Page 168 of Tied to You

“What any scared personwoulddo with a child on the way. Married your mother and begged your grandfather to help me.”

My lips pull on my face. “And did he?”

Dad scans the room, one hand running through his hair. “Your grandfather told me that real men want their children to exceed their abilities, so if I wanted to give you the best life possible, I’d have to worka thousand times harder,” he lifts his shoulders to the sky, “so I did what I always did back then. Didn’t listen. Got us in even more trouble.”

“Sounds pretty reckless.”

He laughs a little this time.

“But, he didn’t help. Not at all?” I ask softly, wondering how that must have felt.

He shakes his head. “He made it clear that I should take care of my responsibilities.” His eyes fix on mine and they automatically fill. Travis didn’t take care of me. He pushed me away. Easiest option for him. “I’m not like my father, but I know you are just like me. So, I know if I tell you what to do now, you’re going to probably do the opposite.”

Sounds about right. Sniffing, I rub my nose, blinking slowly. “I don’t know what to do,” I admit honestly, being the most upfront I haveeverbeen with him. It causes a barrage of built-up emotions to come tumbling from me. It’s so much, I physically don’t know what to do. I turn to look away from my dad but he’s up, holding me, dragging me into his arms. I’m grateful for the contact. Grateful for the affection he’s finally giving me.

“I only ever pushed you to make you see what you’re truly capable of.” One of his hands strokes my back, the other holding me tight. “I’m sorry if that was too much. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel less than you’re worth. But you aremydaughter. You are strong. Kind. Beautiful, inside and out. And I have never told you how proud of you I am.”

He’s never said any of this. He’s never showed me anything other than tough love. It’s like a lifetime’s worth of tears have finally been set free. From him, and from me. I hear him sniffing, hear him sucking in air desperately. My one hand around him holds him tighter. My dad. The man who I know is going to make all of this pain go away.

When he pulls back, he brushes my hair from my face, looking deep into my eyes. We’re both crying. Both our faces wet with our tears. “Jesus,” he says, swiping at his eyes. “I haven’t cried like that since you left.”

My lip wobbles again. I didn’t know my leaving had upset him so much. “Dad?”

“Don’t worry. I’m okay.” He scrubs his face then hands me a tissue from the box. Blowing his nose, he chucks the tissue in the bin then looks back at me as I dab the corners of my eyes. “Darling. What doyouwant to do?”

He’s asking me. Not telling me. Validating the decisions I now have tomake. I can’t think of anything to say but to ask, “What’s going to happen to Dean?”

His face immediately hardens to the one I’m so familiar with. “He’s going to rot in jail for putting you in danger.”

Panic rises at the thought, any calmness I just felt is instantly replaced. “He didn’t put me in danger, Dad.Iwas stupid. It wasmydecision that caused everything that happened tonight.”

“How do you mean?”

I spare him the gory details. “I went to a place I shouldn’t, thinking I was helping. I wasn’t.” I let out a gasp, trying to hold back my emotions. “I never meant for anything to happen—”

“Did he hurt you?” His face contorts. His words striking with venom.

“No,” I say defensively.Matthew did. But he’s gone. “Dean got me out of there. I swear it, Dad. He did nothing but protect me tonight.”

Grinding his teeth together, he manages to ask, “What about the other one?”

The father of my child. “No one knew where he was.”

He huffs. “Convenient if you ask me.”

“Well no one is,” I snap, immediately dropping my shitty attitude. “Sorry.”

He rolls his head, his neck clicking. Standing, he turns. Thinking. “You are my priority. I want to know whatyouwant to do. Not those guys. They deserve everything that’s going to happen to them.”

Except, they don’t. “I’m a grown woman, Dad. I have to figure this out by myself.”

He immediately turns, his features softer. “No. You don’t.” He makes his way over to me. “The biggest question you now face is, is this just one day, a day you’ll look back on and wish never happened, or is it day one? The day you take charge of the future you’re going to have. Once you know the answer, you tell me, and whatever you need, darling, you will have that from me.”

I close my eyes, my teeth sinking into my top lip. “What about work? A home? I…” I had that all with Travis. Now it’s gone.

“You’ll work for that. Knuckle down and achieve what you want most. You’re not afraid to do that. Believe me, I’ve come to learn that over the past six months. You’re a strong woman, Mollie, whatever you set your mind to,you will achieve for you and your child.”

A sob escapes me. “You never asked if I was keeping the baby.”