My dad moved down two floors, and we followed, even though he’d gone to sleep by the time they allowed us back in his room. At least now we didn’t have to sit in a waiting room and stare at the walls…and there was no more Nurse Ratched to deal with, although I was certain every floor had their own version of her.

This room was a little larger than the one in ICU and had a loveseat to sit on and a television to watch. Masyn flipped through the channels and settled on some talk show I wasn’t interested in. It held her attention, which I was grateful for since I’d gotten lost in my thoughts and my father’s warning. Sitting in the corner of the two-seater couch, I’d angled my body toward the TV slightly, and Masyn had situated herself with her back against my side. She played absentmindedly with the fingers on my left hand, and all I could think about was the weight of a ring on the fourth one she held.

My future always included Masyn. I never knew if it would be as my wife, since I hadn’t had the balls to tell her how I felt, but in my mind, it was always her. I’d never really heard her talk about marriage or kids—hell, I didn’t even know if those were things she wanted or just something she tossed out when she exposed her heart. And my vision for our future might not be hers. For all I knew, she hadn’t thought that far ahead.

But if I allowed myself to believe what my dad spouted off, which I had a hard time denying, then I was faced with two choices: tell Masyn we needed to date and not live together—I wasn’t sure I could give up the sex regardless which way this went—or ask her to marry me less than a week after I’d kissed her for the first time. I tried repeatedly to convince myself that the first option was the rational choice, but my heart screamed at me to legally make her mine.

Oddly enough, I had no apprehension over the second choice because I knew it was inevitable. She might say no, but there was no question about whether I’d ask—only when. There wasn’t much I could recall about my mom; the cancer hadn’t been caught in time, and it took her quickly. But I remembered vividly the way my dad loved her, and I had witnessed her profound effect on his life even after she was gone. There was never a day that went by that he had even a hint of regret. He’d do it all over again knowing how painful his time without her would be. She was truly the love of his life.

His story—with my mom—wasn’t all that different from mine and Masyn’s, except they’d realized it sooner. They’d grown up together in Harden, friends since childhood, and in high school, he made his move. Neither of them ever dated anyone else, and when they graduated, they got married. I came along two years later. Barely five years after they tied the knot, she was gone.

It was unlikely that history would repeat itself to that extreme, but if I only got five years, I’d treasure them the way my dad had. If Masyn were to disappear from this earth today, there’d never be a soul who replaced her. Not as a friend or a lover.

“Awww.” Her heart-filled sigh drew my attention back to the woman in my arms, at my side.

I glanced up at the screen to see a guy holding a little boy. “What?”

“He’s raised that little boy, not knowing if it was his son, because his wife cheated on him. And the DNA results just came back.”

“So, is he?”

Masyn hadn’t turned away from the screen. “Is he what?”

“The kid’s dad?”

“Yes. Isn’t that romantic?” The dreamy tone of her voice confused me.

“What about his wife cheating on him is romantic?” This I had to hear. No woman in their right mind could ever twist this into a happy situation.

“He loved her enough to forgive her mistake. And he didn’t care if the baby was his biologically, it was his son because he made him that way. Being a daddy isn’t about genetics. I think it’s a true testament to his character, and that little boy is lucky to have him.”

“So much for his trifling mama, huh?” I chuckled.

“I don’t know why I bother.” She wasn’t put off or even irritated. Masyn pulled my arm across her chest and held onto it with both hands.

I kissed the top of her head, missing the smell of the shop. The grease stains around her nails were already fading, and beneath the mask of everyday life was a dainty girl who loved a happily ever after. She hung tough with all the men in her life: her brothers, Beau and his brothers, her dad, my dad, me, all the guys at the shop—they never batted an eye at her presence. They also didn’t act the way they should in front of a lady because she’d proven over the years how tough she could be. But I didn’t want her to have to be tough or just another one of the guys—not with me.

Hearing her act like a girl and seeing her dress like one when she was away from work, reminded me of how feminine she could be when she was able to let her hair down. My dad was right. Asking her to live with me—while it wasn’t quite the same as treating her like a man—didn’t offer her the respect she deserved. It screamed more about me than her, and I didn’t want her to settle—not for me or anyone else.

The show ended, not that I’d watched anymore, and she stood to stretch her legs. “I’m going to grab some coffee and find a snack. You want anything?”

I pulled my wallet out to hand her some cash.

“What’s that for?” Masyn pushed my hand and the bills back toward me.

It was rather obvious from my point of view. “For you to get some coffee and food.”

“I asked if you wanted anything. I didn’t ask you for money.” She laughed, although I didn’t see the humor. “So, do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Want anything?” She bent over and put her hand on my forehead. “Are you feeling all right? You’ve been acting weird since we got up here. I figured you’d be thrilled that your dad got moved.”

“Oh, no. I’m good. Sorry, I haven’t slept very well, and I zoned out. You want me to come with you?”

“Nah. You should stay here in case your dad wakes up. I’d hate for him to think we bailed and he was alone.”

When she turned to walk away, I grabbed her hand, and she toppled back onto my lap with a grunt.

“That could have hurt.”

I silenced her bitching with my lips and tongue, dipping her back into my arms to allow myself better access. Once I had my fill and knew she’d be thinking of me while she was gone, I stood with her in my arms and set her on my feet. With a pop on the ass, she jumped and walked out, and I went to take a leak.

The bathroom door creaked when I came out, but my dad’s eyes were still closed as I crept back across the floor, trying not to wake him.

“You shouldn’t lie to her, son.”

So much for being quiet. “You’re awake and spying, huh?”

“Just doing my job. I don’t get to do it often with you so far away. Gotta get in my time while you’re here.”

“Dad…”

“Hush. You know what they did with my clothes when I came in here?” The man was senile.

“What do you need your clothes for, Dad? They’re not going to let you put them on until you check out.”

“Backtalk was never a habit of yours I was able to break. Instead of giving me lip, how ’bout you just do what I told you and find ’em.” His head moved with his eyes as he searched the room. “You know I’m still bigger than you and won’t hesitate to bend you over my knee.”

I erupted into a deep belly laugh. My dad was a good two inches shorter and thirty pounds lighter than I was, twenty years older, had just had a quadruple bypass, and he thought he’d whip me like I was five. The threat was humorous, but when I caught his eyes, the laughter died on my lips.

“I’ll go ask, Dad. Calm down.”

It took me about two minutes to find a nurse and subsequently the bag of my dad’s things. They’d been tucked under his bed and out of sight. I pulled it out and handed it to him. He riffled through the plastic until he got to his work pants and tugged them out.

“You want some help?”

“I may be in a hospital, but I’m not in the grave.”

I took that as a no and sat down on the loveseat to watch. He put his hand in one pocket and came out with nothing, and then with the other, he produced a set of keys that he tossed to me without warning.

“What are these?”

“Keys.”

I clenched my jaw and tried again after I counted to ten. “What would you like me to do with them?”

“Go to my house. There’s a wooden box on the dresser.”

“I’ve seen it. You want me to bring it to you?”

“Would you stop talking and listen? Damn, son. Kids today are so impatient.”

“Sorry.” I wasn’t, but if it got him to a point, then I’d play along.

“I want you to have what’s in it.”

“Okay, Dad. Masyn and I will stop by tonight after we leave here.”

He grunted like he was in pain and let out what sounded like a groan. “You need to go alone. Masyn will be fine here with me.”

“I’m not leaving her here. Forget it.”

“Lee, do what you’re told.”

“You realize I’m a grown man, don’t you?”

“It won’t matter how old you get, you’ll still be my kid. Now go.”

“Can’t this wait?”

He gave me the look that scared the shit out of me as a child. The one that told me I was dancing right up to the edge of trouble, and I could either back away slowly, or he’d knock me into next week. Even now, I respected the warning.

“Fine. Can I at least wait until she gets back so I can tell her where I went?”

“You want to be able to sit when you leave here?”

I couldn’t help the grin I knew would tick him off. He hadn’t threatened to spank me in years, yet he’d managed to get it in twice today. “I’ll be back. Don’t run her off, okay?”

“She got any way to leave?”

“I didn’t mean it literally.”

“Why are you still standing here?”

“When did you become so impatient?”

He’d always been that way. That was a Southern man for you—he expected his kid to do as he was told when he was told to do it. Unfortunately, I’d never been very good at that.

“Which key is it?”

“Gold one.”

* * *

I had to put his address into the GPS on my phone. His house was easy to get to from Harden, but I didn’t have a clue where I was in relation to it from the hospital. I sighed when I saw that an eight-mile drive was estimated to take over an hour with the current traffic. By the time I got back, he’d have Masyn taking a vow of celibacy and entering a convent to maintain her purity to keep her from allowing me to ruin her good name.

There was probably nothing in the damn box. Knowing my old man, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d sent me on a wild-goose chase to give him time for a fatherly talk with a girl who wasn’t his daughter. I thought about texting her to warn her, but Masyn loved my dad, and she’d blow me off anyhow, so I didn’t bother. At the very least, my dad would tell her he’d sent me to run an errand and reassure her I’d be back.

My phone started ringing when the GPS gave me my next turn, making it impossible to hear, and I nearly missed the ramp to get onto the interstate.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” Beau sounded better than he had last night.

“On my way to my dad’s house. How was work?”

“Well…we agreed that Draxton Heifler Enterprises and I weren’t a fit.”

“You quit?” Beating my head on the steering wheel wasn’t an option in rush hour traffic.

“Not exactly. I was up most of the night thinking about what you said. So when I went in this morning, I went to Barnie’s office—that’s the guy who got me the job—to talk to him.”

“And?” The stoplight at the bottom of the exit ramp threw me for a loop. Thankfully, it turned green as I reached it or I would have blown past it without thought.

“He already knew about the wedding. Guess he’d talked to my dad. So, he wasn’t real surprised by anything I told him.”

“I’m growing old here, Beau.”

“I don’t know what I want to do. I just know I don’t want to be in Atlanta. The company makes a huge investment in training new employees, and I didn’t think it was fair to have them waste that on me when I knew I didn’t want to stay for the long haul.”

“So, you quit?”

“No, I’m going to do some work for him, but more as an assistant while I figure things out. There won’t be set hours, and I can work from home doing research and creating spreadsheets. It’s not full-time, but it will give me some experience and a paycheck.”

“Do you think being in that house alone day in and day out is going to help you determine what you want to do?” I didn’t want to come out and say I thought he’d end up wallowing in self-pity and be halfway through a fifth every day before noon.

“His son is a real estate broker. That’s why I called you.”

“To tell me his kid sells houses?”

“No jackass, to tell you I probably won’t make it to the hospital before visiting hours are over. I’m meeting Brandt to list the property.”

I slammed on the brakes to keep from hitting the car in front of me who’d decided to stop on the highway since he wasn’t able to merge. “Fuck!” I hated driving in the city. I’d take backroads with tractors over this shit any day.

“I thought you’d be happy.”

“No. Huh? I am. The douchebag in front of me about caused a twelve-car pileup going ninety miles per hour. So, you’ve decided you don’t want to be in Atlanta, and you want to sell your house. And you have a part-time gig for the time being.”

“And I wanted to ask you if you were serious about your offer last night?”

My silence triggered his clarification.

“About the extra room at your house.”

“Of course. You never have to ask.”

“I thought I’d go back when you and Masyn do, if that’s okay with you? Brandt will get the house listed, and I don’t need to be here for him to show it. Actually, it will probably be easier for him to sell if I get all the boxes out of it.”

“I don’t know when I’m going back. But yeah, definitely.”

“How’s your dad, any improvement?”

I hadn’t talked to him all day and hadn’t bothered to send him a text message since he was at a new job…and I hadn’t thought about it. “They took the breathing tube out early this morning. He was awake when we got there. Masyn wooed him, and he was his ornery self with me.”

“Glad to hear it. About him getting better, not the ornery part.”

“Yeah. He moved out of ICU this afternoon, so he’s in a regular room. I guess all that’s good. The accommodations are a hell of a lot more comfortable, and he can have more than one visitor at a time.”

“You going to miss the hag on the ICU floor?” He laughed, knowing just how much I wouldn’t.

“Hardly.” The traffic came to a grinding halt again. “Damn it.”

“You on eighty-five?”

“It’s the interstate from hell. God, I hate this place.”

“You and me both. I’ll let you go so you can concentrate on the road. You guys are staying here as long as you’re in town, right?”

“Unless you kick us out.”

“As long as I don’t hear anything you’re doing, you’re welcome to stay.”

“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”

I was going to pull my hair out by the time I reached my dad’s house. I couldn’t wait to get back to Harden where life moved at a slower pace and traffic only backed up behind a cow or a John Deere.

When I parked the truck at my dad’s, I felt like an intruder approaching the front door. If anyone saw me, I looked sketchy as hell searching the key ring for the one to unlock the house. It was the only gold one in the set, and the door opened with ease once I turned it in the deadbolt. The air was stuffy inside and smelled like spoiled milk—likely from the cereal that sat in the sink since Friday morning. I poured it out and ran the disposal, trying to get rid of the stench.

It was odd that my dad managed to move from Harden to Atlanta and everything in his place looked like it had my whole life. This being a different house did nothing for the décor or the knickknacks he littered the place with. The time warp my mom had left him in still existed; it was just three hours down the road instead of hibernating in my house.

Picking apart my dad’s living space wasn’t why I was here. There was nothing wrong with the place. It was tidy—other than the milk thing—and taken care of. It just didn’t have any life in it, and that had nothing to do with it being empty. I shook off the vibes it left me with and walked down the hall.

The box was where it had been since he moved here four years ago. It had been my moms, and he claimed she loved it. I took his word for it because I couldn’t say she did or didn’t. I just remembered it always being on his dresser.

Tossing the keys aside, I picked up the wooden box and ran my fingers over the scrollwork in the top. It might have been handmade, but I couldn’t testify to that, although I could admit it was pretty. The lid didn’t have a hinge, and it had likely warped with age since it was difficult to shimmy off. I stuck my fingernail in the crack to get it started, and when it released, I stared at the contents.

Two gold bands and a diamond engagement ring.

My tongue swiped at my lips, and I found myself chewing on them, unable to take my eyes off the jewelry. My parents hadn’t had a lot of money when they got married, so all they’d bought were the gold bands to use in the ceremony. The details of how he scraped up the cash for the diamond weren’t fresh on my mind, but I knew he’d worked hard to keep his side jobs a secret from her so he could surprise her on their first anniversary.

The stone wasn’t huge, not that I could begin to identify the size or the value. But when I dared to lift it out of the box, the sunlight caught it, causing it to shine like there was light inside it. It wasn’t fancy, just one man’s commitment to the only woman he’d ever love. It was hard to swallow past the lump in my throat or to see beyond the tears stinging my eyes.

I nestled my mom’s rings on my pinky and held my dad’s up to the light to read the inscription.

And only…

The words didn’t make any sense to me when I slipped it over my knuckle. The fit was perfect, and so was the fact that it was aged and weathered. The gold was scratched and didn’t have that shiny, new finish I’d get at a jewelry store, but I wasn’t a shiny kind of guy. My dad had worked for a living like I did, and every mark on the metal was there because he’d used his hands to make his way in the world.

I took it off and put it in my pocket with the other two. It wasn’t the best place to keep something with so much sentimental value; I just didn’t have any other options at the moment. Once I got back to Beau’s house, I could hide them in my bag until I was ready for them. With nothing left for me here, I returned the box to the dresser and then locked the front door behind me.

The entire ride back to the hospital—which didn’t take anywhere near as long as getting here—they burned a hole in my pocket and my heart. There was no way I’d be able to hold onto them for any length of time without Masyn knowing. I sucked at keeping shit from her—other than loving her, which she’d completely missed even though the rest of the world saw it clearly—and this was huge.

She was lounging on the loveseat when I came back into the room. She and my dad were yacking it up like old friends. He saw me before she did, and the smile in his eyes told me what I needed to do.