by Stacy Borel
A woman I had zero intentions of letting go of.
I wasn’t wrong about dinner. Sitting in the center of the table was roast beef, potatoes, carrots, and celery. I was salivating before I even got to my chair.
“Crew, what would you like to drink?”
“Water will be fine, Mrs. Brooks.”
She smiled kindly. “Honestly, honey, you can call me Keegan. I prefer it. Cam, Ash, do you two want your usual?”
They both said yes as they sat at where I only assumed were their usual spots at the table when they had company. I took the chair closest to Ashton, and Camden watched me to make sure I wasn’t putting my hands anywhere he couldn’t see.
“How was work?” Ashton asked.
I gave her my attention. Her expression was tight with worry lines in the corner of her eyes. “Nothing too adventurous. Started work on replacing my first transmission.”
Keegan was coming in from the kitchen with the flowers in a vase of water and a small baking dish with more food. At least someone in this house was acting like nothing abnormal was going on. She sat on her husband’s right and patted his thigh. When he looked down at her, you could see the softening of his eyes, and an expression that was undoubtedly private, but I just so happened to have gotten a glimpse. He was crazy about her.
“Have you gotten used to working on cars?” Keegan questioned.
I dished out a large but not obnoxiously massive helping of roast onto my plate. “Yes and no. I no longer ask for help with basic tasks, but things such as what I’m doing right now will take some time to learn. There are so many parts and equations to each car. It’s kind of crazy to think that you have to spend hours taking something apart only to need to replace a little nut because it’s been stripped or something else needs lubrication.”
She was listening like I was relaying the most interesting story. Camden was still watching me with skepticism. He stabbed his fork into his beef and lifted it to his mouth. “I can’t even imagine. I don’t know the first thing about cars. I don’t even know how to change a tire.”
“Mom, you don’t know how to change a tire because Dad won’t let you lift a finger doing something like manual labor.”
He’d just stuffed another bite in his mouth, but he spoke around his food. “That’s because a woman doesn’t need to do something as grueling as changing a tire.”
Ashton scoffed. “Psh, is that why you taught me how to do it?”
Camden stopped chewing. “No. I wanted you to learn because god forbid you get stranded on the side of the road somewhere.” He shot his eyes to mine. “At least you’ll know how to do the basics to help yourself.”
“Hmph. Seems to me, if that’s your reasoning, then Mom should learn how to do it too.”
“Ashton.”
“What?” She shrugged. “Just saying.”
It got quiet for a moment before Keegan continued.
“What’s your family like? Do you miss them?”
I swallowed a gulp of water and set my glass down. “Deeply. My family isn’t much different from what I’ve seen of yours. We are busy and loud and enjoy spending time together. My grandparents were the best people I know.”
“Were?”
“They passed away a couple of months ago.”
Keegan’s face grew sorrowful. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure that was hard.”
“Very.”
Ashton put her hand on my thigh and gave it a squeeze. I looked at her, and one side of my mouth tipped up. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to how her touch made me feel. This small woman was weaseling her way between all the cracks in my chest and mending them. I wasn’t whole, but she made me feel not so broken.
“Crew.” Camden’s booming voice interrupted. “What kind of goals do you have for yourself?”
“Sir?”
He was staring me down like I was about to be in for an hours’ long Spanish Inquisition. “What are your goals?” He spoke more slowly as if I hadn’t understood him the first time.
I met his eyes dead on. “At the moment, I’m not sure. I have some ideas, but I’m waiting for something.”
“That’s a very broad answer.” He puffed out his chest. “I’m interested in hearing these ideas.”
“Dad,” Ashton hissed.
Keegan’s fork clanked on her dinner plate, and she glared at her husband. I refused to break eye contact with him. This was fucking ridiculous. I expected him to be an ass to me tonight, and I even expected him to put me on the spot and try his damnedest to make me feel uncomfortable, but I didn’t think he was going to be outright rude. I guess I needed to settle in for a night of no beating around the bush. He’d met his match with me, and he was about to get schooled in “Crew doesn’t stand for shit.”
Meeting his question head to head, I said, “I plan on completing college and moving to Texas to work for a refinery. If any other opportunities arise, I will consider them.”
“Texas?” Keegan asked.
I tipped my head. Ashton was watching me out of the corner of my eye. This was news to her as well, I know. “Yes, ma’am. Internships are offered out there in the field I’m interested in. I’d be stupid to pass it up.”
She leaned forward, interested in every word I had to say. “What sort of refineries?”
“Fuel and oil.”
“Why aren’t you in school now?” Camden interrupted.
“Because I needed a break.”
“A break that made you be a mechanic?”
“No. That’s an interim job while I sort through some things.” This asshole didn’t deserve to know anything else. Camden took home the Oscar for best protective father act. The devil on my left was saying to square up with him and not let him take an ounce of power while the angel on my right said this was the father of the girl you’re falling for. Cut the man some slack because it was obvious he didn’t know enough about me to believe I was anything more than a tattooed punk who worked in a sweaty garage all day.
“What things?”
“Camden,” Keegan scolded. “You’re being rude.”
Her cheeks were flushed, clearly embarrassed by her husband’s tone. Ashton was silent and not likely to say anything. I understood why, but it also pissed me off that she was worried about breaking the view he had of her. Ashton sat in the middle of a room with nothing but little collectible crystals. The crystals were their memories and Camden’s ideals. If she moved, she tiptoed around each one as to not shatter or break them. I’d give my left nut to see her trudge through them like a wrecking ball.
Camden placed his crumpled napkin on the table and looked at his wife. There was no softening of his eyes this time. “I’m not being rude. I’m being direct. If the boy wants to continue to see my daughter, he needs to answer some questions. No daughter of mine is going to have permission to see someone who can’t even sit under the pressure of my own scrutiny.”
“Your permission?” Ashton’s small voice was like a whisper under Camden’s harshness.
His head shot around to meet her stare. Her shoulders were bunched, and only I could see her fists were balled in her lap. Her nostrils flared, and her beautiful blue eyes were glistening with unshed tears.
“I don’t need permission to be with anyone. I’m an adult. I choose who I want to be friends with, what I want to wear in the morning, what classes I will take each semester, and what food I eat during the day. I drive a car and have never had a speeding ticket. I have straight A’s. I do every little thing this family asks of me, but I do not need your permission today, tomorrow, or any other day to have a boyfriend. Let alone who that boyfriend is.”
Her outburst took me by surprise. In fact, every person sitting here was surprised, including the little firecracker next to me. Ashton was manning the driver’s seat of a crane. She literally just wound up and let that thing swing through all expectations with steel destruction.
“As long as you’re living under my roof …”
“No, Dad. Pulling t
hat card won’t work. I stayed here because of you and Mom. You knew I had opportunities to go to school out of state and didn’t.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “That’s because you wanted to stay here. We discussed this.”
“I stayed for you.” There it was. The bullet straight through the heart.
Keegan sat, stoic and unmoving. Her expression said none of this was news to her. If any part of this conversation was, it was her daughter’s unwavering tone. Camden, on the other hand, looked like his world was being rocked. He was every bit the head of the household. He took care of his family and their happiness and well-being. I wanted to feel sorry for him for the sake of being a male because I’d likely be the same way if I had a daughter. I didn’t doubt that for a second. No girl of mine would bring home a guy like me without being questioned six ways from Sunday. I get that that made me a fucking hypocrite, but this wasn’t about me. And I wouldn’t give him a pass. Ashton was twenty-one years old, not sixteen. At some point, he was going to have to pass on the reins to a man, albeit me or someone else. It fucking won’t be someone else. That was what every father eventually had to do. He was just living in denial.
His jaw was tight, and his teeth clenched so hard it looked like he could break a molar. His emotions were hanging off his tight fitted Polo-clad shoulder. “I know you well enough that that’s only a partial truth.” He was losing a battle he came into unarmed. “We can talk about this later. But while another man is in my house, wanting to date my daughter, I have every right to know more about him.”
“Yes, you do, gracefully,” Keegan implored. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she leaned over and brushed her nose against his cheek. His tough exterior cracked at her touch. She whispered in his ear, and he exhaled loudly through his nostrils. “Crew.” She gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for the direction this evening has turned. Please, let’s scratch everything and start over.”
My eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Camden wouldn’t look at me. He was watching his daughter who still hadn’t moved a muscle next to me. I was concerned about how the conversation was taking its toll on her. She was never my quiet little bird. Shy, yes but never quiet. I didn’t give a flip that her parents were in the room, or that her dad might despise me with every fiber of his being. I turned to her and placed my palm on her cheek. She blinked like my touch snapped her out of a trance.
“Are you good?”
She stared at me with those amazing baby blues. Ashton looked pained. Like one of those poor animals that were dumped at a shelter and gave you big round eyes that said they didn’t know what was happening to them. All I wanted to do was sweep her away from here and hold her in my arms. I couldn’t shelter her from whatever she was feeling, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to fight and try.
“I’m fine,” she stated, almost robotically.
Searching her face, I knew she was lying, and I hated to see the hurt on her face. I could only imagine that the hurt stemming from her father being a dick made it even worse for her. Except this wasn’t the time or the place to talk it out. But I’d eventually pry every ounce of it out of her even if it took me fucking her till she screamed. As understanding as I was trying to be about Camden and his reactions toward me, the pathetic look on Ashton’s face made me want to throat punch him for putting it there.
I ground my teeth together. “All is forgotten.”
I knew that comment burned Camden’s ass.
“Baby, you need anything? Maybe we should skip the rest of dinner and bring out the brownies you made.”
“Thanks, Mom. I appreciate that.” Her mother knew her better than I ever could right now. But I knew she was plastering on a fake smile to pacify us all and end this evening on a positive note.
When Keegan dashed out of the dining room, she was gone for less than a minute. The poor woman was probably terrified that her husband would fly across the table at me if she wasn’t sitting next to him and keeping him in line. She placed a plate full of square brownies with pink sprinkles in the center of the table. It reminded me of grade school when we had our Valentine’s Day party, and every mom was trying to one-up each other with the goody bags and treats.
“You made these?” I asked Ashton.
She looked down at her balled-up hands and nodded. “Mmmhmm.”
Not waiting for one to be offered to me, I reached forward and took one off the decorative platter, then shoved half of it in my mouth as she watched me. Her eyes were wide as she waited for me to tell her that I either liked them or wanted to spit it into my napkin. Small chocolate chips that were still slightly melted made the brownie taste like a gooey orgasm in my mouth. Licking my lips, I tried to finish my bite before I spoke.
“They are heaven,” I said with my mouth partially full.
She gave me a genuinely warm smile. The first one I’d seen grace her face since I’d walked in the door. Keegan beamed next to The Grinch as he snagged one for himself and chewed methodically. It’s okay to say something nice in front of me, ya dick.
“Are you also an only child?”
“I am,” I answered, pushing aside my half-eaten plate of roast beef even though I wanted to keep eating. “The one and only grandchild as well.”
“Oh, so Mac never had any children?”
I shook my head. “No. He doesn’t really care for kids, and even if he did, he never found someone willing to give them to him.”
Camden chuckled. Like actually chuckled before he caught himself and schooled his face. “You’re the only one to carry on your name then?”
I met his dark brown eyes. Such a stark contrast to Ashton’s and Keegan’s. “Unfortunately. My parents tried to have another baby about a year after I was born, but it’s just me.”
Wrapping her small hands around her husband’s arm, Keegan appeared thoughtful. “When Ashton was about two years old, she begged and begged for a sibling.”
“A sister,” Camden corrected.
She smiled at her daughter in adoration. “A baby sister, yes. She would say ‘baby, Mommy,’ and she’d pat my stomach. I think she saw her cousins being born, and she wanted one of her own that we could keep at our house.” She laughed at the memory. “We discussed having more, but I ran into a few health issues, and we decided we were content as a family of three.”
“That’s not to say we didn’t go out and buy her every doll on the shelf that she could play house with. Water babies, babies with real hair, ones that peed their diapers, talking ones, we had them all. Turned out Ash wasn’t even interested in any of them. She was obsessed with Foster as though he was all she needed in the world. She loved him more than anything even though the kid was older than her.” Camden retold the story as if it had just happened yesterday.
At that very moment, you could hear the sadness in his voice, the very sorrow that was probably slamming into him like a runaway train. His one and only little girl was growing and searching for her chance to leave. As much as the man irked the shit out of me, I had sympathy for him. I couldn’t empathize because I’d never been there. The more she took the scissors and snipped away each thread that tied her to him, the more he tried to tangle and knot the strings to hold on a little longer. This wasn’t about me. I was simply the scapegoat, the excuse to hash out the issues that plagued her need for independence, and his to keep her little forever.
Ashton remained silent, and I knew it was time to call it. The night wouldn’t end on a bad note, and it wasn’t a complete wash. Dinner was hardly touched and growing cold, and there were brownies left. We didn’t spend the evening chatting over a glass of wine and playing Uno. We might have been better off with an American Gladiator ring in the backyard.
I think all four of us were thinking the same thing because Keegan stood and asked me if I wanted to take home any leftovers. I refused even though I would’ve stolen the whole crock pot and ran out the door. Thank fuck she insisted that I take half of it all anyway to give to Foster. The ba
stard wasn’t touching any of it.
Camden didn’t shake my hand and tell me to have a good night. He simply got up from the table, gave me a brief glance, then retreated to another room. Keegan, on the other hand, rounded the table and gave me a tight hug that I swore were reserved only for moms. As if they attended a school that taught them how to give you all the feels in the short, few-second squeeze.
Ashton followed me to the door, and we stepped outside. She wouldn’t meet my eyes, and I’d be damned if she thought I would drive away and leave her with that look on her face.
“Well, that went well.”
Scoffing, she dropped her arms that were crossed in front of her chest. “That’s what a nightmare looked like.”
“Hey.” I nudged her. “It really wasn’t that bad.”
She laughed sarcastically. “If you mean that my dad wasn’t as rude as he possibly could be to you, and he didn’t try to embarrass the life right out of me, then I guess you’re right.”
There was a chill that felt deeper than the breeze that blew across our noses. It was nighttime, but the street she lived on was well lit. Every cookie-cutter house had their porch lights on like some beacon to welcome a random stranger at this time of evening. If Ashton was cold, she wasn’t giving it away. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her in my warmth.
Grabbing her wrist, I laced my fingers with hers and gave her hand a little tug. She seemed reluctant at first, but then she came willingly. Laying her head on my chest and molding her body to mine, she was so tiny that my arms completely enveloped her lithe frame.
“It’s going to be okay, you know?” I tried to reassure her.
“Is it? ’Cause my dad has never acted that way to anybody.”
I rolled my eyes, but she couldn’t see it. I didn’t want her to know that it bothered me ever so slightly that I was the special one who got the shit end of the stick with Daddy Dearest. “Ash, he senses it. I do, and I know you do too.” I placed my hands on both of her cheeks and made her look up at me. “There’s something very real and definitive going on here. I’m not the type for mushy bullshit, but I also don’t beat around the bush. Your dad is giving me a harder time because he knows I matter to you. I’m not some high school kid trying to get through my four years with the hottest girl by my side and ditch her at the first sign of something better. You are that something better.” My eyes were glued to hers, trying to read her with every word I spoke. “What I’m saying is, I’m falling. You took me by surprise. You are my tsunami.” Her adorable expression screamed that she didn’t get my analogy. Her cheeks were rosy, and her lips were full and pouty. I wanted to kiss and nibble on every little inch of her.