and even though I don’t think I can, we both fall asleep.
“Mae.Mae.”Someone gently shakes my shoulder.I blink my eyes open.Dad stands over me with two coffee cups in hand.
“Good morning,” he says with a chuckle.“You want some?”
He holds out the cup.I struggle to sit up and then realize Chunk is on my chest.I push him down to my legs, and he growls but doesn’t jump off the couch.
“Thanks.”
“What are you doing here?”Dad still hovers over me, and I’m half-tempted to shove him away.He just can’t get it through his thick skull that I’m an adult and can make my own choices.I don’t think I’ve ever been this angry with him.
I stretch and curl my legs underneath me.“I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d come over and give you a piece of my mind.”
His lips form a straight line, and he sinks into the chair across from me.“I see.What did I do this time?”
“You told Seth to stay away from me.”I clench the blanket with my fists.
He sighs.“I didn’t tell him to stay away from you.I told him to keep things between you as just friends and work colleagues.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes.He has no right to dictate my life.
“I’m twenty-two.And that doesn’t make what you did any different.”
“You’re too young for him.He’s thirty-four, and you’re just out of college.”
“Unfortunately for you, that’s none of your business.”
Dad leans forward, the lines on his face deeper this morning than normal.I don’t ever talk to him this way.I’m usually pretty obedient because I don’t want people to dislike me.But he crossed a line.
His face softens a little.“I know you and Seth have been friends for a long time.Abi has hero-worshipped him since you were children, but he’s not really a good guy.He broke his mom and dad’s hearts.He’ll do the same to you.I will not stand by and watch that happen.”
“First of all, you don’t know what Seth’s motivations were.And when Todd needed him, he came back.Maybe he should’ve come back before, but he’s here now.And, Dad, I need to make my own mistakes.You can’t interfere like this.”
He runs a hand over his thinning hair and scowls.“You forget that you and Abi talk loudly.I can’t tell you how many times I’ve overheard you two talking about Seth’s womanizing ways.How he likes girls who present him a challenge, and then he drops them when he gets bored.”
Dammit.We did talk about him a lot.
“People change.”Besides, I know the reason Seth dated and dropped girls so quickly.He dated shallowly.He was never friends with them before.Our relationship would be completely different.It’s still risky, but I can’t see him treating me the same way.Plus, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him date anyone.
“I thought that about Susan too.People don’t change.”
That was a low blow.He never talks about Mom, and he knows I want more answers out of him.To bring her up now is manipulative and mean.
“This isn’t about Mom.”
He sits back and stews for a minute while I wait for him to speak.
