life -- Sunday wasn't
anything like I imagined it would be all through my painful date
with Harold and a sleepless Saturday night. At one sharp, my phone
rang. Hoping Aiden had made good time, I grabbed it and discovered
my dad on the other end of the line.
"Hey daddy, everything okay?" I walked
over to my dorm window and pulled back the curtain.
"Sure, sunbeam."
He made a little noise at the end that
meant he was holding back. I straightened. "I hope you don't plan
on trying that fib out on mom, she'll bust you in a
heartbeat."
He laughed, soft but
troubled.
With no further response, I realized
my dad was going to make me play the elimination game. "You worried
about the surgery?"
"Unh…doc says I'll be off work for
almost a month." He shifted nervously in his seat, the creaky
office chair he should have replaced last year audible over the
phone.
"The shop will be fine, dad." Truth
was, Aiden ran the shop better than my soft-hearted father. "And
you'll have time to work on designs. I'll get Aiden to fix you up a
drafting table that'll fit on the bed."
"He did--"
"Oh," I laughed. "There you go. Try to
enjoy the down time. There's nothing to worry about."
His silence told me I wasn't done
playing the elimination game. "Come on, daddy. What's wrong? Do I
need to ask mom or Aiden--"
"No!"
My chest started to constrict at his
hasty response and its timing. Dad was worried about something to
do with Aiden. Had my father figured out what had happened between
the two of us?
Only one way to find
out.
"Daddy, tell me what is bothering you
about Aiden." I made my tone as firm as I could without bossing him
around.
"He's having relations…" The chair
squeaked then the line went silent for a full ten count. "With an
employee."
"Daddy," I laughed. "There aren't any
women at the--"
I stopped, realizing I was wrong. I
had tried my damnedest to stay out of the shop this last summer,
hoping I could wean my love sick heart off Aiden and finally get on
with growing up. In the process, I had forgotten all about the
bookkeeper/receptionist they hired at the start of summer. Some
early thirties blonde with an amazingly large rack for someone who
was no bigger than a size four everywhere else. Peggy or something
like that.
"Daddy, didn't you say your
receptionist was married?" Mom had said the guys at the shop were
teasing Aiden about running around with a married woman. Talking to
my dad on the phone, I wanted very badly not to put two and two
together.
"That's what's killing me,
sunbeam."
"No." I shook my head hard enough to
grow dizzy. "Mom said the guys at the shop were talking
trash."
"Pamela told me herself,
Cece."
"Did you maybe misunderstand what she
was saying?" I prayed this was the case, like maybe she mistakenly
thought Aiden had flirted with her or something and was dancing
around a direct accusation.
"She said they had relations at the
office and once at his place this last week, Cece. She was all torn
up about it, wanted my advice." His voice choked at the end and I
wanted to cry right along with him. "I noticed there's been a lot
of closed doors with the two of them."
Everything went quiet again. I sank
onto Joe's bed by the window, my fingers almost too numb to hold
onto the phone.
"Have you talked to mom
or--"
He cut me short again. "No, and I
don't want to until after the surgery. Pamela begged me not to, and
I want to give him time to come clean with me."
My dad's voice was raw, doubling my
hurt. He loved Aiden like a son, so much so I had a spot or two of
jealousy growing up that only my own deep affection for Aiden had
managed to erase. It wasn't like he loved Aiden more than me, but
that he could love him almost as much when he wasn't
blood.
"Promise me you won't say anything,
sunbeam. Not to anyone." He scratched at his chin and offered
another long sigh. "I just needed to talk to someone about it, ease
my mind before the surgery. You won't say anything,
right?"
"No, daddy," I choked. "I'll
anything like I imagined it would be all through my painful date
with Harold and a sleepless Saturday night. At one sharp, my phone
rang. Hoping Aiden had made good time, I grabbed it and discovered
my dad on the other end of the line.
"Hey daddy, everything okay?" I walked
over to my dorm window and pulled back the curtain.
"Sure, sunbeam."
He made a little noise at the end that
meant he was holding back. I straightened. "I hope you don't plan
on trying that fib out on mom, she'll bust you in a
heartbeat."
He laughed, soft but
troubled.
With no further response, I realized
my dad was going to make me play the elimination game. "You worried
about the surgery?"
"Unh…doc says I'll be off work for
almost a month." He shifted nervously in his seat, the creaky
office chair he should have replaced last year audible over the
phone.
"The shop will be fine, dad." Truth
was, Aiden ran the shop better than my soft-hearted father. "And
you'll have time to work on designs. I'll get Aiden to fix you up a
drafting table that'll fit on the bed."
"He did--"
"Oh," I laughed. "There you go. Try to
enjoy the down time. There's nothing to worry about."
His silence told me I wasn't done
playing the elimination game. "Come on, daddy. What's wrong? Do I
need to ask mom or Aiden--"
"No!"
My chest started to constrict at his
hasty response and its timing. Dad was worried about something to
do with Aiden. Had my father figured out what had happened between
the two of us?
Only one way to find
out.
"Daddy, tell me what is bothering you
about Aiden." I made my tone as firm as I could without bossing him
around.
"He's having relations…" The chair
squeaked then the line went silent for a full ten count. "With an
employee."
"Daddy," I laughed. "There aren't any
women at the--"
I stopped, realizing I was wrong. I
had tried my damnedest to stay out of the shop this last summer,
hoping I could wean my love sick heart off Aiden and finally get on
with growing up. In the process, I had forgotten all about the
bookkeeper/receptionist they hired at the start of summer. Some
early thirties blonde with an amazingly large rack for someone who
was no bigger than a size four everywhere else. Peggy or something
like that.
"Daddy, didn't you say your
receptionist was married?" Mom had said the guys at the shop were
teasing Aiden about running around with a married woman. Talking to
my dad on the phone, I wanted very badly not to put two and two
together.
"That's what's killing me,
sunbeam."
"No." I shook my head hard enough to
grow dizzy. "Mom said the guys at the shop were talking
trash."
"Pamela told me herself,
Cece."
"Did you maybe misunderstand what she
was saying?" I prayed this was the case, like maybe she mistakenly
thought Aiden had flirted with her or something and was dancing
around a direct accusation.
"She said they had relations at the
office and once at his place this last week, Cece. She was all torn
up about it, wanted my advice." His voice choked at the end and I
wanted to cry right along with him. "I noticed there's been a lot
of closed doors with the two of them."
Everything went quiet again. I sank
onto Joe's bed by the window, my fingers almost too numb to hold
onto the phone.
"Have you talked to mom
or--"
He cut me short again. "No, and I
don't want to until after the surgery. Pamela begged me not to, and
I want to give him time to come clean with me."
My dad's voice was raw, doubling my
hurt. He loved Aiden like a son, so much so I had a spot or two of
jealousy growing up that only my own deep affection for Aiden had
managed to erase. It wasn't like he loved Aiden more than me, but
that he could love him almost as much when he wasn't
blood.
"Promise me you won't say anything,
sunbeam. Not to anyone." He scratched at his chin and offered
another long sigh. "I just needed to talk to someone about it, ease
my mind before the surgery. You won't say anything,
right?"
"No, daddy," I choked. "I'll
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