Forgive (Available in paperback & eBook- SAMPLE)

Chapter 4

Thank you all for your support. It means so much to me. I hope you enjoy the new chapter and I will have another one for you next Friday. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. :)

(Emma)

He was sitting on a park bench under a large shade tree, his attention on the phone in his hands. As I approached him, I began to have second thoughts about seeing him. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and forced my feet to keep moving. I was here and I was going to see it through.

Dad glanced up from his phone, spotted me, and slowly rose to his feet. He pocketed his phone and came toward me. We stopped a few feet apart, our gazes roaming over each other. His brown hair had streaks of gray in it, and his brown eyes were sunken and bloodshot. He looked older since the last time I saw him.

"You look so much like your mother," he said softly. "She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. Her smile could light up a room."

"People were drawn to her," I added.

"Yes, they were." He touched my cheek, and I resisted the urge to move away from his touch. "Just as I'm sure they're drawn to you."

I gave him a brief smile and then gestured at the bench. "Why don't we sit down?"

"How have you been?" Dad asked as we took a seat.

"I've been okay." Crossing my legs, I looked at him. "How about you? We haven't talked in a while."

He met my gaze. "The reason why I haven't talked to you in a while is because I was in rehab getting myself together."

Shocked, I gaped at him. "That's-that's great news."

"I'm thirty-three days sober." He shifted, laying his hand across the back of the bench. "I know that's not much, but-"

"Don't downplay your efforts," I scolded him. "Thirty-three days sober is a big deal. I'm proud of you for getting help. I know Mom would be too."

He smiled weakly.

"What made you decide to get help?" I inquired.

"I didn't like what I had become," he answered. "Every time I looked in the mirror I saw a stranger staring back at me. A man your mother would not have been proud of. A man you were not proud of. Drinking has made me do things I regret. Hitting you was-"

"We don't need to talk about that," I quickly interrupted.

"I hit you, Emma," Dad said, pain reflecting in his eyes. "A father should never strike his children. I was drunk, but that's no excuse. I am sorry for hurting you."

A lump forming in my throat, I nodded.

"I'd like to have a talk with Ben." He grimaced. "Step nine of the twelve steps is making amends for the harm I've done to others. I want to apologize to him for coming into his home and stealing from him."

I frowned at him. "What did you steal from him?"

"A bottle of bourbon," he confessed.

I wondered why Ben never told me about Dad stealing from him. "I will let him know you wish to talk to him."

"Thank you."

I had a sinking feeling Ben wouldn't be open to having a conversation with my father. I had a feeling he wouldn't want anything to do with him at all.