Curvy Girls Can't Date Bad Boys - Kelsie Stelting Page 0,75
money, how did you have the money left to write them a check?”
“I took out a loan against the business. It was the only thing I could think to do.”
My mouth was slack, taking in everything he said. He was ready to give everything he had left so I could live with Ryde and rely on his money to give me the finer things in love. The problem was, he had it all wrong.
“Don't you get it?” I asked, frustrated. “All my life, we'd had plenty of designer clothes, people to help us around the house, cook us meals, but what I've missed out on in all of this is my dad.”
I thought of Jordan and her mom and all the love that filled their house. I would trade everything, all my possessions, for my dad to love me the way Jordan’s mom loved her. The way Mom used to love me. That love was more valuable than anything else in the world.
Dad swallowed and met my eyes. “But you deserve so much more, Zara.”
I shook my head. “I deserve nothing less.”
“Can you ever forgive me?” he asked, taking my hands. “I promise, I’ll do what it takes to learn, really learn, how to be the dad you deserve.”
I wanted that more than anything, I did, but something still held me back. “Why did you go to the press about the engagement? The last few days have been miserable.”
His lips formed a thin line. “I didn't. Ryde’s parents did. They thought they could blackmail us into following through with it.” He seemed to sag. “I guess people will do a lot they shouldn't when they're worried about their security. Even hurt their children.”
“You tried to cancel my tuition,” I accused.
“I couldn’t come to apologize to you without being sure you had a place to live. The settlement I was planning to pay the Alexanders only covered a few months of the mortgage at our house.”
My mouth opened and closed. He needed my tuition to keep the house? “Is it that bad?”
Slowly, he nodded and ran his hands over his thinning hair. Instead of the big, strong man I’d always seen in my dad, he seemed small to me. Helpless.
No matter how much anger I had, no matter how much he had hurt me, I realized that I needed him more. I reached out to him and hugged him, and he sighed into my shoulder. “I'm so sorry, Zara.”
“I am too,” I breathed. This was a horrible situation, and we both had lost our way. But I hoped we could find the right path, together, as a family.
Forty-Five
On the way home, Dad asked me about Dulce Periculum. About Ronan. I told him about the night I’d left the party with Ronan, how kind he'd been and how much different he was from Ryde. When I was done, Dad said, “I'd like to meet him.”
My eyes stung as I looked out the window. Lights from the cars passing by blurred in my vision. “I don't think that's going to happen.”
Dad reached across the console and squeezed my hand for a moment. “If there's one thing I learned from your mother, it's that love tends to find its way.”
I hoped he was right.
When we got inside, he went to his office to make calls with his lawyer, and I went up to my room to plug in my phone and call my friends. There were about fifty texts from them, and I quickly thumbed through them to see what had happened with Ronan. A text from Jordan made my entire night.
Jordan: HE GOT AWAY.
I pumped my fist in the air and grinned at the screen, thankful my plan had worked. I dialed a group call, and each of my friends’ faces quickly popped on the screen.
“What happened?” Jordan asked first. “Ginger said the cops hauled you away!”
“They did.” Ginger squinted on the screen. “Are you in your room?
Callie asked, “Did you get in trouble?”
“Are you okay?” Rory asked.
I held up my fingers, ticking off each of my answers. “The police caught me and took me into the station. Where my father came and got me.”
Each of them looked equally surprised, and Jordan even gasped.
“He apologized and he said that the business isn't doing well. He's about to lose the house.”
Jordan’s mouth fell open. “So that's why he wanted you to marry a rich guy…”
“Yeah,” I said, the weight of it all falling on me.
“So are you staying at my house tonight?” she asked.