Everything Has Changed

Chapter Thirty Four: Secret Roadtrip

Chapter Thirty Four: Secret Roadtrip

Danny

"Tell me again why we couldn't take my truck?" Scott asks in the passenger seat of my truck.

"I never said we couldn't." I say, getting over one lane to the left.

"You said, 'no way, we have to take my truck.'"

"Yeah, because I wanted to drive."

He sighs a little bit and looks out the window.

"Let's talk about my daughter?" He asks suddenly.

"What?" I ask.

"From what I know, you've been in love with her for a while."

"Uh..." I trail off. "Yeah."

"How long?"

I hesitate. "Since I was ten."

"Ten." He lets out a low whistle. "What do you love about her?"

Why is he questioning me like this?

"Why are you-"

"Keep your eyes on the road." He says. I sigh. "What do you love about her?" He repeats.

"Everything." I say, thinking about Grace. "She's funny, smart, beautiful, talented, sweet..." I trail off, a gentle smile on my lips as I picture her beautiful blonde hair and incredible brown eyes. "Why are you questioning? You were there when I grew up. You know how I am."

"You're driving down the interstate and my daughter is in the passenger seat. Your two year old is in the middle. A car slams on his breaks in front of you and you have to slam yours. You know you're going to hit them. What do you do next?"

"That's a trick question." I say simply. "I would never put our two year old in the front seat of any vehicle. If the two year old was safely buckled in the back seat, I would throw my arm out to hold Grace back."

He seems to be pleased with my answer.

"Danny, my little girl has been through too much for somebody her age. I will always blame myself for what happened to her. There's going to come a day when you come to me and ask for her hand in marriage. Sending her off to college with you is hard for me, because I won't be there to protect her like I was when Eileen was. The last few months, she has been in her room crying. Coming to me crying. Miserable. I need to know that when she's away at college with you, engaged to you...married to you, I need to know you're going to take care of my little girl. I need to know you're not going to hurt in intentionally. Seeing her with you lately...there's a spark in her that I haven't seen in a long time. You bring her to life. You make her happy, and that scares me. I know her happiness rests solely in your hands. I need you to promise to nurture her and love her unconditionally, no matter what."

"I will never intentionally hurt her. Ever. I promise."

He seems pleased with that.

"I need to ask you something." He says.

"Sure." I say.

In a quarter mile, take exit 268 onto FL-40 toward Ocala, Ormond Beach

I get over in the right lane.

"Grace doesn't talk to me about her Mom, but I know she talks to you. Is she okay? You know, after that talk with her Mom. I don't know what happened after she forgave Eileen, and when I asked, she told me she didn't want to talk about it."

Now, I love Scott, but I'm not going to spill my girlfriend's business to her Dad. If she wanted him to know, she would tell him.

"She doesn't really talk about her." I say honestly. "And I don't really know what happened either. I know a tiny bit, and it's not really my business..."