My chest tightened. He should not be beating himself up right now. I tried to reassure him. “We all make mistakes.”
“Mine was quite a mistake.”
It broke my heart that my father was focused on his regrets while battling this illness. He could very well have limited time; he needed to focus on the positive.
“Dad, please don’t worry about the past right now.”
The tension in the air was thick, and I felt Declan’s hand cover mine—not sure how he knew I really needed it.
He squeezed my hand. “If I may say something, Dr. Corrigan…”
My father took a sip of his drink. “Of course.”
“I know you left home when Molly was sixteen, and most of us are who we are as people by that age. You were there for her formative years. That fact shouldn’t be discounted. Sure, you made some mistakes, but your daughter is an amazing, well-adjusted person with a good head on her shoulders and a great career. She’s happy, loves the simple pleasures in life—loves food especially.” He looked at me, and I rolled my eyes. “She’s going to be just fine. And I, for one, am happy to call her my friend.”
Whether Declan’s words were the truth didn’t matter. He knew exactly what my father needed to hear. And I wanted to kiss him right now. Jesus, where did that come from?
“You should go into advertising,” my father joked, knowing full well from our dinner conversation that Declan’s career was in advertising. “But thank you. I’m happy my daughter has someone like you looking after her.”
After a minute, Declan went to use the bathroom.
My father took me into the living room and said, “He’s gay, right?”
I nearly spit out my wine. “What? No! What makes you say that?”
“You’re kidding. He’s not?”
“No. He’s totally hetero.”
“You mean to tell me he talks about you like that and looks at you that way, yet there’s nothing going on and he’s heterosexual?”
I swallowed. “Yes.”
“Well, he sure had me fooled.”
I took a long sip. “He’s infatuated with another woman.”
Dad took a moment to ponder that. “I don’t even know that person, but there’s no way she holds a candle to you. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he sees that.”
“Well, he’s leaving in a matter of months, so...”
My father’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t realize that.”
“Yeah. He’ll be heading back to California, where he’s from. He’s only here on a temporary, six-month assignment for work.”
Wow. Somehow thinking about Declan leaving had a much greater effect on me than it had when he’d first moved in. That was really going to suck when the time came.
We stayed for about a half hour more before I went to the kitchen to thank Kayla for dinner and hugged my dad goodbye. All in all, the visit went better than I ever could have anticipated. I made plans with Dad to visit again next week on my own. This would hopefully be the beginning of a fresh start to our relationship.
Once Declan and I got back in the car, I turned to him. “I have a funny story for you.”
“Whatcha got?”
“That whole time, my dad thought you were gay.”
He’d just been about to start the ignition but paused. “Say what?”
“Yes.”
A perplexed look crossed his face. “Do I seem gay to you? You’d tell me, right? Do I give off vibes?”
“No.” I laughed. “He thought you were gay because he couldn’t understand how you and I get along so well, how you could say all those nice things about me, how we could be living together, but not be together. So, he just assumed.”
“Well, damn,” Declan said as he started the car. “No wonder he was so nice to me. He didn’t see me as a threat. Did you tell him I’m not gay?”
“Of course. I told him you were infatuated with someone else.”
He scrunched his face as if I’d somehow offended him. “Infatuated? I don’t think that’s the right word exactly. I mean, I really like Julia. A lot. But infatuation is a bit much. That makes it sound creepy.”
“When I first met you, you told me you were in love with her. You’re not even with her, and she has a boyfriend. If that’s not infatuation, I don’t know what is.”
“I might’ve exaggerated a little. I was also trying to weasel my way into your apartment and would’ve said anything to peg myself as someone who wouldn’t be interested in sex with you. I should have just told you I was gay.”
I winked. “Apparently my father would have believed it.”
CHAPTER 8
* * *
Declan
The following night, Julia and I were working together in my living room. Once again we’d taken position together on the floor, using the coffee table as a makeshift desk. Wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but she seemed to be sitting closer to me than usual.