Page 67 of Sinister Red
I’ve played it cool and been friendly when we’ve spent time together over the last couple of months, but it’s getting harder to hide how much I fucking love her, and watching my best friend tie the knot kicked my ass into gear and made me decide that tonight is as good as any to see if we’re ancient history or the future I desperately want to make reality.
“Snipe.”
I look to my left and nod as Roland settles into the seat next to me. “Doc.”
“I guess it’s Prez now, right?” He pushes his glasses up his nose then takes a sip of his martini, which almost makes me laugh. Gotta wonder if he needed the liquid courage just to come over and talk to me. “Since you’ll be the one I should expect to be dealing with moving forward.”
“Guess so.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“Yeah…”
Roland shifts uncomfortably for a minute and I arch a brow.He seems nervous.
I’m not sure why, not really. I always made him nervous and I know that, but once I started dating his daughter, the guy grew a pair and didn’t hesitate to voice his concerns or give me hell over it. At the time, he may have liked me less than he ever did, but I gained a lot of respect for Roland during all of that and seeing him channel thatpapa bearhe referenced over the course of that year made me look up to him a little. Why he seems anxious as fuck around me now when I’m nothing but a paycheck to him is strange though.
“The ceremony was…” He clears his throat. “The ceremony was nice.”
I nod slowly. “It was.”
“Simple, but meaningful.”
“Yeah.”
“Harlow looks lovely.”
I arch a brow. “Is there something I can do for you, Doc?”
Roland frowns, pushes his glasses up his nose again then sighs. “I just, well, I suppose there is.”
“Shoot.” I lean back in my chair and take a swig of my beer. This should be interesting.
“I was hoping we could… that I could talk to you for a minute and…”
“Out with it, man.” I chuckle. “You’ve known me long enough to know I don’t bite unless provoked. Just say whatever it is you gotta say.”
He nods firmly. “Sofie has been… different the last few months. After she moved to Denver, the entire time she was there and while she was with that schmuck Lewis, my daughter was miserable. She never said so much, never explained why, but I knew it to be true.” Roland looks at me with a faint smile. “A father’s intuition and all that, but the beautiful, vibrant, headstrong girl I’d raised was sad and almost defeated for a long time.” He chuckles. “She’d kill me if she knew I was telling you this, but I feel as though it’s important.”
I nod for him to continue but keep my mouth shut because I’m not entirely sure where he’s going with this.
“Sofie was miserable. Miserable at the hospital, with that idiot she got engaged to, miserable in Denver in general and I thought moving back to Sabine Woods would help. It did to some degree, being closer to Harlow and I’d like to think closer to me, but it still wasn’t enough.” Roland takes another sip from his drink then sets it on the ground at his feet. “Then she called things off with that lying sack of crap and I hoped I’d have my daughter back, but that wasn’t the case, not until a few months ago.” Then he looks me dead in the eye. “Not until you were back in her life.”
Great.
Just what I needed after all the thoughts I’ve been having of trying to build a future with Sofie again. The Doc giving me anotherdon’t mess with my cubspeech.
But the doc just shakes his head with an awkward chuckle. “I can see by your frown where you think this conversation is headed, but I assure you, it’s not.”
“No?”
“No. Not after Sofie and I talked the other night.”
The frown I didn’t know I was sporting deepens but I keep my trap shut and listen.
Roland scratches his cheek and sighs. “We were having dinner, just the two of us, and out of nowhere Sofie started crying and told me… she told me about why she left in the first place…” He swallows hard. “She told me about the baby and everything that’s been happening between the two of you.”
Shit. “Doc, look, I—“
