Page 65 of Something to Prove
“Content, connections. I can’t stay in Smithton forever. My mom would have told me to go to DC. That was where she started. I’m not into politics, though.”
“What about your aunt and uncle? What do they think? And have I told you how freaking cool they are?”
I grinned. “You have. They think I should follow my heart. Aunt Kay says the Clomsky side of the family are dreamers. She wanted to live on a farm and…now she owns an orchard. My dad wanted to play hockey and…he did.”
Ty frowned and opened his mouth as if to say something. He closed it again and glanced up at the ceiling. “That’s cool.”
I flattened my thumb on his brow. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just tired.”
I rested my head on Ty’s shoulder and draped my arm across his broad chest. “Go to sleep, love.”
Oh, geez.
Love.
Yes, I heard that. It was nothing. I swear.
Just a little friendly term of endearment between one hopelessly infatuated man to his unbelievably handsome temporary lover. No problem.
No problems here.
This was all good.
The following few days were magical.
Snow blanketed the property to the horizon dotted with bare trees and a red barn in the distance. We had snowball fights, made a misshapen snow creature, fed the chickens, and played family games that involved drawing or miming a clue. We watched endless movies, argued over our personal top ten holiday songs, and laughed ourselves silly making apple people from apple peels.
It was three days with minimal contact with the real world. Three days of laughter, discovery, and sweetness. Three nights of falling asleep in Ty’s arms, three mornings of waking up next to him.
Day four was when it all went sideways.
“My dad is coming…today?” I asked Aunt Kay through a frozen phony grin.
She slipped an arm around my waist and hugged me. Aunt Kay was tall and lean with short gray hair and rosy cheeks. I looked for similarities between us sometimes, but I was my mother’s son, through and through. I’d inherited Mom’s stubborn willfulness, her single-minded tenacity, and her hair. It would have been nice to be more like my aunt, who could make anything seem like…well, not the worst thing in the world.
“Oh, honey. It won’t be so bad. You’ll see.”
I was hoping we’d miss him. Terrible…I know. But our bags were packed and we had an hour-plus drive to the airport.Our window was closing. Which was why I didn’t mention the possible Ketchum Clomsky sighting to Ty till the last second.
As in…the second the large black SUV pulled into the driveway.
Ty glanced out the living room window. “Maybe I should move the rental car. I think more cousins just arrived.”
“Nope, it’s my father. Surprise.”
I chewed the side of my thumbnail, feet firmly planted on the carpet. I had to greet him. Say hello, how are you? Would he be nice, would he remember me? Would he?—
“Your dad?” Ty squealed.
“Yeah.” I patted his forearm absently. “Don’t be nervous. He’s…sorry, I-I don’t have time to explain now, but I will later. Just smile and nod, and it’ll be okay. I think.”
Ty sputtered. It occurred to me that he didn’t seem very excited about meeting his hero, but I couldn’t worry about that now.
I shuffled toward the front door, my heart thumping an unnerving beat. Voices drifted on the breezes, boots on gravel, climbing the porch steps.
The flashback hit me out of the blue.