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“Thank you,” I murmur to Joanna, squeezing her forearm for a beat, and then I follow behind him, hoping that’s his intention here. Once we’re in the privacy of the break room, he sets his drink on the table and turns to face me.
“What?” he demands.
I’m suddenly a nervous wreck. I have no idea how to even start this other than to not beat around the bush. And so I blurt out my words. “I’m going to ask your daughter to marry me, and I would like to do it with your blessing.”
“No.” His expression doesn’t change as he issues the rejection.
“May I ask why?”
“Because you’ve hurt her one too many times, and I won’t stand by and watch you do it again.” He folds his arms over his chest.
“That’s the thing, sir. I won’t do it again.”
“Hm, where have I heard that before?” he asks rhetorically.
“Look, I don’t know how to make you believe me, but I love Jolene and Jonah with everything I have, and they love me, too. We want to be a family.” We’re going to be a family. I want to add more about the baby, but I can’t…not when I don’t know whether she’s told him yet. “I’m going to ask her to marry me regardless of how this conversation goes today, but I’d rather do it with your blessing.”
“Why in the hell would I ever give you that?” he asks.
“Because I know how to make her happy.”
“Pfft,” he scoffs. “You’re also damn good at making her sad, son.”
“I won’t blame anybody else for my own mistakes, but I want you to know the truth behind it. All of it.”
“What truth?” he asks.
“You’ve heard by now that my father intentionally hurt you as a misguided way to protect me. The truth is that he wanted you out of Rivalry, and he was willing to stop at nothing to ensure that happened. He conveniently blamed me, and I took the fall, breaking my own heart as much as hers because of what he did. The other day, Jolene said to me that she doesn’t understand how I could be related to someone like him, and it got me thinking…what if I’m not? I had a conversation with my mother earlier this week in which she confirmed that she never really knew for sure that he is. I guess my point is that I wish I had a father more like you growing up. You and Jolene have always been so damn close, and I wish I had that with my dad. I wish he didn’t resent me and blame me for his own mistakes. I wish he actually would’ve protected me instead of acting in his own best interests. Hell, I wish I knew whether he really was my dad.” I shrug at the end, and I wait.
He stares at me a few beats, his arms still folded across his chest, and then he pulls out a chair and sits. “I don’t know what to say.” His voice is low and gruff.
I remain standing. “I wanted to come talk to you today because I wanted you to know my intensions with your daughter and your grandson. I will protect them the way you protect Jolene for the rest of my life. I will not come between you and your daughter or you and your grandson. The only one who has the power to do that is you. I will ask her to marry me with or without your consent. She’s already moved into my home, and we both know it’s the next step in our future. It’s what we both want.”
“You’re a cocky little son of a bitch, you know that?” he says gruffly.
“Excuse me?” I ask. I lay my heart on the line, and that’s all he has to say?
“But I can appreciate your efforts,” he adds. He sighs, and it’s a heavy one. “I can’t give you my blessing, but what I can do is talk to my daughter. If this is truly what she wants, then I won’t stop it. I won’t stand in your way.”
It’s something, I guess, and there’s a big history here that we have to undo. It’ll just take time. “I’ll take it,” I say softly. “Thank you, Mr. Bailey.”
He presses his lips together and nods, and I excuse myself.
I have a ring to go purchase, after all.
CHAPTER 23: LINCOLN
We lose in Denver, bringing our record to three and two on the season so far, and the plane ride back home is quiet. It wasn’t a blowout, but it wasn’t close, either.
Fletcher is inconsistent at best, and with Miles out, I need to figure out what to do. Mike assured me he still sees the beast inside Fletcher that’s waiting to be unleashed, but I’m not so sure. I’m planning to start Zach Everett, our QB3, in our next match-up unless I can see some real strides with Brandon this week at practice.
But even so, it wasn’t just a Fletcher problem. Our defense made too many mistakes and cost us over forty yards on a single drive due to penalties.
We need to fix this, and fast. If we don’t, I might find myself out of a job.
And to that end, I’ll be spending more time at the office than usual.
Except for the podcast this week. That is a priority, and not just because it’ll be our first time filming in our new home studio.
