I had to stop myself from grinning for my father’s sake. He looked worse than he had when I first came through the door. I felt bad for him, but not guilty. He needed to feel this way. He needed the wake-up call. I knew he would be okay, though—my dad was tough.
“It’s okay, Dad. You’ll forgive yourself eventually.” I bent to kiss him on the forehead. “I love you. Hopefully someday you can learn to love me, too.”
My dad forced himself to meet my eyes. “I do, Grace,” he promised. “I didn’t know how to take care of you after your mom died, but you were always so responsible I didn’t have to. You’ve always taken care of yourself. I’ve always been proud of you for that. I didn’t realize that you needed me, but I do love you, honey. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to make you believe that.”
“Change,” I said. “Get to know me. Make our relationship a priority.”
“I will,” he said quickly. “I promise.”
The thing about my dad is that he doesn’t promise something unless he really means it. I had no choice but to believe him. “I hope so,” I said, managing a smile for him. “I’d really like that.”
I turned to the two people who’d miraculously managed to not breathe a single word during this whole confrontation. “You guys go home and get some rest. Watch a ridiculous Kung fu movie and compare abs or something. I’ll be fine here. I’m exhausted, and I have a best friend to call.”
“You sure?” Ethan asked.
Russ just yawned.
“I’m sure,” I said, wrapping my arms around both of them. “Thank you, guys, for everything. I promise, I really am going to be okay.”
“Well, you’ll be less screwed up than me, anyway,” Russ teased.
I laughed. “Russ, everybody’s less screwed up than you.”
Ethan pushed Russ out of the way and squeezed me back in the first real hug he’d ever given me. “Good for you, Grace,” he whispered in my ear.
I pulled back from the embrace so that I could look him in the eye. “I’m going to be all right, Ethan.”
Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She’s obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children. Connect with Kelly through social media: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Blog.
Table of Contents
TITLE
ALSO BY KELLY ORAM
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
ABOUT THE AUTHOR