Page 58 of Not Mine To Love

I didn’t bother to answer. I hung up and texted her that I quit. But didn't I feel the same way? Didn't I take the job just because Claire promised me so much money? Didn't I follow Julius around and violate his privacy? Didn’t I at least in the very beginning betray Ana’s and Julius’ trust? So who was I to judge?

I didn’t even recognize myself. Who did I become?

An hour later, I parked in front of my dad’s condo and frowned at the spot that was normally reserved for Mrs. Nguyen’s granddaughter. I didn’t recognize the car that was parked there now. Mrs. Nguyen normally let us use it if we ever had guests over. Dad had a guest? Great. Just great. Now was not the time that I wanted to be social. I walked up the driveway, past the courtyard, and inserted my key in the lock. The door wasn’t even closed, I realized.

“Dad, you forgot to lock the door,” I called and then to my shock I saw my dad on his knees with Lori in front of him. And a ring in his hand.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” I said, clearly shocked. My dad was proposing to Lori. Didn’t he just meet her like yesterday? What was going on in the world?

“No, no, no. Don’t be,” Lori said, snatching the ring from his hand. “I’m just glad you were able to see such a monumental… well, moment… Yes! Yes! Yes, Phil! I’ll marry you!”

My dad tried to stand up, but he was a little off balance, so Lori helped him. He shouldn’t have been kneeling on his bad knee, I thought to myself, completely forgetting the romance of it all.

“Oh, Becca, can you believe it? Can you really believe it? It’s happening. It’s really happening.”

Lori looked more like a retired Las Vegas showgirl than a librarian, in my opinion. She had deep-set almond-shaped, gray eyes and jet black hair that hung to her waist. She was well-endowed up top and wore very low cut shirts that seemed to magnify the size of her cleavage. I think Dad said she was half-Albanian and half-Egyptian. I honestly couldn’t remember. She was a knockout and knocking on her early sixties. And did I mention, she was seriously the sweetest most excitable lady I knew?

I tightly smiled. My life was imploding around me. I didn’t know where I stood with Julius. And now I was going to have a stepmom? Life just needed to slow down. I couldn’t keep up, and I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to.

Now Lori was holding me in a vice grip, hugging the life out of me. She was only four-feet-eleven, but strong for such a petite woman.

“Now it’s time for some champagne!” She turned to my father. “Did you get champagne?”

He looked caught off guard. “Was I supposed to?”

Lori laughed, “I love you so much. I’ll get the champagne. Be right back, you guys.” And with that, Lori disappeared out the door.

I watched her go still kind of shell-shocked myself.

Dad was rubbing his knee and looking at me strangely.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t look like it.”

“I guess I’m just shocked, that’s all.”

“I know it’s sudden.”

“Yeah,” I said again. Boy, I wasn’t very articulate lately.

His face fell. “You’re not happy for me?”

I immediately felt terrible and went over to my dad and gave him a big hug.

“Dad, of course I’m happy for you. Lori’s great.”

“I know this is sudden.”

“No… I mean… yeah… but it’s, you know, your decision.”

He nodded. “I know. I just want you to be happy for me. You know?”

“Dad, I promise you, I am happy for you. I think Lori is wonderful. Crazy, but wonderful.”

He laughed, “She’s great. She keeps me on my toes.” He cleared his throat. “Lori and I have been talking about moving in together and I just felt like, why not go all the way?”