Gold

by K. A. Linde

  She reached out and grabbed his hand. “It was never about the money. I have money. Digging was about power and control. What I realized was that I didn’t need that at all. I needed an equal. I have no interest in your money. I love you. I loved you before. I love you now. I’d love you penniless.”

  He raised his eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Well, I’d give you a few pennies, but yes. This doesn’t change anything. You’re still you. I’m still me. We’re still us.”

  He smiled. “I like that.”

  “Me, too,” she said before kissing him.

  The next morning, Bryna awoke with a wicked headache. Whatever had been in that Hunch Punch was something fierce. She swallowed down what felt like a bottle of Tylenol and a gallon of water. After a few extra hours of shut-eye, she felt mostly whole again.

  Eric was downstairs, studying, when she resurfaced.

  “What time is it?” she said.

  He checked his watch. “Two.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Yeah. I was going to come wake you, but you seemed like you needed the sleep.”

  “Thanks.” She took a seat next to him at the table.

  “Margaritas?” he offered.

  She laughed. “I know it’s Sunday, and I’m all for our margarita Sunday, but I think I’m going to have to pass.”

  His eyes met hers across the table, and she saw fear reflected back to her.

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry about last night,” he said. “I know we’re good now, but Audrey shouldn’t have said those things, and I should have told you sooner about my parents.”

  Bryna gave him a rueful smile. “How exactly would you have brought that up? ‘Oh, P.S., Bri, my parents own big oil in Texas.’”

  “Uh…yeah, that’s about right.”

  “You shouldn’t have to worry about talking money to me. I don’t need to know how much you’re worth because I already know your real worth. And Audrey was just jealous.”

  “I’m glad you feel that way, but I’m still sorry.” He reached across the table and gave her a kiss.

  “You can stop apologizing. You have no reason to apologize, and I don’t need an explanation from you. We’re on the same page.” She nodded her head, as if that was the end of the conversation. “I do, however, have something I want to talk to you about.”

  “Should I be worried?” he joked.

  “Horribly.”

  He made a face at her.

  “I think I know what I want to do with the money and jewelry that Hugh gave me while we were together, and I was wondering if you could help me. That relationship is totally over, and I don’t want that money and guilt hanging between us any longer. You know?”

  “I know what you mean.” He arched an eyebrow, suddenly curious. “What do you want to do? I don’t think he’s going to take any of it back.”

  Bryna shook her head. She didn’t think so either. Actually, she knew he wouldn’t. If he could toss a Harry Winston necklace over a balcony and return the check for the house without hesitation, she knew that he wouldn’t take the money back now.

  “I don’t think so either.”

  “Then, what?”

  “I thought I would donate it to charity in his name. Does that sound dumb?”

  Eric’s face lit up. “No. That sounds like a great idea.”

  “I’ve thought about a few charities, but I really don’t know which one to pick.”

  “Hmm.” Eric sat back and contemplated it for a minute. Then, something struck him, and he jolted forward. “Did you ever find out how his wife died?”

  “Um…yeah. Breast cancer.”

  Eric nodded at her as if that were her answer.

  “Oh! That’s perfect. You’re right. I’ll donate the money through him in his wife’s honor. It won’t make what I did better,” she acknowledged, “but maybe it will show him that I did care and didn’t mean to hurt him like that.”

  Eric smiled at her and kissed her knuckles. “Look at you. All grown-up.”

  She laughed. “Not entirely, I think, but I don’t want this hanging over my head. Hugh is a decent man. He deserved better.”

  “There’s nothing you can do about the past. Do what you can to make yourself feel better now that you’ve moved on, and everything else will fall into place.”

  “You’re right.”

  Her phone buzzed in her purse, pulling her away from their conversation.

  “It’s been buzzing on and off all morning,” Eric told her.

  “Weird.” She picked up her phone and saw that her dad was calling. “Oh no.”

  “What?”

  “It’s my dad.”

  “Is that bad?”

  She bit her lip and steeled herself for this conversation. She needed to be hard to hear what he was about to say because she could almost guarantee he was going to cancel on her. There was no other reason for him to call her the weekend before homecoming.

  “Hey, Daddy,” she said.

  “Hey, sweetheart! How are you?”

  Bryna took a deep breath. “Good. Just get it over with.”

  “Get what over with?” he asked.

  “You know, just go ahead and tell me you’re canceling.”

  “Bryna,” her dad said softly, “I’m not canceling.”

  “You’re not?” She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.

  “No, and I’m sorry if you think the only reason I call you is with bad news.”

  “We don’t exactly have the best track record.”

  He sighed. “No, we don’t, but we’ll work on that. I actually called because I wanted to let you know that the whole family is going to come up on Thursday for homecoming. Celia, Lacey, Kacey, and baby Zoe, of course, are all going to come up with me. We thought that we could meet you and Pace at the condo and have a dinner with just us family.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  She wasn’t sure if she could quite process this. Her dad wanted to have dinner with the whole family, and he was coming to homecoming to see her.

  “Yes, I think it would be fun. I haven’t seen you or Pace since school started, and I thought we could spend time together.”

  “Can my boyfriend come?” she asked without thinking.

  Eric’s head popped up, and their eyes met across the table. Maybe proper etiquette would have been to ask Eric first if he wanted to come and meet her dad, but it was too late now.

  “Boyfriend? I didn’t know you had a boyfriend. You haven’t mentioned anyone since Gates—”

  “Yep, new guy. His name is Eric.”

  “Well, sure. Tell Eric he’s invited. I’d like to meet the guy who is dating my daughter.”

  She laughed. “Sounds good, Daddy. See you on Thursday.”

  She hung up the phone and shrugged. “I guess you’re meeting the fam this week.”

  “WHY ARE YOU FIDGETING?” Bryna asked.

  She brushed her hand down the front of Eric’s button-down shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he had on a pair of dark wash jeans. He looked down at her with his hazel eyes, trying to conceal his worry.

  “Seriously, I never guessed you would be afraid of meeting the rest of my family.”

  “It’s more your dad.”

  “My dad?” She raised her eyebrows. “What about him?”

  “Between football and his movies, he’s a legend!”

  Bryna laughed and pushed him away. “He’s just my dad. Football was a long time ago. You of all people should know that football doesn’t define who you are.”

  “What about the movies?”

  “He’s good at what he does,” she acknowledged, “but he’s still just my dad. You should be more afraid that I’m introducing you as my boyfriend to my dad.”

  “Okay. Now, I’m more nervous.”

  She shook her head and dragged him out of his house. Her heels clicked against the tile, and she tucked her dark pink skirt underneath her as she slid into the passenger sea
t of his Jeep.

  Bryna and Eric arrived at the condo early. Her dad was still a good fifteen minutes away as they walked up to the front door. Bryna felt weird about knocking on the door to the place where she used to live, but this was Pace’s place now. Just another reason she didn’t want to walk inside.

  Eric knocked for her, realizing she was just going to stand there, staring. He kissed the top of her head while they waited. Pace opened the door a minute later. He looked between them, grunted, and then turned away.

  They followed him inside. It was crazy to see the transformation of her condo. He had certainly made it into a bachelor’s pad. She shuddered to think how many women had probably wandered in and out of here.

  They all stood around in silence. Eric and Pace were still on unsteady ground after Eric had punched him after the Colorado game. Bryna was the last one who wanted to break the tension anyway. It was nice to have someone on her side about the whole Pace situation.

  Finally, Pace broke the silence, “Have you heard from Stacia?”

  “I live with her.”

  “Yeah, I know. I mean…has she asked about me?”

  Bryna made a face. Even if Stacia had, she wasn’t about to tell Pace that. “No.”

  He clenched his jaw and nodded. “Okay.”

  The knock at the door interrupted the awkwardness. Pace walked over and answered it.

  Lawrence, Celia, Lacey, Kacey, and another woman holding Zoe, who Celia introduced as the new nanny, all paraded into the condo at once. They were a bustle of hugs and kisses for both her and Pace. Even the twins seemed to have some enthusiasm in their steps. It was probably because they were out of school for tomorrow, which meant no Harmony Prep for a day.

  “And this must be Eric,” Lawrence said. He stepped forward and shook Eric’s hand.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Eric Wilkins in fact,” Lawrence said with a smile. “You didn’t tell me this, Bryna.”

  She shrugged. “Wasn’t sure if you would recognize him.”

  “Wasn’t sure?” he asked. “After that impressive national championship win three years ago? How could anyone forget?”

  Eric laughed and stared over at Bryna before looking back at her father. “I’m honored that you recognized me.”

  “Of course, I did. We’re all proud Gamblers here.”

  The guys talked football.

  In the meantime, Bryna walked over to the nanny and took Zoe in her arms. “Oh my God, she’s so big.”

  Celia smiled and walked closer. “They grow so fast.”

  “I didn’t know you were going to have a nanny.”

  “That’s all Lawrence. I’d keep her close to me at all times if I could. Even though she’s lucky number four for me, I want her near me. It’s hard being away.”

  Bryna bounced her little sister in her arms. Zoe laughed and cooed up at Bryna. “I could see that.”

  “How have you been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. It was nice having you home for the summer, you know.”

  Bryna didn’t take her eyes from the baby. “It was nice being home, but I’ve been so busy with school and cheer.”

  “Of course. Not to mention, a new young man,” Celia said. She eyed Eric and wiggled her eyebrows. “I see you’ve found some of that love that you were asking me about at the hospital.”

  Bryna smiled as her eyes fell on Eric, too. He was talking to her dad as if they had known each other for years. She had known he had nothing to worry about.

  “Seems I have,” she said.

  “Bryna! You didn’t tell me that Eric was coaching,” her father called.

  “I didn’t tell you anything actually. Just that he was coming.” She handed the baby off to Celia with a smile and wandered over. “Should I have told you his life story ahead of time?”

  “Now, Lawrence, give him room to breathe. You just met him. Don’t want to run him off,” Celia said.

  “I don’t mind,” Eric said.

  “Well, we do,” Celia said. “We don’t want to be late for our dinner reservation.”

  After Celia left Zoe with the nanny, they piled into two cars and drove to a nice steakhouse near campus. It wasn’t a place where many students would go unless their parents were in town. Even Bryna had never actually been there before.

  They were seated at a large table for seven with Bryna tucked in between Celia and Eric. Her father and Pace were across from her, and the girls were at the end of the table.

  “So, did you two meet during football?” Celia asked.

  “Actually, Eric showed me around campus on my visit during my senior year,” Bryna answered.

  “What are your plans for the future, Eric?” Lawrence asked, leaning forward.

  He gave Bryna a meaningful look, and she almost laughed. It was weird to have people interested in what was going on in her life…with her boyfriend. Her father had never really cared about what happened with Gates, but he had known him for a while, so maybe that didn’t count.

  “I’m waiting to hear if I got into grad school for sports management here at LV State next year. I plan on spending two more years coaching with Coach Galloway and then getting a job as an assistant coach for another university when I graduate.”

  Her father nodded. “Good goals. Smart.”

  “More than Bryna can say,” Pace spat under his mouth.

  “Bryna has goals,” Eric said, automatically defending her.

  Pace stared him down. “I’d love to hear what her goals are. The last I heard, they were quite…colorful.”

  “Pace, don’t be rude,” Celia whispered.

  Bryna sighed and shook her head. She had no interest in being baited by Pace. “Yes, I have goals, but we’re not talking about me tonight.”

  “I’d love to hear them,” her dad said.

  Bryna bit her lip. “Um…”

  She still hadn’t told her dad about her interest in film. He didn’t even know she was a film major. She hadn’t been sure how to say it without it coming off poorly. She didn’t want him to think that she wanted his help or that he would need to give her a job or something. Worse, she worried he would be flippant about the entire thing.

  “Go on,” Eric said. He squeezed her leg under the table.

  “I’m actually a film major,” she said. Her back was ramrod straight.

  Her father’s eyes brightened. “Film?”

  “Yeah. I’m in history of film this semester and took intro to film last semester.”

  “That’s great,” Celia said. “Don’t you think that’s great, Lawrence?”

  “What do you want to do with that?” he asked. Dad mode had fled, and director mode had returned.

  She hated this. This wasn’t what she’d wanted.

  “I don’t know. It’s just something I’m good at,” she said offhandedly.

  Eric gave her a stern look. “Bri.”

  “I don’t need anyone to make a big deal out of it.”

  “I was just curious,” her dad said.

  “Directing, okay? I’m interested in directing, but I don’t need help, and it’s just an idea at the moment,” she said in a rush.

  Her father broke out into a smile. “That’s great!”

  “It is?”

  “I always hoped you would be interested in directing since you never took to acting. Plus, I would never want you to get into acting. You always seemed more interested in the behind-the-scenes anyway. Makes me proud to know you want to do this, too,” he said.

  His smile was broad, and she saw…admiration in his eyes.

  “Really?”

  “Absolutely. I understand you wanting to make it in Hollywood yourself. I was exactly the same way. But if you need something, I’m here,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she breathed, relieved.

  The rest of dinner went off without any more awkward exchanges. Even Pace seemed to loosen up. He still disagreed with Eric and didn’t seem comfortable, but it was the best they could get at the moment. I
t made her happy that not only had she been able to get everyone in one place, but they also all liked Eric, and she had even confided in her father about film. A lot of big steps in one dinner.

  Her father paid the check and then drove back to the condo. Bryna had classes in the morning, so she and Eric were planning to leave early.

  “Bryna, do you mind if I have a word with you before you go?” her father asked.

  “Uh…sure,” she said, looking at Eric.

  He smiled. “Don’t mind me. I’m going to play with Zoe.” He took her from Celia and rocked her in his arms.

  Bryna’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe how small Zoe looked in his huge arms.

  “Okay. It’ll just be a minute.”

  Bryna stepped out the back door with her father. It was dark and beautiful outside. The desert heat was gone and had been replaced with a nippy chill that sank into her through her shirt and skirt. But it didn’t even matter. She was out here with her dad, and she hadn’t been alone with him in a long time.

  They were silent for a moment, just content with the other’s company. It had been even longer since that happened. She had always been daddy’s little girl. After the divorce and Celia, things had changed. For the first time…it almost felt like things were coming back together.

  “Bryna, I want to apologize,” her father said. He turned to face her.

  “For what?”

  “Everything. Too much to account for, but especially for homecoming last year. Not to mention, how absent I have been from your life for the last couple of years.”

  “Oh,” she whispered in shock.

  “I should have been here for you. You wanted me here for homecoming and Christmas the year before. You wanted me to be there for a lot of things. I know I can’t make up for missing those things, but I want to try. I’m sorry. This isn’t the way a father treats his daughter, and I know that now.”

  She didn’t have any words. She had never thought this day would come. Things were better between them, but like Bryna herself, her father was stubborn with his apologies.

  “I had my head up my ass long before Olivia and I got a divorce. The baby has made me see that my priorities were all out of alignment. With Celia’s help, I realized the damage I did by not being around.” He reached out and held her hands. “I don’t want to wake up and find I don’t have my daughter anymore.”