Pretend Daddy

by Amy Brent

  “Tyler—”

  “And even if my bank account doesn’t get there, I’m still going to support her dreams. Because that’s what makes Amber the person she is. I can tell you right now she’ll never come work for you. She’d rather make plans to live out of her car than work at the production company, but all this you’ve created is not because she won’t keep a promise. It’s because you’re unwilling to accept her change of course. This is a you problem, not a her problem.”

  “Tyler, I know.”

  “And all you’re doing with all this is hurting your relationship with your daughter further. If you take this too far, there won’t be anything I’ll be able to say that will get her back. That will pull her back from what’s been done to her,” I said.

  “May I speak now?” Darlene asked.

  “It depends. Have you heard me?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then, go ahead.”

  “I adore you, Tyler,” she said. “I know one day you’ll be just as rich as you want to be. We all know you’re the brains behind the operation between you and Luke. You’ll get to where you want to be someday. And as for Amber, you’re right. I’ve been sick to my stomach ever since she stormed out of here. Most of this was Ron, I have to admit. I wanted to go after my little girl, but he was just so dead set in his decision.”

  I saw tears rise to her eyes, and I couldn’t help but reach out for her hand. I couldn’t imagine the position she must be in, trying to keep all sides of her family together at Christmas. But, she had to stand up for herself. And if she couldn’t, then I was willing to do it on her behalf.

  “Mrs. Duffield, where’s Ron?” I asked.

  “I honestly don’t know. But, um, could you take a peace offering to Amber on my behalf?” she asked.

  “I can do that, sure,” I said.

  She got up and went over to the drawer. She pulled something out and held it close to her chest, but once she got to me, she held out her hands. It was Amber’s phone, and she was giving it to me.

  “I think Amber’s chosen wonderfully with you, and if the two of you want to be together, then I support you both. I called the phone company and got it turned on for Amber, but I don’t know how long that’ll stick once Ron finds out.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. D. I’ll figure out what to do between now and then,” I said.

  “Will you tell her I love her?” she said.

  I saw the desperation of a mother worried about her child. The tears that rimmed her eyes broke my heart, and I knew I had to track Ron down.

  I had to talk with him and try to knock some sense into him.

  “I promise I will do that,” I said.

  Chapter 28

  Amber

  I woke up that morning and knew where Tyler was before I even rolled over. I found his note on my bedside table, telling me he would be back soon. He said he’d be coming back with food which made my stomach growl, but the only thing I could think about was my father. If he was really upset with this situation, then he probably wasn’t at the house. My father always went to the driving range to hit balls to relieve his stress whenever he was upset. I couldn’t let Tyler talk to him alone. My father would chew him up and spit him out if he did.

  So I got up, got dressed, grabbed the business plan I’d outlined in full detail, and left.

  I’d done a great deal of research after everything at Kelly’s happened, and I wrote it all down. All my options, all the interest rates I might get, as well as all the possible layouts for properties were there. Not to mention long term and short-term goals as well as things I would offer and prices I would charge. Writing it out was helping me to keep my sights on the final prize, but part of me was hoping it would convince my father that I was right.

  That I could realistically do this.

  I hopped into my car and crossed town to get to the driving range. I wondered how the talk with my mother was going and if he was able to talk some sense into her. If I had my phone, I could just shoot him a quick text message, but I’d simply have to wait until he got home.

  Home.

  Back to my apartment.

  It wouldn’t be home for much longer.

  I pulled up the long, winding driveway of the country club and parked my car. People nodded and waved, greeting me with the same recognizable kindness they always had. None of them had a clue as to what was going on, and I’m sure they would balk if they did. Dad had a standing tee time every day at 9:30 AM just in case he wanted to drop in. So, it didn’t shock me at all when I walked outside and found him hitting balls.

  What was surprising, however, was when he didn’t move a muscle as I approached him.

  He didn’t turn to look at me, and he didn’t stop hitting golf balls. I picked up a 3-wood and walked to the spot next to him and teed up. If there was one thing my father and I had in common, it was our skills at golf. It was the most boring game alive, but it was something we always shared when I was a child.

  I hit my first ball, and I could tell my father’s eyes were watching. He hit another before I teed up, and he stood there and watched as I smacked another one out into the driving range.

  Only this time, he spoke.

  “Good shot. I see you haven’t given it up yet,” he said.

  “Nope,” I said.

  “What’s that sticking out of your pocket?” he asked.

  “My business plan. Whenever you’re ready for it, let me know,” I said.

  He fell silent, and we continued to hit balls, but I didn’t let the silence linger for long. If he didn’t want to see it, that didn’t mean I couldn’t discuss it.

  “There’s a part of LA that is up and coming that still doesn’t have much in it. The strip mall will drive a significant amount of traffic along with the specialty restaurants. No dance studio has claimed any of the buildings for rent or sale, and many of the units have the type of layout I need for the studio.”

  I stopped to listen for any response, but the only sound I heard was his iron connecting with another ball.

  “My credit doesn’t suck, so the interest rates for loans on the place won’t be too catastrophic. If I can keep everything under four-hundred-thousand dollars and take the loan out over a fifteen- year period, I’ll only be paying a little over one-thousand dollars a month to pay it all back. Which is a lot until you consider the consignment shop. Even at half capacity in the beginning, it would pull in easily four-hundred alone a month. After getting it fully stocked, it could bring in eight-hundred dollars a month. That leaves only two-hundred dollars a month to meet the loan payment amount and the classes haven’t even started yet.”

  I stopped to give him time to digest before I continued.

  “I’d be offering both professional and beginning dance classes. Tap, contemporary, ballroom, and hip-hop. More modern dances that seem to be in more demand with all the dance shows coming out now. Private lessons with me will be eighty dollars an hour or fifty for a half hour, and during the evenings there will be group classes. You can pay individually for those or pay a bulk sum a month to come, and I’m thinking twenty-five for the individual pricing or one-hundred and fifty for the monthly pricing of those classes. They’ll be thirty minutes long. But, I’ll also be holding special events that require tickets on the weekends for holidays and such. That’ll rake in some decent money, too.”

  I took a deep breath and smacked a ball out toward the flag and tried to gather my thoughts before I continued.

  “Eventually, I want to open the place up at special times where the youth of the area can come and hang out, but it’s not feasible monetarily in the beginning. That’s a longer-term goal for when I’m a bit more financially settled. I also want to do advertising a little differently. I’ll need to take on one other instructor in the beginning, so I’ll have to interview for that and wrap some sort of base pay into everything, but I want to choreograph routines with him or her and have pop-up performances advertising the new dance shop.”

  �
�Could I see your business plan?” he asked.

  I was shocked he even spoke, much less asked for it, but I was more than willing to give it to him. I leaned my club against the bag and pulled the paper from my back pocket, and he took it between his fingers and unfolded the piece of paper. I watched the skepticism slowly fall from his face into somewhat of a blank stare, and his eyes began ricocheting faster and faster across the paper. Never in my life had I been so anxious, and by the time he was done, I could feel my entire body shaking.

  “So? What do you think?” I asked.

  “It looks like the business plan I came up with when I was around your age. It looks fantastic, Amber.”

  “Wait, really?” I asked.

  “You know, it’s funny. My father tried to smash my dreams of owning my own business.”

  “Grandpa tried to do that to you?” I asked.

  “He didn’t try. He succeeded. I put off my business dreams for the longest time to do what he wanted me to do. I was too focused on making him happy and not focused enough on making myself happy. He wanted me to take over the family business, the production company. I wouldn’t have the business now if I’d tried to rebel against my father. I wouldn’t have grown to love everything about the company I have now had I defied my father and started the golfing range I wanted to start.”

  “The golfing range part doesn’t shock me at all,” I said.

  “I’m worried you’ll regret it. I’m concerned you’ll do this with your dance studio and that something will happen. I’m afraid you won’t find your passion like I eventually did with the production company. That business is the life breath of what I do now, and I couldn't picture my life without it,” he said.

  “Daddy, it’s not what I want to do.”

  “I know. I guess I wanted to have something between the two of us so badly I was willing to destroy whatever it was that got in the way,” he said.

  “Well, we golf together. We used to do it all the time when I was a kid. Why don’t we keep a standing tee time every week?” I asked.

  “You’re going to come out here and hit balls with your old man at 9:30 AM?” he asked.

  “Not every morning,” I said, giggling. “But, maybe on Thursdays and Fridays? I could bring coffee?” I asked.

  For the first time in days, I watched my father smile. He held out his arms for me, and I rushed to them, tears crested my eyes as he wrapped me in a hug. I had my father back, and it felt so good. And it seemed as if he was giving me his approval for the business. I felt him kiss the top of my head before he let me go, but the look in his eye told me he wasn’t finished yet.

  “If the dance studio is what you want, then I’m willing to stand by you and watch it happen. But, I don’t approve of Tyler.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “He’s too old for you, sweetheart.”

  “Dad, he’s only three years older than me.”

  “I don’t like the way he looks at you. He’s simply not good enough, and I won’t have it. You can have your business, but I won’t approve of you being with Tyler.”

  “But, Dad.”

  “Goodbye, Amber. I’ll see you next Thursday for our tee time,” he said.

  I nodded and hit one last ball out onto the range before I put my golf club away. I told him to keep the business plan before I left, but as I was leaving, I still couldn’t help but feel like I’d lost. That’s what I wanted, right? My father’s approval on the business? I came here with the intention of trying to convince him to support my dreams like he had supported Luke’s. My business plan had been so thoroughly detailed that a single piece of paper swayed my father’s entire opinion, despite his past with this issue.

  But, I still felt like I had lost.

  Chapter 29

  Tyler

  I was trying as hard as I could to get Ron to speak with me, but he wasn’t having it. Amber kept telling me that she’d made progress, and I had to admit she was right. When she came flying through the apartment and told me her father was finally supporting her business endeavors, I was ecstatic. We sat down and started making a plan, and I said I’d take her to view some properties, but I still wanted to talk with Ron on my own. Everyone else in her family had given their blessing for us to be together but him, and that wasn’t alright with me.

  If anything, her father was the most important part of this entire equation.

  After him not returning my phone calls and refusing to see me at the house, I went over to the production company. I’d never been there and had no idea where he would be in the building, so all I did was walk around until I found his office. His secretary was there entering in some data for a project of some sort, so I sat patiently until she could give me the time of day.

  “So sorry for the wait. Can I help you?” she asked.

  “Yes. I was wondering when Mr. Duffield would be in,” I said.

  “Well, he’s in a meeting right now, and then he’ll take lunch, so he probably won’t be back in until around one this afternoon,” she said.

  “Then, I’ll wait,” I said.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said. “If you’d like to make an appointment, I can put it on Mr. Duffield’s calendar.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m fine. I don’t have anything to do. I need to make sure I catch him today anyway. It’s about his daughter,” I said.

  “Oh, my gosh. Is Amber alright?” she asked.

  “Just fine. I just want to run some things by him, that is all,” I said.

  “Mr. Raymond, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  I whipped my gaze up to her before she turned her head back to her computer screen. I hadn’t given her my name when I walked in, which meant she knew who I was.

  Which meant there was a good chance Ron was here because he had her watch out for me.

  “Ma’am, where is Ron?” I asked.

  “In a meeting,” she said curtly.

  “Then where’s the meeting?” I asked.

  “On another floor. It’s a private meeting with the board of directors for the company,” she said.

  But then, I saw a shadow move underneath Ron’s office door.

  This was pathetic. Ron was a grown man, and he had his secretary looking out for the big bad boy in the leather jacket. If there was anyone in this family who was acting like a child, it was him. He didn’t want to sit with me face-to-face because I already had a track record with his family of changing their minds. He wouldn’t talk to me because he was pissed that he couldn’t control Amber’s life.

  I wasn’t leaving without talking to him.

  I got up from my chair and started for his office door. I wiggled the doorknob, realizing it was locked, then I decided to knock on it.

  “Sir, you can’t go in there,” his secretary said.

  “You know my name because Ron’s having you look out for me. Use it,” I said.

  “Mr. Raymond, he’s in a meeting.”

  “His shadow moved underneath the door. Ron!”

  “He’s with a client,” the secretary said.

  “So, which is it? A meeting with the board or is he with a client?” I asked.

  I turned back to the door and began knocking furiously. I knocked, and I knocked before I jiggled the doorknob again, and for the first time since I had gotten to his office, I heard commotion behind the door. I sighed while his secretary spoke with someone on the phone, and I rambled off as much as I could before I had to get out of there.

  I had a feeling she had just called security.

  “Mr. Duffield, you can’t hide from me. I care about your daughter, and I’m trying to do the right thing here. I know she came to talk to you about her business plan, and I know you’re supporting her. I think that’s great. That’s all she’s ever wanted from you, but I think I deserve the same kindness you showed her. All I’m asking for is an audience.”

  “Mr. Raymond, security is on their way,” his secretary said.

  “I’m going to tal
k to you whether you want me to or not.” I stepped away from the door and hoped he would open it. All he had to do was open the door just a crack, and I could do the rest. All he had to do was be an adult for one fucking second, and I could take the reins and carry the conversation. I just wanted to say my piece to him like I was able to with everyone else.