out and twists up all of your emotions. I’m sure he needs some time to process everything. Then he will be in a better place to talk.”
“No, I’m serious. That was a normal conversation between us. He doesn’t like me.”
I felt my battered heart breaking all over again. “I am sorry. It’s so hard for me to get my head around that. You’re a good person. He should be proud of you.”
“But I’m not a Marine or a Navy man. I’m not even a soldier. He would have tolerated me going into the Army, but Kade and I were groomed to become Marines or sailors from the moment we took our first breaths. I bucked tradition. I tarnished the family name. Apparently, our family’s military service goes back to the days of the Civil War, according to my father.”
“That’s impressive.”
“And I fucked it up,” he replied without any real shame.
“You did nothing of the kind. You put your family’s name on the map as one of the leaders of the future. Be proud of what you have accomplished. Don’t let him take that away.”
“I say that all the time, but it never really seems to sink in. Then I see him, and I remember why. The man is hard. He doesn’t pull any punches.”
“His opinion is his alone. He has a right to it, but it doesn’t make it right. Not even a little bit right.”
He seemed to brush it off. He took a drink and stared out at the water. The man drew strength from the ocean. He was a modern-day Merman. I watched as he collected his thoughts. His face, that had moments earlier revealed a hint of the pain he felt, was now devoid of all emotion.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “There’s nothing that will bring me back here. He said what he needed to and that’s that. Without Kade, there is nothing left between us. I won’t have to listen to him and his ugly comments.”
I felt the familiar twisting low in my gut. I could not begin to imagine the pain he was enduring. My father and I had been at odds for a few weeks and it turned me inside out. I knew my father loved me. Xander didn’t believe his father loved him.
“You are a good man,” I said again. I felt like I needed to say it a million times to make him believe it. “You are good and worthy, and you would make any father proud.”
“Not any father. Not mine.”
“He can’t see it but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I see it. I know you are smart, capable, and generous.”
“Thank you. I’ve made it this far in life without his support. I don’t need him.”
“You have me, for what it’s worth,” I said.
“It’s worth a lot,” he said, looking directly into my eyes. “It means more than anything.”
I smiled, feeling like I had just won a gold medal. “Good.”
“Let’s do something we have never done,” he said.
I raised an eyebrow. “Dare I even ask?” I teased before remembering this was not an appropriate time to flirt.
He didn’t seem to mind. “I want to take you to dinner. A nice dinner.”
“When?”
“Tonight,” he answered.
“I’m going to have to do a little shopping,” I told him.
“Shopping?”
“I brought the one funeral outfit and casual wear. I need something nice to wear for our dinner.”
He shook his head. “You don’t have to do that. We’ll keep it casual.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” I said with a laugh. “You don’t get to dangle that carrot and then pull it away. I want to do dinner with you and I want to wear a pretty dress.”
“Then, by all means,” he said with that familiar smile I had been missing for too long. “Would you like me to help you pick something out?”
“Absolutely not. I want to surprise you. This is an official date, right?”
“It is.”
“Then as soon as we are finished with our lunch, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ditch you.”
As if the waiter knew exactly when to deliver our meals, they appeared at our table. I was already trying to plan my outfit. There wasn’t a lot of shopping to be had in the small, coastal town, but I was confident I could find something. I wanted to knock his socks off. I wanted to make him want me. I wanted to remind him how good we were together before he cut and run.
We got through lunch, which was just as good as he promised