Page 96 of Danger Close

“Damn,” Cobra said, “don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back.”

He went back inside, and I continued on to meet my daughter halfway down the drive to a large, shiny truck that blinked when she pressed the key fob.

“Morning,” she grumbled, her hand on her forehead.

Probably nursing a hangover, poor thing.

“Good morning,” I said, trying to hide a smile.

Trinity had never been much of a morning person. Judging by the noise I heard when I woke up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, around three a.m.—an unfortunate side effect of age—the revelries went long into the night. They must have partied until the rays of the sun peeked over the mountains.

The door of the farmhouse opened and slammed shut. Cobra was there, his leather jacket in his hand. He leapt over the stairs,his boots landing hard on the gravel. I laughed, shocked by his display of exuberance so early in the morning.

“I’m getting tired just watching you,” I remarked as he planted a quick kiss on my lips.

“Here, Princess.” He unfurled the jacket and put it around my shoulders. “I kidnapped you when you didn’t have a jacket on.”

He nudged his nose against mine, then winked playfully.

He held my hand, helping me into the cab as though he were an old gentleman helping a debutant into a carriage. He leaned into the door for a moment, and called out, “Hey, kiddo!”

“Hi… Dad.” She said the last word hesitantly, but it made Cobra smile.

“Drive safe, you two.” He put his hand on two sides of the open door, his massive shoulders taking much of the opening. He took a look at both of us, before he took my hand and kissed the back of it. “Put your seatbelts on. Have fun, sweethearts.”

I rolled my eyes as I pulled the seatbelt on. Both of our belts clicked as Trinity turned the key in the ignition. The engine rumbled, and she slammed several knobs on the dashboard to turn on the heater.

Cobra shut the door, tapping the roof before he stepped back, crossing his arms with a crooked smile.

Trinity backed us out from the parking spot, and started down the long drive.

I waited until Cobra was out of sight before I broke our stare-off and turned to my daughter.

“The wedding was beautiful. Did you have fun?” I turned to my child.

My happiness was dented when I saw my daughter’s face. Trinity worked her jaw, her eyes hard behind aviator sunglasses. The air grew stale the longer she did not answer.

“So is that a thing, now?” she asked, cryptically.

“Whatthing?” Truly, I never understood these young Americans and their idioms. Why could they never just say what they mean?

“You and Cobra.”

Was that what she was upset about?

I wasn’t sure what to say, but I tried to choose a diplomatic route. “I understand it may be a shock to you—”

“Un-fucking-believable.” She shook her head. “You always do this! You make it about me, when it’s always about you.”

She banged her fist on the steering wheel, making me jump in my seat.

“What? You’ll make him fall in love, then dump him by leaving in the middle of the night?” She laughed, her smile never reaching her eyes as she shook her head. “Just when he cameback, you swoop in, and what now? How long before you push him away, too?”

I didn’t know what to say.

I knew she still blamed me for leaving the man she’d called a stepfather. I’d shut my mouth, never revealing the reasons why I fled. Never wanting her to know the pain I endured trying to keep a roof over her head, and a father-figure in her life. But…

“I was just getting to know him, and you just couldn’t let me have that, could you?” Resentment was like acid on her tongue. It burned me.