“I did. And don’t think that it didn’t cross my mind to get in contact with you. It did, probably more than you might realize. But I didn’t, and that’s just something that I have to live with. I tried to help you out how I could, though.”
“You did?”
“I’m good friends with Richard Hanson, the president at the bank you got your loan at. You were, what—19, 20—when you applied for your business loan to open your shop?”
I nodded slowly. It seemed like such a long time ago, and at the time, it had seemed like such a long shot, that I would ever get a loan to open my own shop. I had no credit, no real business experience, and no collateral. But I was young and probably a little full of myself and knew that I just had to take the chance because tattooing was what I was good at and I didn’t want to have to work for someone else. When they told me I’d been approved for the loan, I hadn’t questioned it at all; I’d just assumed that it had happened because it was what I was supposed to be doing.
“That was you?” I asked.
“Yeah. I vouched for you.”
“But you didn’t even know me.”
Craig shrugged. “You’re right, I didn’t, but I felt like it was the least I could do.”
I paused, thinking back to that most recent loan statement I’d received. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that you also paid off the remaining balance of the loan? Because I recently got a statement informing me that it’s at zero. I haven’t really been paying much attention to it, other than making sure the payment is on time every month, which gets deducted automatically, so I guess it’d be more accurate to say I haven’t given it much attention at all.”
“Yes, I paid it off. There wasn’t that much of a balance left on there.”
“There was enough.”
“You’re right, but again, it’s something I wanted to do. You’d never made a single late payment, and even without ever having stepped foot in your shop, I could tell that you were doing well. I was happy to be able to do it for you, Graham.”
“Well ... thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say. The past few hours had been almost a blur, yet also stunningly clear at the same time. I was sitting here next to my father. The father I had grown up my whole life not knowing, yet he’d been there anyway, watching out for me in his own way.
Chapter Forty
Chloe
After Graham left for the hospital, my mother and I ordered some food, but neither of us was very hungry. The mood had turned rather somber, so I asked her if she would give me a ride back to his place.
“Were he and Parker close?” she asked.
“
They knew each other, but I didn’t think they were really that close.” I kept my gaze on the trees as they rushed past the passenger side window. I wanted to call Graham, or text him, but I knew that right now, he needed his space. For whatever it was that he had to do.
“I hope everything is going to be all right.” She reached over and squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry all this is happening.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Well, that isn’t, but, you know what I mean. Here I am driving you to his house, because you’re no longer staying with us.”
“There are a lot of kids my age who live on their own,” I said.
“I know, but that wasn’t the plan for this summer. I certainly wasn’t expecting that to happen. And I know our lunch date got cut short, but I can tell that Graham is actually a very nice young man and that you two are quite fond of each other. Is he who I’d pick for you? Maybe not, but you’re right; that shouldn’t matter. I’m not the one who’s dating him.”
Her voice shook a little as she spoke and I could see her eyes were welling up with tears. I squeezed her hand. “Oh, Mom. You don’t have to cry. Maybe it needed to happen this way. I’m sure I’ll come back to the house again. Dad will change his mind.” But even as I spoke those words, I could hear the note of uncertainty in my voice. There was a good chance that my father wouldn’t change his mind, even if it was about something like this. He definitely lived by the idea that once you said you were going to do something, you didn’t go back on your word. Would he really forbid me from ever going back to the house again if I didn’t break up with Graham? I could hope that wouldn’t be the case, but if it was, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised.
My mother seemed a little better when she pulled up in front of Graham’s. The tears were gone and she gave me a smile. “Here we are.” She looked at the front of the cottage. “This place is actually very cute.”
“It’s not bad.”
“So, you’re okay? You’ll call me if you need anything?”
“I will.”
I leaned over and we hugged and she kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll try to talk more with your father,” she said. “This silliness just needs to stop. Let me know if you hear anything about Parker.”