Luckily, we made it to the airport with time to spare. No traffic on a Friday afternoon was shocking. Sierra kept me company on the phone while I waited by the baggage carousels.
“Babydoll!”
I had missed that deep voice.
“Sier, they’re here. Got to go ... yes, I’ll tell them you say hi. Maybe we’ll try and pop by this weekend ... my dad would love to see you too. If you’re nice, we’ll bring you a cheesesteak. Yeah ... okay ... mm-hmm ... bye.” I shoved the phone in my bag and made my way toward the escalator.
“Hi Dad.” I flung my arms around his neck. It didn’t matter how old I was, I was always his little girl. “I missed you, I’m so glad you’re here.”
“You look amazing, babydoll!”
Sharon stood back a little bit and gave us our moment. She was thoughtful and sweet. Perfect for my dad and I was grateful he had her.
I kissed her on the cheek and gave her a real hug. “I’m so sorry I missed you when I was home.” I knew she would never hold it against me, knowing what went down the last time I was home, but I still needed to say it.
“Me too. I was jealous of Dana. She said you looked radiant and you absolutely do.”
“We’re just so happy to be here. My birthday girl looks beautiful. And so happy.”
“Thanks, guys. I am. I really am.”
My dad wrapped an arm around my waist and we made our way toward the exit, bypassing the baggage claim.
“Wait, do you have any other luggage?”
“Nope, this is it.” They rolled small matching suitcases behind them. They were too cute.
“Great, Chase’s car is right outside.”
“You left his car at the drop-off curb? Are you crazy, babydoll? It’s gonna get towed.” He gave me one of his famous did I teach you nothing looks. Did he really think I was that dumb?
“Noooo, Dad. Pete’s waiting with the car,” I said that like it was common hat to have a driver. This was going to be a little weird; I knew what was coming next.
“Who’s Pete?”
Chase’s financial comfort wasn’t a secret, but I never really made it a point to discuss exactly how comfortable he was with my dad.
“Um ... Pete’s his driver.”
“As in his personal chauffeur?” Obviously Dad had no patience for beating around the bush.
“Yeah, I guess you could call him that…” He was really so much more, but how did I even begin to explain Chase’s loyalty to Pete? It was Chase’s story to tell, not mine.
“Hmmm. Interesting.” Dad was being polite, or trying. His poker face needed as much work as mine. Totally genetic. He probably wanted to say something more along the lines of, Who the hell needs a driver, are his feet and hands broken?
“I know Dad, I agree.” I shrugged, hoping my dad read between the lines and saw I was still as Wrangel as he was. That Chase’s money was just that to me ... just money. The cars, the dinners, the clothes—that was all part of Chase’s world; a world I couldn’t give two shits about.
“Oh shut it, Jim.” Sharon smacked my dad’s chest jokingly before he said anything else. “If the man thinks he needs a driver, so be it. Just so happens we need a ride. Right? Anyway I can’t wait to meet your Chase, sweetie. He sounds lovely.”
Your Chase. That sounded even lovelier.
“Thanks, Shar.”
“And after I scold him a bit, remind me I really want to thank him. I’ve never flown first class before. Did you know they give you free drinks?”
I chuckled at how cute she was. “Well, I hope you took advantage.”
Dad smirked and shook his head. “Oh, she did.”
Pete jumped out of the town car as soon as he saw us. “Mr. Porter, Mrs. Porter ... lovely to meet you.”
“Thanks, you too.” My dad shook Pete’s hand. Sharon, on the other hand, blushed pink. Pete was charming—I gave her that. Dad teasingly shot her a look and she mouthed back, “What?” Too freaking cute.
Pete opened the back door for us and we all slid in. I could already tell this was going to be a great weekend. “So I thought we’d go back to my apartment, so you can get settled and relax before dinner. Chase will meet us there.”
“Sounds good to me, babydoll.” My dad kissed my temple and I snuggled into his side. Yep, great weekend.
My apartment was small, really small, but it felt anything but cramped. With my dad and Sharon there, it was cozy and warm. I couldn’t remember the last time we spent quality time like this together. Just relaxed and comfortable, without the oversized elephant of that night in the room. My dad and I were kicked back on the couch, while Sharon sat at the table next to us with my laptop open, Googling the location of the Rocky statue. The look of disbelief on her face when I told her it was at the bottom of the museum steps, not the top, was priceless. She looked like she just heard that Santa wasn’t real for the first time. No way Dad and I were letting her live it down. She was hysterical, or as Asher would say, a hoot. We were still busy teasing her when the doorbell rang.
He rang the doorbell? I pushed up off the couch smiling. Chase had his own key to my place, but out of respect for my dad he rang the doorbell. I loved that. This man earned some serious brownie points.
I started talking before I even got the door open. “Hey, we were wondering when you were going to get here-” My heart swelled when I saw him. This man never failed to shock me.
It took him a little longer to get here because he obviously stopped home to change. Instead of standard work attire, which was GQ worthy on a bad day, Chase wore faded jeans and a t-shirt. A simple, perfectly fit, white t-shirt. One arm cradled a few pizza boxes, while the other held a shopping bag with two six packs of beer and a CRUMBS bag. He was beautiful.
“Hi, gorgeous.” He walked in and pretended not to notice how moved I was and kissed the tip of my nose. “Thought you guys might be tired and want to hang low tonight and catch up. Hope you don’t mind pizza and salad? We can go out tomorrow…”
My dad clapped his hands together and stood up. “Now that’s what I’m talking about! Good to see ya, son. Let me give you a hand with that.”
Screw brownie points, Chase just earned a lifetime of free sex points.
Chase exchanged pleasantries with Sharon and Dad and set everyone up with a beer and some pizza. Then he came to find me in the kitchen. I was taking a pause.
“You okay, baby?” He looked at me suspiciously. A tight knot squeezed the back of my throat. I had to swallow it down before I could speak.
“Yeah, I’m fine, really.” I chalked my moment up to hormones. Poor Sierra, was this what she dealt with every day?
Chase cupped my cheeks. “Truth, baby. Talk to me.”
I lifted up onto my tippy toes and kissed his nose. “I just love this. All of it. The pizza, the beer, the cupcakes. I know it sounds stupid, but I even love that you thought to grab freaking paper plates. Just being here like this—you, me, my dad, Sharon. It’s exactly how I wanted tonight to go, and I didn’t even know that until we got back here. But you knew. You didn’t have to ask, you just knew what I needed. You knew. I love that. I love you. Thank you.” I meant every single word with every fiber of my being.
He squinted in disbelief then whispered, “Thank me for what?”
Oh god, I wanted to cry. It was paper plates. I needed to get a grip. Freaking paper plates. But it wasn’t, it was so much more. My tears wet his thumbs, but he didn’t wipe them away. He didn’t shift. He just stared into my eyes until I blinked the last tear away. Until I saw clearly again. And I saw it crystal clear. I knew exactly what I was thankful for, and it sure as hell wasn’t paper plates. I closed my eyes and mumbled against his soft lips, “Thank you for giving me my HEA.” It felt beautiful to say it out loud.