“He was my best friend, Kandy! What the hell did you expect? For me to accept it and be all willy-nilly about it? No! Fuck that!” he barked, and I flinched as he towered over me. Dad had never spoken to me this way, but apparently something had snapped inside him too. The patio door slid open, and I heard Mom’s pleading voice begging Dad to back off. But he didn’t.
And just as my father was stubborn, so was I. I matched his stare, though I gave him a dose of sympathy too. I had hurt him. I truly did.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you, Dad,” I said lowly. “I’m sorry if this has broken you or ruined things and has made you look at me as this foreign object that you don’t understand. I’m sorry for that,” I whispered. “But…I love him, Dad. I really do. I know you think I’m being ridiculous and that I’m young and dumb—and maybe I am! Who knows! Like you said, I’m too young to know what I want—but if so, I will learn from it!” I laughed dryly, the rims of my eyes hot, burning with too much emotion. “Maybe I don’t know what I want! Maybe I am stupid for wanting him more than I want to breathe, but you know what…it feels right! Being with Cane feels right. I have been pushing that feeling aside to make you happy. I hid him and my love for him, all to keep a smile on your face, but…I’m tired of it, Daddy. I’m so, so tired of it.” Dad’s face softened, his huffing slowing down too. His eyebrows strung together and his lips parted. “I want to be with him. I. Want. Him. Can you at least try to accept that and stop making things so hard for everyone? Mom’s trying! Why can’t you?”
He looked me all over, his eyes lined with tears. His bottom lip trembled, and when he shut his eyes, one tear fell. He lifted a hand and cupped the back of my neck. A warm, deep kiss was dropped onto my forehead before he pulled back and stared into my eyes. His were both sincere and stern.
“I love you with all of my heart, Kandy. I love you more than anything in this world. I raised you. I clothed you. I bathed you. I watched you grow into this wonderful woman who deserves the world…but your world does not stop at him. You have so much more ahead of you. So much,” he insisted, and my heart slowly sank. “You haven’t even lived yet—traveled. You haven’t done much of anything to settle for him. So no, I can’t accept it. I won’t. Not when I know there’s more out there for you. Someone better than Cane. I know Cane. I know what he came from. He is not what you need, and if wanting the best for my daughter makes me the bad guy, then so be it. I’ve been the bad guy all my life. It’s nothing new.”
Those words.
They weren’t what I wanted to hear. Dad dropped his hands to his sides and I looked down at the tips of my toes. My vision blurred because it hit me then, what I had to do. It hit me that he was never, ever going to accept what I wanted.
I picked my head back up and threw my arms around his neck. I kissed him on the cheek, and felt him let his guard down, his shoulders relaxing as I held him for nearly twenty seconds. When I let go, I gave him a soft smile before turning.
Cane and Mom were standing by the door, watching.
“Kandy,” Mom cooed, reaching for me, but I walked past both her and Cane without saying a word and went upstairs. When I made it into my bedroom, I set my gaze on the duffle bag and suitcase in the corner. I had packed it the night before, just in case things didn’t go as I’d planned.
Choking on a sob, I grabbed the bags, tossing the duffle over my shoulder before marching back down the stairs. Cane heard me coming and looked up the stairs. When he noticed the bags, he cocked his head and frowned.
“Kandy, what are you doing?” he asked in a loud whisper, eyes wide and serious. “Take those back upstairs.”
I ignored him, and Mom obviously overheard his whisper because she came barreling around the corner. Her eyes stretched wide as she looked at the bags in my hands and then at me. “Kandy, honey.” She pushed past Cane, meeting up to me, gripping my shoulders. “What are you doing, sweetie? Why do you have these bags? Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving, Mom.”
“Leaving? Where, baby?”
I lowered my line of sight. “I’m leaving…with Cane.” My voice broke, betraying the strength I was tying to hold onto.