Page 73

Because we both knew that was the mostrealsentence my father had said in years.

“We did a lot without you, I didn't think that was a secret,” I said, barely a whisper.

“And you think I was off having a great time? I suffered just as much as you two, if not more so. I suffered every single day!”

Tessa and I didn’t say a word.

My father placed both of his boney, frail hands on the table. They trembled.

“I am not a blind man. I know you two have not had a great life. But neither have I. I have–”

He paused to take a deep, long breath. I could have sworn he began blinking back tears.

Tessa’s foot tapped against mine under the table.

“We love you, father,” Tessa caved after a few seconds. She placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in slightly. My father didn’t back away from it. “We don’t say it enough, but it’s true.”

My father smiled, but his eyes didn’t meet mine.

I unclenched my jaw, realizing it had been clenched the entire time he was talking.

I wasn’t going to repeat Tessa. I didn’t need to. I can’t remember my father ever saying he loved me. I can’t remember ever saying it to him, either.

I wasn’t about to start now.

“Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’m exhausted. I should get to bed.”

Without looking at either of us, our father stood from the table and walked away.

Neither of us followed after him.

“That was weird,” I mumbled to Tessa.

“He’s been…different lately,” she explained. “He hasn’t been drinking. He’s been talking more. Screaming less.”

“That doesn’t sound like him.”

“No,” she said. “It doesn’t. Maybe he’s realizing that this place is better for him than he originally thought.”

Tessa looked at me with more hope than I had in my entire body. “Yeah,” I agreed, knowing it was not likely that my father would ever change. “It’s possible.”

We returned to our meals, although after the conversation we just had, I wasn’t hungry in the slightest.

“Who died?” Adeline’s voice caused me to drop my fork. She slapped her tray down on the wooden table and slid into the bench beside me, sitting so close that her arm brushed up beside mine.

“What?” I asked.

“You two look like you’re mourning a death. What’s with the sad faces?”

“Nothing,” Tessa and I said in unison.

“Well, fix those sad faces,” she insisted. “Because we’re going to have some fun.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“We’re doing something for ourselves,” she stated. “We’re heading into town. Let’s go now before I change my mind.”

Tessa’s face lit up in a mixture of excitement and fear that matched my own. “Town?” she questioned.