Beauty & The Freak || Eddie Munson

Chapter 26

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Mom and dad had offered to let me stay home from Church in the morning, but I happily accepted to go regardless of how tired I was. To their immediate knowledge, I had been at prom all night and Eddie brought me home just after one in the morning. They didn't know we were out until four.

I pushed through the exhaustion as I focused my attention on Minister Campbell. I could see his lips moving, but some words weren't connecting to my brain. My thoughts kept circling back to last night, choosing to focus on the random panic attack I had rather than spending the night with Eddie and our friends. I didn't understand where it had come from or why it had surfaced.

I don't know how it would have gone without Eddie there. I might not have felt bad. Getting so lost in my thoughts, I hadn't even realized that Minister Campbell's service was over, and everyone was getting up to chat with each other.

Mom went to pick Abel up while dad and I headed to the car. When we stepped outside and made our steps down the stairs, I noticed someone standing on the sidewalk that led out to the parking lot. I stopped in my tracks, eyeing the man with his hands in his pockets. Dad noticed I had stopped, so he did the same. He looked back at me with a raised brow.

"That's Eddie's dad." I looked between the two of them.

"What's his name?" Dad asked, looking over at him.

"Frank."

"What do you think he wants?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want me to tell him to leave? Are you interested in talking to him?"

I got little a choice as he approached us on the stairs. Frank looked down at the ground, his hands in his pockets as he stood there silently. Dad took one step back, keeping close to me as he eyed Frank.

"Are you Eden's father?" Frank spoke up.

"I am," Dad said, "Allen."

"I owe you and your daughter an apology for my behavior. I'm afraid I might have scared her."

"Scared her might be an understatement." Dad said.

"You don't owe me an apology." I said from around dad's shoulder. "You owe Eddie an apology for assaulting him."

"You're right." Frank nodded.

"What are your intentions for coming here?" Dad asked.

"I was hoping to have a conversation with your daughter about my boy."

"You're not talking to her alone," Dad interrupted, "but if she's willing, then you can speak to her in my presence."

Dad looked at me, and I gave him a small nod. I needed to hear what he had to say. Frank slouched his shoulders, rocking back on his heels and rubbing at the hair on his chin. What could he want to discuss?

"Is there somewhere more private we can talk?" Frank asked.

"We can use the conference room inside the church." Dad suggested.

Frank nodded, prepared to follow us inside.

All the exhaustion I had felt suddenly went right out of the door and gotten replaced by nerves. This conversation could go south quickly, but I was so thankful that dad was there to watch the entire situation. Who knows what he would have done if he had caught me alone? Like dad, I was curious about what his intentions were. First, how did he even know we were here? How did he know I was here?