“You look like you’ve been through hell and back,” was all he said before jerking his thumb for me to follow as he took a few steps away from the crowd.
My stomach wrung itself in knots, and I had a lump in my throat that made it difficult to breathe and almost impossible to talk. I shouldn’t have reacted that way, though. He’d given me exactly the kind of greeting I’d expected and low-key dreaded ever since Muriel, Jas, and I had made it back to town.
I would have honestly been more shocked if he’d given me a big smile and a hug and told me how much he and my mom had missed me.
Neither of them had treated me like that—like the daughter they were proud of—since the cheating scandal, though. Even living on the other side of the country for the past few years hadn’t been enough to help them get over what had happened back then, apparently.
“It has been hell out here, Daddy,” I answered, my voice sounding too small and too emotional. I needed to be strong for whatever came next. I’d been down this same road too many times before. “You’ve seen it yourself right here at the grocery store. But I haven’t had time to shower or freshen up because Cooper, Nolan, and I have been running all over town trying to help out where we can.”
He gave the barest glance in the guys’ direction. “I see who you’ve been hanging out with. Those two good-for-nothing cheaters. Do you do it just to piss me off, Poppy? Or do you like seeing your name dragged through the mud every time you show your face in this town? Hm? Which is it?”
I blinked hard because even though my dad might have been trying to embarrass and humiliate me in front of God and everybody, there was no way in hell I’d give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
No.
Damn.
Way.
I was a fucking adult, for Christ’s sake. With a career.
And there was no need for him to say things about the guys. They attempted to cheat once in school. Sure, it was a big scandal at the time, but it happened a long time ago. It wasn’t even as if they managed it; it was a fucked up dumb plan from the start.
He made me angry.
But he was still my father, and I wanted him to act like one more than anything else.
“I’m not trying to make you angry, Daddy,” I answered quietly. “Cooper and Nolan were nice enough to help Prue and me last night when her car broke down. Then they wanted to talk, and we just—”
“Prue told me you went with them willingly,” he snarled, interrupting me. “Don’t pretend like they held a gun to your head. You were right out there in the damn yard, for God’s sake. You could have come inside the house at any time, but you chose to do something else. Just like you always do.”
We were standing off to the side, but I was sure his voice had carried over to the people closest to us, including Nolan and Cooper.
I stole a glance in their direction, and Nolan met my gaze, then cleared his throat and called out, “Did you need a hand with those sandbags, Mr. Evans?”
Daddy glared at him for several long seconds before shaking his head. “I don’t need anything from you.”
He turned back to me, then pointed to the remaining stack of sandbags.
My dad turned back to what he’d been doing before.
“Since you’re here, you might as well get to work and do something useful for once.”
I stumbled back toward where Cooper and Nolan had already started to work. I’d expected my dad to be pissed off, but for him to tell me off in public like that? Not to mention how rude he’d been to Nolan and Cooper—it wasn’t just uncalled for, it was mortifying and nasty.
But then, that had probably been on purpose.
“You okay?” Nolan asked once the three of us were out of earshot from everyone else.
“How much did you hear?” I was honestly afraid to ask, but I had to know.
“We heard enough,” Nolan answered, frowning. “Sounded like he was tearing into you. I wanted to interrupt but—”
“No, I’m glad you didn’t because he would’ve had plenty to say to you too,” I sighed. “Anyway, it isn’t important. I’m just going to...”
I let my voice trail off as I started moving bags of sand because I didn’t know what else to do. Even though he’d humiliated me and made me angry at the same time, I still had a pang of regret that I hadn’t at least gone inside to say hi to my parents the night before. Or called them earlier in the morning when I’d had the chance.