“Daddy,” I said, trying to stop him, but he shook his head.
“No, listen to me,” he said. “I need to say these things. I was terrified I wouldn’t be a good father to you or be what you needed. There were a lot of times I thought maybe I should find a woman to marry so you would have a mother figure again. But I never found one I was interested in enough to bring her home. You were my top priority, and I needed to put all of my energy and attention on you. Now, this heart attack has really opened my eyes and given me some perspective.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I’m proud of you, Annabelle. And I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of the family the two of us created together, even without you having a mother figure around. And I’m proud of the home and the farm and all the memories we have together.”
Emotion tightened around my throat. “I’m really grateful for those things. And you have always been a wonderful father. You are everything to me. My hero. And you always will be.”
He reached out his arms to me and pulled me in close. I cuddled against him like I used to when I was a little girl. We sat that way in silence for a few minutes.
“Do you love Garrett?” he asked.
It was such a blunt question that it took me aback a bit. Even more surprising was that I didn’t know exactly how to answer him.
“It’s so soon,” I finally said.
He shrugged. “When you know, you know.”
It suddenly settled in that my father wanted to know if I had found a man to love because he was thinking about what he might miss if he were to die. I had a sharp moment of clarity where I knew the truth without a shadow of a doubt.
“Yes,” I said. “I do. I love Garrett. It happened so quickly, and I never expected it. But it’s the truth. I love him, Daddy.”
Chapter 35
Garrett
It was Sunday evening, and the tension in the house had been pretty thick. After grabbing a shower and getting dressed, I had no intention of staying home any longer than I had to. Sawyer and I hadn’t spoken since our tussle, and Cassidy had been surly about the whole situation himself, trying to institute some order by being a bit of a prick to both of us. I understood his point of view. As the oldest brother, he needed to keep up Dad’s standards and make sure we didn’t kill each other.
It still didn’t mean I wanted to be around him.
I headed through the hallway, making a beeline for the front door, and I noticed Sawyer in the living room. He was sitting in a big, comfortable chair that he had claimed as a child as his own personal throne and hadn’t changed upon growing up. It sat against the wall, facing the television and fireplace but at an angle and right beside the window that was next to the front door. He said it gave him the first glance at anyone coming to our ranch and, thus, meant he was on guard for the whole family. It made him feel important as a kid. Now, it just seemed like he liked being nosey.
I grabbed a light jacket and the keys, meaning to slip out without him noticing, when I heard him call my name. Half expecting to resume our fistfight, I turned quickly toward the sound of his voice and was surprised to see him still sitting. He looked somber rather than angry.
“Can you come here a second and talk?” he asked.
I nodded and walked into the room, not wanting to come sit near him but willing to let him ramble a bit.
“Look,” he began. “I just wanted you to know that I felt bad about being so judgmental and jumping to conclusions about you and Annabelle.”
I sat stunned, looking at him. I had really expected that to go another way.
“Thank you,” I muttered, not sure what else to say. He sighed, looking around the room as if he wanted to do anything other than look me in the eye. Not because he was being forced to say it but because he seemed uncomfortable with apologizing about anything.
“I just want what’s best for her, you know?”
“I do too,” I said.
“I know,” he said. “I was too harsh on you, and I get that. You came home because you were done running from everything, and I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. The benefit of being my brother. But Annabelle has been my best friend since I was little. And frankly, you don’t have the best reputation with women.”
I smirked. It wasn’t untrue, but it felt like a dig all the same. “I know.”
“But,” he continued, “I also know that you wouldn’t start something with Annabelle unless it was serious. Because that’s not just having a good time with a willing girl. That would be messing with your family. And if there is something Montgomerys don’t do, it’s mess with our family.”
Nodding, I looked down at my shoes for a moment, not wanting to meet his gaze this time. But when I did, our eyes locked together, and I saw the brother I had known all his life. The innocent little boy who liked to watch for visitors and who thought his chair was a castle.
“Agreed,” I said.
“So, it’s serious then?” he asked.
I nodded.
He sighed. “She’s spread thin already,” Sawyer said. “The last thing she needs is another burden.”
As soon as he said it, I could see the regret on his face. I was used to being called a burden on my family, and I was sure he was used to referring to me that way. But it wouldn’t help the conversation to get angry about it.
“That isn’t my intention with Annabelle,” I said. “I want to be the exact opposite of a burden. I want to help her, and I will keep helping her in every way I can.”
“You know that means cooling it with Roy Hayes,” Sawyer said, interrupting. “If you keep having run-ins with him, and I suspect you will now that he knows you’re back, you are going to have to keep control of your temper. No more roadside brawls.”
“I know,” I said. “I don’t want to fight against Roy Hayes. I want to fight for Annabelle. Besides, I can trust you guys to bust his lip once in a while, right?”
For the first time in a few days, Sawyer smiled. “You’re damned right.”
As I drove to Annabelle’s house, I cranked up the radio and sang along. For the first time in a long, long time, I felt pretty damned good. I was on my way to see my gorgeous girlfriend, my brother and I had patched things up, and I was starting to feel like myself again. My real self before I got lost and decided the only way to feel anything was by fighting and drinking.
I pulled up to her house, half expecting to see her outside tooling around, but the farm was quiet. Knocking on the door resulted in a bellow from Hugh, telling me to come in, and I opened the door to see him reclining in an easy chair, a blanket over him and the remote in his hand.
“Mr. Dixon,” I said when I came in. “Good to see you, sir.”
“Good to see you too, Garrett,” he said, flipping the TV to a sports channel. He turned the volume down low so he could hear me better.
“It’s also good to see that you are moving around enough to come in here,” I said.
He waved it off. “The TV in the bedroom is really quiet, and I can’t hear a damn thing unless it’s late at night. Since they won’t let me in the field, I figured I could use the downtime to catch up on my westerns and sports.”
I laughed. “Makes sense,” I said. “Where’s Annabelle?”
He pointed towards the bathroom with the remote. “Taking a shower.”
“Ahh,” I said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. What was the protocol there? Did I sit down in the living room with him and possibly feel like I was intruding on his solitude? Did I go to the bedroom to wait for Annabelle and make it known that I was used to seeing his daughter in various states of undress and remind him of it?
“You can take a seat,” he said, gesturing to the couch and ending my indecision.
I sat down on the couch across from the TV and watched in silence for a few minutes. When the show went to commercial, Hugh muted the TV and turned to me.
“You mind if we talk for a few minutes?” he asked.
I nodded, hop
ing this would go as well as Sawyer’s talk earlier but preparing for worse.
“What’s on your mind, Mr. Dixon?” I asked as I moved closer to him so he didn’t have to strain or move to see me.
“Oh, stop with the Mr. Dixon stuff. You’re no stranger, and you’re no child. You can call me Hugh.”
I smiled. “All right, Hugh. What can I help you with?”
“It’s about Annabelle,” he said. He looked like he was searching for the right words to say and maybe choking back a little emotion.
I could only imagine how it would be so soon after such a life-threatening event to be talking to a man who was dating his only daughter. I tried to remind myself to be respectful, even if he wasn’t terribly respectful to me.
The fact was, he had every reason to be standoffish and rude to me. I was the black sheep of the Montgomery boys, and everyone knew it. I had a reputation for fighting and bedding women, and everyone knew that too. After being gone for over a year and immediately catching a night in jail for fighting with Roy Hayes when I came back, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to think I hadn’t changed, that I wasn’t good enough for his daughter.
My biggest fear was that he was going to ask me to leave. To go away and leave his daughter alone. I wasn’t entirely sure I would blame him at all for asking that. As much as I cared for Annabelle, I knew that things would have a hard time working out unless her father was on board. She spent all her time working on the farm and helping him with daily tasks, and now that he was recovering, her duties had only gotten more intense. The distraction of a bad-influence boyfriend would probably be too much.
“Yes, sir?” I asked.
“She is, as you could imagine, extraordinarily special to me,” he said. “I wouldn’t trust her with just anyone, you know. But I want you to know that you have my blessing to date her.”
I sat there in stunned silence. The moment seemed to build, and my mind was blank, but I knew I needed to say something to acknowledge what he’d just said. What words would be good enough?
“Thank you,” I said. “That means a lot to me.”
He nodded curtly, then sat back, his hands folded over each other on his stomach.
“I hope you respect her and know her heart, Garrett Montgomery. She is a sensitive woman, and when she gives her heart out, she gives it out all the way. There is a lot of responsibility being with someone like that.”
“I do,” I said. It was not lost on me that he was making a reference to himself. The story of her mother leaving and how it devastated Hugh ran through my mind, and I could only imagine the kind of pain he felt suddenly being alone. “At least I think I do. All I know is, if I don’t, I want to spend my life finding out.” I looked down at the floor, trying to work up the courage to say what I knew needed to be said. What I knew was true. “I love her.”
A wide, genuine smile stretched across Hugh’s face. It was the first time I had seen that smile ever and most likely the first one he’d had since going to the hospital. He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Son, I have to admit, I don’t know how much longer I am going to be around,” he said, a tear threatening the corner of his eye though the smile was as wide as ever. “If there is something you feel like you should ask me, perhaps now would be the time.”
I knew what he meant, and I smiled. Not only did Hugh cut to the chase of the conversation, but he cut straight through all the bullshit in my own mind. He called me out, and I had to make a decision.
In that moment, I knew there was no other decision to make. I loved Annabelle, and that was that.
“Then let me ask this now,” I said. “I intend, in the future when the time is right for her, to marry your daughter. And I would like to have your blessing for her hand.”
The waterworks were going strong now for Hugh, and he fought to keep them at bay. One errant one made it halfway down his cheek before he flicked it away.
“You have my blessing, Garrett Montgomery. And you will never understand the joy you just gave me.” He paused. “Unless of course, you have a daughter of your own one day, and she falls in love for the first time.”
I smiled. “Maybe,” I said. “Maybe.”
Chapter 36
Annabelle
I came out from my shower to find my father wiping at his face and Garrett beaming beside him. I paused and cocked my head to the side to look at them.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”
Garrett was smiling, which was reassuring, but the tears on my father’s cheeks and still sparkling in his eyes were throwing me off. He didn’t cry. Not in that way that he thought men weren’t supposed to cry or that he thought he was just too big and strong for emotion. There were times in my life when I could remember him being emotional and I had even seen him cry a handful of times.
But they were always when things were really wrong. He might get a bit misty when I was going through a milestone like graduating or having an important birthday, but that was the extent. It looked like he had actually shed a few of those tears, and that scared me.
After everything that he had just gone through, I didn’t want to think anything might be wrong. Garrett shook his head and crossed the room to me. He reached out and took both my hands in his. The kiss he touched to my lips told me something had changed. My father didn’t even flinch or look away when Garrett kissed me. A slight smile even came to his lips.
“Everything’s just fine,” Garrett said. “Are you hungry?”
I nodded. “Starving.”
“Okay, let’s go get something to eat,” he said.
“Daddy, are you going to be okay?” I asked.
“Of course, I will. You go on and have fun.”
“Do you need anything?” I asked. “Are you hungry? Want me to bring you a drink or anything?”
“There you go, fussing over me,” he said, waving his hand like he was trying to sweep me out of the room. “You said you weren’t going to fuss. Go on. Everybody’s been in my hair since my little incident and I just need some time to myself.”
The words were harsh, but his tone was playful, so I nodded.
“All right. We’ll leave you be for a bit. Sure you don’t want a drink?”
He relented. “Some milk might be nice.”
I laughed and headed for the kitchen. Garrett came along with me and I raised one eyebrow at him when we were alone.
“What?” he asked.
“The two of you are seeming pretty chummy all of a sudden,” I said. “What happened while I was in the shower?”
“Your father and I aren’t allowed to get along?” he asked. “I thought you’d like that.”
“I do. But it seems like quite the jump from the side-eyes and awkwardness I’ve been dealing with.”
Garrett leaned over for another kiss. “We just had a nice conversation. That’s all. Settled some things.”
I poured the milk and nodded. “Good to hear.”
We went back into the living room so I could give my father his milk. I made sure the remote was close to him and he could easily get to a book, tissues, and other little things that might keep him comfortable while I was gone. I was hesitant to leave him alone so soon after he got home from the hospital, but I didn’t want to hover over him. Spending some time with Garrett and relaxing over a nice dinner also sounded wonderful.
Garrett brought us to a little restaurant in town, and as soon as we walked in, I noticed people looking at us. They leaned across their tables to whisper and slide their eyes over in our direction. A couple of them weren’t even subtle enough to keep their voices low. I could hear them point us out and express their surprise over seeing us together.
It wasn’t a surprise. We knew we were signing up for gossip to spread like wildfire around Green Valley. Frankly, neither one of us cared. It wasn’t like we were sneaking around or trying to keep things secret. Not anymore. We wanted our relationship to be known, to be out in the open so there w
as no questions about it from anybody.
There was no better way to see to that task than to be seen out in public on a date. And this was definitely a date. We held hands as we walked through the restaurant, then kept them linked over the top of the table while we looked over the menus. We only let go of each other when the food came.
But we were holding on to each other again when we walked out. I had never experienced that kind of compulsion to touch another person all the time. Anytime Garrett was anywhere near me, I wanted to reach out and touch him. Whether it was holding his hand, rubbing his back, or giving him a hug, I just wanted to be in contact with him.
Fortunately, it seemed he felt the same way. He wasn’t shy about holding me close or occasionally leaning down to touch a kiss to the top of my head. He wasn’t acting like there was no one else in the world. There would have been a lot more touching if that was the case. Instead, he was acting like he just didn’t care if anyone around us noticed the affection. He was showing off, and it made my heart dance in my chest.
We strolled through town after dinner, just enjoying the cool fall weather, the decorations in the shops, and being together.
“So, what did you and my father talk about?” I asked, glancing his way as we walked.
“Just life,” he said. “How much I care about you. What that might mean someday.”
“Really?” I asked.
My heart beat a little bit faster. I thought I might know what that meant, but I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. I wanted to hear him say it, to tell me exactly what they talked about. But he wasn’t going to give it up. That conversation was going to stay between Garrett and my father.
He winked at me and nuzzled me closer to his side.
As we walked along the sidewalk, we paused to look into the shop windows and admire the displays. That was one of my favorite parts about Main Street. The shops were from a time that was bygone in other places but still alive and well in Green Valley.
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