"Sit down."
I sat.
"Funny," my father nodded, "because I remember the story a little differently."
I looked out at the crashing waves and waited.
"Your mother and I forced you to take your cousin to her senior prom. You fought us on it until I finally put my foot down. She didn't have a date, after all. A few hours later, you came back to the house in such a frenzy I thought something had happened."
Squinting, I looked up into his eyes. "I never came back to the house, Dad."
He sighed. "You did. The therapists said that telling you about what you didn't remember could cause emotional damage, so we kept it quiet. Never in my life did I think it would be so important."
"I don't understand." I scratched the back of my head, feeling the scar from the surgery.
"Of all the things to forget, you forgot the accident and things leading up to it, but you remembered that damn kiss you shared with that girl, and it wrecked you."
"You're telling me this now because?"
"Because it will help. I hope to God it helps, because I'm about at my wit's end with you." He smirked lovingly. "You ran into the house and said, 'Dad, I've met the girl I'm going to marry.'"
Suddenly, I was in my parents' living room again.
The memory hit me full force. I tried to stuff it back into my mind. I tried to ignore the pain in my chest as it sliced me completely in half.
"Dad!" I ran into the house. "I need the cell phone, and I'm going to take the car."
"You're back already?" He straightened his tie. "You sure are in a hurry, son."
"I met her," I said, grinning like an idiot. "You and mom were right. It happened just like you said it would. It was like… it was magic!"
"What was?"
"The kiss!"
"You kissed your cousin? Son, sit down…"
"No!" I yelled. "I kissed Beth. She goes to Macy's school and was there with some other guy and... I want to catch her in time!"
"And what's your plan, once you catch her?"
"I haven't thought it out," I admitted. "But it's going to involve kissing."
"Keep your pants on son." Dad laughed. "And be careful."
"I will!" I promised and ran out the door yelling, "Dad, I met the girl I'm going to marry!"
I was driving too fast, not caring that I was breaking so many laws that my license could get revoked. I accelerated through a yellow light. And that's when I heard the screeching metal of steel on steel.
My world went completely black.
I woke up three months later from a coma. And the first word that trickled out of my mouth was, "Beth."
But she had already gone, already left for school. She hadn't cared enough to look into how I was. Hell, she probably hadn't even known who I was or that I was the same guy she'd kissed. The same guy who had almost died trying to see her again.
I felt like I couldn't breathe. All this time I thought I'd walked away from her, but I'd gone back. I'd gone back to make the big gesture because those few minutes were enough to make me believe in something I'd always told myself wasn't real.
Dad placed his hand on mine. "Love at first sight."
"Doesn't exist." I snapped, jerking my hand back.
"That experience changed you." He shook his head sadly. "You poured everything into the next two years of high school and then graduated early from college. You lived and breathed your job."
"Because my job won't ever let me down. It's consistent. The one time I took a chance in my life, and I almost died."
"You afraid of a little coma, son?"
"My brain was swollen for three months, Dad. I could have been a vegetable the rest of my life, all because I was careless."
"With a car. Not with your heart."
"Are we done?"
"Don't disappoint me." I froze.
"How the hell is me walking away from Beth disappointing you?"
"Because, I know you, son. You wear your heart on your sleeve. You want to take that leap for her, but you're too chicken shit to do it. Tell her the truth. Tell her what happened."
"And if she rejects me? Like I deserve?"
"Think of it this way." My dad took a long sip of coffee. "What if the car would have made it to prom? What if you would have walked into that gym and seen Beth, with those pretty green eyes, staring at you."
"I would have kissed her," I croaked. "And probably made an ass out of myself."
"You would have told her you were going to marry her someday."
I didn't respond. I couldn't. My chest felt so heavy with emotion that I wasn't able to take deep breaths. I wheezed, coughed, and took a few steps away from my dad before stopping and turning.
"Were you in on it?"
"On this?" Dad spread the napkin across his lap. "Why, son, it was my idea."
He said it so calm that I thought he had to be joking.
He took another sip of coffee and smiled.
Holy shit.
"Grandma?"
"Offered her expertise. How else do you think I was able to plant the media outside the hotel? Grandma can't be in two places at once. She slipped something in your drinks, made sure you made it safely to the hotel, and I took care of all the rest of the details. Right down to sending media to the airport."
"But—"
"Grandma was with you the whole time," Dad laughed, "texting me details."
"But the resort we're staying at? She's a therapist here."
Dad looked at me like I was stupid. I hated being looked at like that. "Titus Enterprises owns several hotel chains. You're staying in one. How else do you think Grandma could infiltrate the staff so effectively?"
"I think I'm going to be sick."
"Good." Dad's eyebrows quirked. "At least you're finally feeling something."
"But…"
"Son... it's when you're at the end of your life that you start thinking about the beginning. Choices made, things you should have said, people you should have forgiven. I don't want that for you. I saw you going down a path that I knew would end in heartache. Travis and I went golfing soon after you confessed about second chances. That's when I put two and two together. It was easily done, and when I saw you at the wedding. I knew…"
"You mean when you drugged us at the wedding."
"My idea was to get you caught in a compromising situation on camera, not drug you, fly to you to Hawaii make you bleed your feelings all over a therapist, and get your first experience with Viagra."
I winced.
"But Grandma had a point. You two needed time to get to know one another, and she provided a safe media-free environment for exactly that to happen. My only question is… did it work?"
"Did what work?"
"Our plan?"
I was silent for a few seconds.
"Son, do you love her?"
"I do." I licked my lips, feeling like a thousand-pound weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "I really do."
"Then chase her."
"What if she doesn't want me back? How do I even know that she would have dated me had my car made it back to the gym?"
Dad smirked., "Son, that's why they call love a leap. It's a bit like faith. You know it exists, though you can't feel it."
"I have no faith in myself."
"That's okay," Dad nodded, his eye welling with tears, "because I have enough faith in you for the both of us."
Chapter Thirty-four
"Well," the agent scratched his chin, "you can keep a secret. I'll give you that."
"Thank you."
"But the senator is still missing, and by the looks of it," he checked his watch, "it's been over forty-eight hours."