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It was music to my ears.

I leaned a forearm against the doorjamb to the right of her shoulder and said, “You were pretty adamant that all the pink was necessary. You were a seven-year-old with a mind completely your own.”

The smile she aimed my way over her shoulder was soft.

That smile slipped away as she walked farther into her room, placing her bag on the bed.

“I asked about you a lot,” she said. “She used to tell me all about you. Your heroics, your military career. She told me all about this time that you finished some special military school that got you to a special rank…”

“Sounds like most of that was true,” I admitted. “I think she was talking about Army Ranger school. I wasn’t a ranger long. I tore my ACL and meniscus on a mission and had to medically retire. That’s when I came home and started at the sheriff’s department.”

“Oh.” She smiled sadly. “I don’t know what to do. I feel like my entire life was a lie. Like everything that I did and didn’t do needs to be questioned. I’m allergic to lemons.”

“That’s something you were allergic to very young,” I agreed. “And it runs in the family. I’m allergic to lemons, too.”

“Whoa.” She smiled. “Twinsies.”

I sat on the bed next to her. “I’m not going to push here. I’ll be whatever you want me to be. Hovering dad? I’m there, hovering. Protective dad? I’m there, protective as fuck. Dad that gives you space? I’ll try. But if you want me to do something, just ask. I’ll give it a go.”

She bumped me with her shoulder. “So, tell me about Jessamy.”

My heart melted.

“Jessamy was the bane of my existence for her entire teenage life.” I snickered. “How much do you know about her?”

“I know that she contacted me and shared that flyer that you put out once a year,” she said. “She didn’t really have much to say about herself. That she was a video game beta tester and that she was in love with you.”

My heart skipped a beat. “She said that she was in love with me?”

“She said that you were the biggest piece of her heart, and that she wanted to see you happy. Me being back in your life would make you the happiest.”

“She was right,” I murmured.

“Do you love her back?” She bumped me with her shoulder again.

I smiled. “I love her with everything I have. If I didn’t, she’d have been in jail a hell of a long time ago.”

“What?”

I laughed. “Let me tell you about the woman I’m madly in love with.”

Shelby

“Shelby Prescott Adams.” I laughed. “My mom went with Shelly Prescott. I asked her once why Prescott and she said that it was a family name. I didn’t realize it was your dad’s name.”

“I’m surprised she even shared that,” Dad admitted, sounding hurt.

The hurt in his voice had broken my heart over and over again.

I could see the pain in his eyes, but I couldn’t erase it.

Only time would, I guessed.

“What’s your plan, Shelby?” he asked. “What do you want to do with your life?”

I winced. “I have seriously no idea.”

He laughed.