“Sir?”
“And the next time you whatever me will be your last.”
He flashes me a smile. “Where are we going?”
“For a drive.”
He’s bac
k in less than a minute and flies out the door with his shoes untied. Once we’re in the car, Tessa steps on the porch with her arms crossed. From the driver’s door, I stare at her for a long minute with the question in my eyes, and she hesitates before she slowly nods in reply.
Trust and permission.
My love for her only grows, and I swear then and there that I’ll do whatever it takes to show her how much I need her, to continue to never make her pay for choosing me, or the life we have. But it all comes down to decisions.
But for now, I still have a part to play.
Dom bristles at my side as I pull out onto the abandoned road and turn on the radio. I drive for endless miles before he begins to stare at the side of my head.
“Dad, we can go for a drive anytime,” he reminds me as I try to hold my smile.
“It’s a decision.”
“What is?”
“To drive right now. Wouldn’t you agree?”
I can sense his deepening frown in my peripheral vision. “I guess.”
“There you go.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“Shit,” he sighs, slumping in his seat. “You go driving with a loaded pistol at night? This is the big secret? Pretty anticlimactic.”
“I was your age when it started.”
“That’s some epic tale, Dad.”
“That mouth of yours,” I glance his way, giving him a look reserved for few, “can you keep it shut?”
When he remains quiet for several minutes, I pull over and put the car in park. We idle on the side of the road, gazing on at the black outline of the mountains in the night sky. I turn toward him in the seat. “I guess what I’m really asking is, can you keep a secret?”
THE END