I had to work hard at not diving into the pity party that I wanted to throw for myself in high fashion. I'd learn to blow those things up thanks to my mother giving me plenty of chances to feel sorry for myself.
"You want me to go with you?" Amy opened the door for me and gave me a sad smile.
"No. Thank you, though." I turned to hug her before walking to my car and letting the anger that bubbled up inside of me coat my need to cry again. I wasn't going to let Tate know that I was hurting. He didn't deserve to know how much I'd come to like him in the short amount of time that we'd been together.
"Asshole." I got into my car and drove to the shop, noticing that his bike wasn't out front, which was odd. It was late in the day, so there was no way he had classes.
The bells rang above my head as I made my way into the small office beside the garage. The pretty redhead that had been so nice to me before glanced up. The way her eyes widened told me that something had for sure happened. Tate must have told everyone in the shop that he was over me, or sick of me, or never really interested. They had something on me – all of them – or so I let myself believe.
"Hi, there." She stood and gave me a sympathetic smile. "You looking for Tate?"
"Yes, ma'am. Just a concerned friend." I slipped my hands into my pockets and moved up to stand in front of her. "Is he here? I won't bother him for more than a few minutes."
"He's actually at the hospital. His mother was admitted a few days ago."
"Oh, no. Is she okay?" Worry raced over me, and I pulled out my phone and checked for the millionth time for a text from him.
"She is now. He's not here, though. You want me to tell him that you came by?" Her expression tightened a little, and even though I shouldn't have, I had to dig.
"No, please don't." I pulled my hands from my pockets and pressed them to the counter. "Do you have any idea why Tate isn't returning my calls? I'm not sure what I did wrong other than fall for him."
Dammit if tears didn't fill my eyes. I wasn't trying to work the poor woman in front of me, but the hard emotions ripping through my insides weren't going to stay hidden too much longer.
"Oh, honey." She reached up and placed her hands over mine. "He's just trying to do what's best for both of you."
I sniffled and reached for a tissue from the box on her desk. "I don't understand. Everything seemed to be going good for a little while there, and then all of a sudden.., I don't hear anything. I understand him needing to take care of his mom, but I want to help out, too."
She tilted her head to the side and studied me. "He didn't tell you about his visitor the other day?"
"What? What visitor?" I blew my nose and apologized as I tried to think through who in the world could have stopped by that would have Tate pushing me away again. My father. "Oh, no. My dad didn't come in here, did he?"
She pursed her lips and nodded her head slowly. "Don't say anything to Tate. It was bad. Really bad."
Anger burned through me like a forest fire. "Bad how? What did he say to Tate?"
"He just warned him away, but his promises were pretty strong. He doesn't agree with you dating someone like Tate." She shrugged and let out a long sigh. "You gotta do what's best for you, honey, but I promise you something...if your dad has the power to do some of the things he promised to do to Tate and his family, I'd not be with you, either."
"What did he promise to do?" I felt like I might throw up.
"I'll let Tate tell you that. I've already said far too much." She dropped down in her chair. "If you're hell bent on making him yours, then show him the kind of love that that boy needs right now – the kind that leaves him believing that you have his back and would take on the world for him."
"I would do that without question." My vision started to blur again. Was my dad really such a monster that he would show up at Tate's shop and give him an ultimatum that included leaving me or meeting some horrible fate?
"Good, then you need to talk with your dad, too. He's a far bigger threat than I think you know, sweetie." She reached out and patted my arm. "Take care, and good luck. I hope you figure things out. Tate’s a good boy and a great man. I wish we had a million more like him."
I gave her a weak smile, thanked her and walked out into the snowy afternoon. I wasn't sure what I was going to do about my father, but Tate wasn't getting away so easily. He was the first man I'd wanted to be with enough to fight against everything I knew to make it happen.
He was worth it. No, I was.
*
I'd just finished baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies and scrubbing the kitchen when the sound of Tate and his mother caught my attention. I wasn't sure how pissed he was going to be with me for being there uninvited and having basically broken in.
"You smell that?" Tate's voice had a hint of fear to it.
"It's me. Sorry. I got tired of waiting for the boy of my dreams to call me." I wiped my hands on a towel as I walked into the living room.
Tate stopped in his tracks, but his mother headed over and pulled me into a tight hug.