She sucked in a sharp breath, like she’d already known the answer, but had hoped it would be something else. “Honey, please think about this,” she pleaded, grabbing my face and trying to put my eyes on hers. But I didn’t. Couldn’t. If I looked at my mom, I would have caved, and that was the last thing I wanted to do, so instead I lightly brushed her off and walked around her, handing Cane my suitcase and then the duffle bag.
“Kandy,” he mumbled, and I looked up, wiping my face. “Don’t let it happen like this…”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice, Cane. He’s never going to accept it, and I know what I want. I’ve thought about this all morning. My mind has been made up.”
He made a noise, like he wanted to say something to make me reconsider, but held back, because even he knew there was no other way around it. My dad was stubborn and could be very selfish when he wanted to be. He’d been around Cane for so long that I knew he was never going to accept the fact that his ex-best friend was the man who had his daughter. He expected Cane to look over me, protect me, and treat me like his daughter. Well, two of those had happened, but treating me like his daughter wasn’t one of them. He treated me like his other half when it finally came to it, and I’d accepted that because I felt like I was his other half. We belonged together, our hearts like magnets, always holding on, hard to pull apart.
Cane finally gave me a simple nod and walked around me to get to the door. He didn’t walk out though. He stood there, probably hoping I would change my mind.
Mom grabbed my hands. “Kandy, please think about this! Please! Derek!” she yelled. Dad finally stepped around the corner. His shoulders were slumped, and he looked over Mom and I, at Cane, who had my bags.
“What are you doing?” he growled, taking a step forward.
Cane’s eyes softened.
“I’m leaving,” I answered, and Dad’s eyes flickered down to mine.
“Leaving to go where? Frankie’s?”
“No. Leaving to be with Cane…for good.”
Dad’s eyebrows drew together. “Why the hell would you do something so stupid?”
“Jesus Christ, Derek! Shut up and let her be! Let her have him—she isn’t asking you for anything but to accept what she wants! How hard is that to do!” Mom screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Hearing the raw emotion in her voice was doing me in. Seeing Dad’s walls crumble, his pride slowly but surely chipping way but not nearly enough, was killing me.
I thought he would say something—make amends and tell me he would at least try to accept it. Instead, he turned his head and stared down at the floor. My heart shattered right to pieces and as if Mom felt the same wave of hurt, she gasped and wailed, “Oh, God!”
I looked over my shoulder. Cane was already walking out of the door. Mom turned away from me, dropping her face into her hands. I reached for her, pulling her hands down and staring up into her eyes. It took every single fiber of courage and strength in me to say what I had to say.
“Mom, I love you and Dad. This changes nothing about that, I promise. I will still visit. Still call. Still see you…but, I can’t stay here. I can’t live like this. I don’t want my life to be a lie anymore. I just want to be happy.” A tear slid over my lips, the saltiness of it landing on the tip of my tongue. “I’m happy with him,” I pleaded. “He makes me so happy.”
She bobbed her head, but her face was stained, her mascara running. She reeled me in and hugged me tight. So tight that I felt the power of her love, her acceptance, her booming heart. As she hugged me, I looked over her shoulder at Dad. He was watching us now, but still not saying anything. His eyes glistened, but the tears refused to fall.
I let go of her and walked to him.
“Kandy,” he said, but even his voice broke. “We can talk. There’s no need for you to leave like this. You’re breaking your mother’s heart and mine.”
“Dad,” I whispered. “You have broken my heart every day since you found out about Cane. If I stay here, there will be nothing left of me.”
As if I’d shot him in the heart, his eyes stretched wide. A stray tear rolled down his right cheek. I reached up to wipe it away. “I’m going with him,” I murmured. “I choose him.”
Pulling my hand down, I wrapped my arms around his thick torso and hugged him. He held the back of my head, hugging me just as tight. My damp face was buried in his gray shirt. I could hear his heartbeat, and remembered those moments when I was a little girl and would rest my head on his chest, just to hear the soothing thud of his heartbeat. It was still the same boom, only much more rapid now. I was going to miss this a lot. So much.