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I shake my head. “Guess I should have expected as much,” I mutter as I walk off toward the gazebo.
There I find my father talking with Marshall. I’m sure my surprise shows. “Hey, you decided to come.”
He frowns, “Of course I did.”
“It means a lot.”
Marshall passes me the garment bag that holds my suit, then leaves me alone with the man I haven’t seen in who knows how many years.
“This is quite the place. That view.” He nods his now gray head toward the horizon. “Postcard material.”
I know he’s just making small talk because we’re both about as brittle as old plastic right now.
“It’s pretty incredible. Just like Simona.”
“She’s a beautiful girl.”
Silence falls between us.
He kicks at the grass below his shoe. “You seem happy.”
“I am. I’m in love. It feels damn good.”
“And your career?”
Ah, I knew it was coming. “What about it?”
“Are you done practicing medicine?”
“No, never will be, I suspect.”
He shifts, pushes his hands into his pant pockets. “I heard you saved her life in San Miguel.”
I nod. “Yep. Was stressful as hell.”
“You’re a damned fine surgeon. I’ve been told by many.”
I’m not sure how to reply to that.
He clears his throat. “Look. I know that there’s history between us about this. When I told you that you couldn’t do it, I was at a very bad place in my life. In my heart, I knew you could, I always knew you’d be a better doctor than me, I just didn’t know if I could give you what you needed to get you there. Raising you alone was hard. I fucked up a lot. And somehow, against all odds, here you are. You survived it all. And came out on top. I’m damned proud of that.”
Well, fuck. I clear my throat. Twice. “I’m shocked to hear you say that.”
“I understand. And nothing will make up for the pain I caused back then. But if you’ll have my offer, I’d like to get to know the man you’ve become.”
He steps in and hugs me then. For a solid minute, I can’t move as pain tries to shake itself loose from my heart. Finally, I manage to say, “I’d like that.”
“You better go get ready. Your bride is going to be looking for you.”
I blink back the moisture in my eyes. “You’re right. Let’s talk after. I wanted to introduce you to Simona.”
He smiles wistfully. “I’d like that.”
The next twenty minutes pass in a blur. Marshall knocks on the bedroom door where I dressed. “It’s time, brother.”
When I open the door, he looks a little rattled. “What’s wrong?”
“Weddings give me the willies.”