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“Don’t try and get around me, Maddy. I set rules for a reason, not just because I’m the parent and you’re the kid.”
“I know, and I am sorry. For standing outside and putting my feet on your seats.”
“I don’t give two shits about the seats. I do, however, love you, so when I tell you things like stay inside your friend’s house until I get there, it’s because I want you to be safe.” Pulling up at the traffic lights, I turned to her. “Do you understand that?” She nodded and pulled her feet back up, which made me smile. “Don’t be a little shit and get your feet down.”
“Did you eat tea?”
There she was, looking out for me as usual while changing the subject. “A couple of bacon butties earlier.”
“Dad, really?”
“We were busy.”
“All that fat and carbs is not good for you. Why didn’t you order out from Bennetts?”
Bennetts was a sandwich and salad place and madethebest Chinese Chicken salad.
“Like I said, we were busy. There was a birthday party in.”
Maddy snorted. “Female, I’ll bet.”
I chose not to answer because she wasn’t wrong. There’d been about twenty of them, and Marcus and I had garnered a lotof attention. I figured we had around ten drinks each owing to us from them, not to mention an overflowing tip jar.
When we pulled up to the house, I leaned into the back seat for the day’s takings while Maddy got out. I looked through the windscreen to see her open the letterbox attached to the wall by the front door. She took out the contents and she handed it all to me.
“Bills and a letter from Lancaster University,” she said nonchalantly.
“What?” I flicked through to find an envelope addressed to her with the Lancaster Uni logo on it. “Did you apply? When did you apply? You didn’t tell me. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s no big deal,” she sighed, taking my keys from me, shoving them in the lock, and pushing open the door. “I don’t even know if I want to go. I just thought that I should apply. You know… just in case.”
As I followed her into the house, I grinned. It was what I wanted for her. I didn’t want her to go to do an online course when she was bright enough for better things.
“You didn’t wait for clearance?” I handed her back the envelope. “You applied first round? You told me you didn’t want to go. You know, the fact that you did must mean it’s your preference.” I grinned, and she sighed.
“I know, but I have until June to decide.IfI get my grades.” I’d have preferred if she’d said she was committed, but at least she was considering it. I shoved the envelope back ather.
“Open it.”
“Dad I?—”
“Maddy, open the damn letter. Please.”
Chewing on her bottom lip, she took the letter back and stared at it for a few seconds. I nudged her shoulder with my finger, and big brown eyes—an image of mine—looked up at me.
“I’m scared, Dad.”
“Why, sweetheart?” I asked, cupping her cheeks. “All I wanted was for you to apply. I won’t love you any less if you don’t get in. Besides, you weren’t even sure that was where you wanted to go anyway.”
She shook her head. “That’s not it. I’m scared in case Idoget in.”
“Well, if you do, I’ll be the proudest dad alive, you’ll go, have an amazing time, and take the world by storm.”
“But you’ll be all alone here.” Her cupid’s bow lips pouted, and she suddenly looked like the four-year-old cutie who got upset when her snowman melted before she’d had a chance to build him a wife.
“Maddy, I’ll be fine. It’s not even two hours away, so you can come home whenever you want to,” I grinned, “or whenever I need you to.”
There was that eye roll again. “Like you’ll care when you’re living the life of a single man and every woman in town wants to take care of you.”
