“And what about her? Does she love you? Does she love you enough to move her own heaven and earth for you?”
Trey finally looked his father in the eye. There was no malice there. No anger. Not even regret, as though he’d purged it all by telling Trey he was sorry and admitting that he’d certainly failed in some respects, as a father, and as a human being. He saw love there, shining in his father’s eyes. Pride as well. His father never told him he was proud of him. He’d never used those words, but Trey could see it. He could see it, for the first time, because he was finally, finally actually looking. He knew he would have seen it before if he’d had his eyes open.
It was like he was seeing Dale for the first time. Not as a little kid, but as a fellow adult. As a fellow human being who had fumbled, stumbled, and done the best he could, even if it was messy and open for debate. He’d done what he thought was right. He’d tried to set Trey on the right path, even if Trey saw it as a pretty convoluted way to get there.
“She told me that we couldn’t do this without you. That she wouldn’t be with me if it meant that I had to give up my family. She knows that you’re the only one I have left. That it’s just us. It’s always been her and her mom and family is everything for her. She told me not to come back if you weren’t on board with this.”
His father’s lips wobbled. “Smart girl. Beautiful too. Definitely worth fighting for as hard as you have.”
“I did pick wrong,” Trey mumbled. “I get it now. You never told me what to do. You were just trying to help me open my eyes and see. I went through most of my life with them shut like a blind man. I didn’t love Ambi enough back in college to fight for her properly. I know that was a mistake. I’m never going to make it again because she’s it for me. She’s the only one I’ll ever want.”
Dale grinned. “What are you waiting for then? Give me your damn resignation and go find out what makes you happy. You’ll always have a position here if you ever want to come back. And for goodness sake, go out and get the love of your life back.”
Trey stood up so fast he just about knocked the chair over. He set out a hand to steady and right it. “Thanks for the advice, dad. One day I’ll come back here and thank you for everything. When I can truly mean it.”
His father nodded solemnly. He picked up his favorite pen and rolled it between his fingers, almost absentmindedly, except that his father didn’t do anything without a reason. “I’m looking forward to it, son. Very much.”
CHAPTER 19
Amberina
“I can’t believe you recorded everything.”
“It was the only way I could think of to get you to believe me. If I’d just told you he was on board, you would have called me a liar. Even if he told you flat out, I don’t think you would have believed he hadn’t been somehow coerced into it.”
Ambi stared at Trey’s phone, which sat on the edge of her desk. She was standing on the far end of the room, her arms pretty much wrapped around herself. She couldn’t press into her floor to ceiling bookcase any further if she tried. It was one of her favorite parts of her office. The built-in bookcase from the previous owner. She’d filled it up with every single book she owned and there was still a bit of room. Which was good. She loved reading and she couldn’t help buying books, even if she had switched over to mostly reading electronically.
Trey stood in the doorway. He’d basically caught her at the office and cornered her so she couldn’t dodge past him and get out of the office. She’d retreated to the far end of the room, up against the bookcase, putting as much distance between them as she could, and she’d stayed there, her massive metal desk between them. Trey had slapped his phone down and told her to listen. She didn’t want to, but short of plugging her ears like a disobedient toddler, she had no choice.
She’d listened.
She’d listened to the whole twenty-minute recording.
“Does he know? That you recorded it?”
“No. I had my phone in my pocket the entire time. I wanted to record it just for evidence. I needed it. I knew if I came here again claiming that I’d talked to him and he’d agreed just like that, you’d call bullshit. He didn’t know I was recording, but he wouldn’t be opposed to me sharing it with you. You heard the end. He told me to get my ass in gear and get you back.”