“This is my daughter, Ophelia,” he beams. “She just had an interview over at the university. She runs track and is hoping to get a scholarship.”
“Ophelia!” she sings back with wide eyes. “It’s so good to see you here! I’ve heard so much about you!”
I’m too stunned to do anything but stare up at her wildly, blinking in shock. She takes our order and vanishes off into the rush behind the counter, and I can’t help but notice the pleased look on Theo’s face. I’m not sure if he’s genuinely proud to show me off, or if he just knows I’ve been proven wrong in some small way.
“Did you pay her to say that?” I quip, only half-joking. I’m convinced Theo doesn’t care enough to have ever mentioned me to anyone.
“How’s Emmett?” he asks, ignoring my jab. “I heard about the Hendersons taking over the company. He got gypped.”
“I’d think you’d know how he’s doing,” I remark bitterly. “I thought you two were good buddies. I know you have a tendency to meet up behind my back.”
“Don’t hold that against the boy,” he grunts, looking annoyed that we even have to talk about it. “You two weren’t even an item yet. He was just a poor kid in a fucked-up situation and so were you. He helped you in the only way he knew how.”
“And who were you helping?” I sneer, fidgeting a plastic straw between my fingers. He sighs and lays his hands flat across the table, looking lost. It may be a ploy, but it works. I start to feel bad for holding onto my grudge so tightly and have to remember that isn’t the point of this lunch. Laying into him will only make it worse for me. I know he doesn’t have the answers or explanations I’m looking for, so it’s better just to let it go. At least for now.
“But you’re right,” I add, trying to swallow down my frustrations. “He did get gypped. It’s a shame he made the sacrifices he did and still got everything taken from him. He would have done amazing things with Jameson Automobiles. He was going to make it a legit, honest company.” I stop myself from adding that that’s more than Theo could ever dream of doing with anything in his life.
He nods and looks away. I see his wheels turning, likely over some new scheme. He never stops looking for some new way to get rich or take advantage of a situation. But he’s interrupted by the arrival of our food. I do my best to participate in tense small talk as we chew through our burgers and fries.
“You were right,” I concede as I sip the thick milkshake through my straw. “This is a really good shake.”
“I told you!” he laughs proudly, as if he had made it himself. “Just think. If you get into that school, you’ll be able to come here and have these all the time! Maybe we could even make it a regular thing.”
My chest tightens at the thought. Me and Theo meeting up for regular lunches as if we have anything close to a normal father-daughter relationship. I could never let go of everything that’s happened up until now to let that happen. Him living so close is one of the things that makes me not want to go to that school at all.
“I haven’t made up my mind about where I’ll go yet,” I reply politely, thinking its more kindness than he deserves. “I applied a bunch of different places. All of the top collegiate track teams across the nation. Coach Granger will help me decide what’s best for my career.”
I almost hate to even bring Coach up to him. After what the Elites did to him and his family, I want to protect him in any way I can from Theo and people like him.
“Well, whatever he suggests or whatever you decide…you should be able to go wherever you want. You’ve worked hard and earned that much. And I know I haven’t made it easy on you, when I was around just as much as when I wasn’t,” he admits. “Money shouldn’t be a factor. I may not have the fortune I once did, but I’m certainly not hurting for anything and neither should you. Once you decide on a school, you just send me the bills.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I shoot back, sounding a little snide. “With my grades and track record, Coach expects me to get plenty of full scholarship offers.”
“But what if you don’t get one from your top pick?” he suggests.
“Whatever scholarship money doesn’t cover, I’ll get a part-time job to pay for the rest,” I shrug. “Plenty of people work to pay their way through college.”
“Don’t be so stubborn,” he sighs in an irritated tone. “You’re an athlete. You need to focus on training, not killing yourself to work and go to school full time when you don’t have to. You’ll need to keep your body in shape and keep your grades up. Why add the extra stress of a job if you don’t have to?”
Rage starts rushing through me as he talks, sounding like such a concerned father all of a sudden. I told myself I’d stop being so resentful just for the sake of getting through this, but there’s only so much I can take.
“And just how do you think being kidnapped last semester helped me?” I bark, staring him down intently. “Being held hostage? Threatened to be murdered? My life suddenly depending on my absentee father that I’ve never met who can’t even bother to respond to the hostage notes.”
“I had a plan,” he hisses defensively, leaning over the table in a hushed tone. “You made it out of there, didn’t you? Because I showed up.”
“Is that what you tell yourself?” I sneer. “You were planning to kidnap me yourself. Maybe even kill me. Just so the Elites wouldn’t have the chance to use me against you. If Emmett hadn’t talked you into letting him take me as a part of your little agreement, how do I know you wouldn’t have shot me just like you did Thomas Jameson?”
He sits back, running his hands over his suddenly tired face. Once again, I have to remind myself that he’s not going to have the answers to satisfy me. If he did, he would have played them long before now.
“Look, just forget it,” I add curtly, grabbing my bag to hint at how ready I am to get the hell out of here. “The past is the past or whatever. You can come around for these little dinners to ease your guilt and make my mom happy. I’ll let the rest of it go enough to play along. And thanks for helping me out today, but beyon
d that…I don’t need anything from you. I’m fine, okay?”
I’m too mad to care that he looks hurt, even if it means anything beyond hating that I can see him for what he really is. But I force myself to thank him again as he drops me off at my car to drive home. I’m more than ready to go back and be with the people who really care about me. The ones who were around long before he showed back up again.
5
Chapter Five