A Father's Love

Chapter 33

   Luke waited until Shelby was in school to discuss her confession with Rachel.

With Rachel working during the day, he had to go to her photography studio. Asking if he could have a minute of her time, she asked Kirk to watch the front desk while they went in the back to her darkroom since Rachel had some photos to develop.

"What's up?" she asked as Rachel started cleaning a roll of film. "Did you find out why Shelby acted that way?"

Luke took a quick deep breath, letting it out. "Yep."

She offered him a stool to sit on, sitting down on another while sliding the film onto what looked like an oversized sewing spool. "Okay."

Sitting towards the edge of the stool, Luke held on as he began. "Well, it was a process getting it out of her."

He heard Rachel snicker. Not in a mean way, but in a knowing way that was typical of Shelby. "It usually is," she said in agreement.

"I finally had her write it down, and..." Luke paused, hesitating with his thought.

Rachel glanced up from where she was wrapping the film onto the spool, the end twisting up on her. "And?"

Taking another breath, he said, "Shelby says you wouldn't allow her to call me that night she slept over with you and your mother."

Upon hearing the reason, he could barely make out her hands drop into her lap as she let out a defeated sigh. "She's still upset over that?" she asked with tired concern.

"Guess so," Luke shrugged.

"What happened to the kid being forgiving?"

"Well, when you pull something such as that after I have said over a dozen times, if she needs to come home, I will come and get her, then yes, I imagine that would take a little time to forgive."

"Luke, she had slept over three times, and now four. There is no reason to keep that option on the table." Rachel reached over and grabbed some kind of container, pulling the cap off so she could drop the film inside.

"She was scared and upset with me, Rachel. Shelby had nowhere else to go, so she had no other choice but to stay," he pointed out.

"Yes, and I understand that, but," she stood up to fill the container with some kind of chemical liquid, "regardless of the reason, Shelby slept the whole night in her room, without having to go home, and she lived. There's no reason why she can't continue staying the whole night. I'm right down the hall and Shelby can call me on the walkie-talkie. She doesn't need to go running to you every time she gets scared. She needs to learn to depend on the other people in her life and herself."

"Yes, I can agree to that, but you can't go against what I told her, especially without telling me."

Rachel turned around, now rolling the container in her hands. "If I had called, would you have backed me up?"

Stumbling on his words, he answered, "Y-yes." Luke cleared his throat and forced out some confidence. "I would have encouraged her to stay and reminded her she has done it already."

"Really," she nodded, sounding as though Rachel wasn't buying it.

"Yes, really. I am the one who convinced her to spend the night in the first place."

"Okay, yes, I'll give you that, and I felt so relieved when you did. That was awesome of you." Rachel poured out the chemical in a wide sink to add the next chemical.

"And I told her if need be, I'd come get her early," he added.

"I didn't hear that part," she admitted. "Still, you shouldn't have told her that, Luke."