Off Duty (Off #7) (9 page)
Authors: Sawyer Bennett
Both of my parents
turn to Tim, and then in a move so astounding that my jaw hits the
floor, my father sticks his hand out to Tim. “Tim… I’ve
been waiting ten years to see you again. Didn’t think it would
be tonight, but I’m glad it is.”
Tim politely takes
my father’s hand and shakes it. I’m still completely
stunned by this turn of events, but I hear Tim say in his deep voice.
“Congratulations on your award, Dr. Reynolds.”
My father turns to
me, leans over, and kisses my cheek. ‘Think you have a moment
you can spare for me? I really need to talk to you, but it would be
better in private.”
I nod, not trusting
my words. My father turns away, but then says, “Tim… do
you mind coming too? You need to hear this as well.”
Tim looks at me with
eyebrows raised and I shrug my shoulders, but we both follow along
behind my father. My mother, oddly, stays behind.
We walk out of the
ballroom, Tim and I holding hands. We silently follow my father
through the hotel and right out onto 5
th
Avenue. I’m
surprised that his definition of private is a busy New York City
street.
But as we walk a few
paces away from the door, I realize the loud hustle and bustle of a
New York Saturday night actually provides more privacy than the
ballroom. Here… everyone is walking quickly by, not paying
attention to us at all.
My father turns,
sticks his hands in his pockets, and looks me directly in the eye.
“I’m sorry for my actions, Holly.”
I flinch…
because his words actually pack a punch. Before I can even process
that this is turning into something I never expected, my father turns
to Tim. “And Tim… I’m sorry and so very ashamed of
myself.”
“I don’t
understand,” I manage to croak out, and Tim’s hand comes
supportively around my waist.
“You don’t
understand that I’m sorry for my actions all those years ago?”
my dad asks with a wry smile. “Why ever not? I mean, I never
gave you any indication that I was wrong.”
He’s being
sarcastic in a completely self-deprecating way.
I appreciate it
immensely, and it causes me to award him with a small smile.
My dad takes in a
deep breath and looks upward briefly… maybe asking someone
above for strength. Blowing it out, he looks back to me and says,
“Parents aren’t supposed to learn from their children.
It’s supposed to be the other way around. My greatest shame is
in knowing that I was not a good role model to you. My greatest pride
is in that you taught me something very important.”
“And what’s
that?” I ask hesitantly.
“That love is
love,” he says quietly. “I didn’t realize it. Not
for a long time. I was just as hurt by you cutting me out as you were
by what I did to you and Tim. By the time I realized the fool I had
been, it seemed too late to make amends. You weren’t having
anything to do with me, and I was confident I had lost any right to
ever ask for forgiveness.”
“That’s
an awful big turnaround,” I say skeptically.
“Not really,”
he says with a shrug of his shoulders. “You know this, Holly…
but as doctors, we have to be forward thinking. If we weren’t,
we would be stuck in the stone ages of medicine. Hell… I was
just given an award in part for my innovation. I’m a
progressive thinker.”
I can’t help
it… I snort, completely disbelieving of what he just said.
“Scoff all you
want, but I am. What you heard? What you saw ten years ago? That was
nothing more than how I was raised. I was raised by parents who
didn’t believe in people of different races mixing. I had no
cause to ever question it. It never touched my life… until the
day you brought Tim home for us to meet. And you saw nothing but
pure, unfiltered beliefs that were handed down to me by my parents. I
didn’t stop to think if they were wrong. I just spouted them
out and, in the process, I hurt my daughter who I love beyond
measure, and I hurt who I’m suspecting is a fine young man.”
I’m so in tune
with Tim that I can literally feel the tension melt away from his
body. I can tell… by the subtle loosening of his hand in mind
and the soft exhale of breath he had been holding, that he has
completely accepted my father’s words as true.
My father looks over
at Tim, because he must see what I just felt on Tim’s face.
“I’m sorry, Tim. I hope you can forgive a foolish man his
bigoted beliefs. I can assure you, I’ve let them go. I had to…
because of all that I had lost.”
Tim nods his head.
“Thank you, Dr. Reynolds. And I do… forgive you, that
is.”
My father turns his
gaze toward me. Hopeful. Yearning.
I lower my eyes and
murmur, “I don’t know what to say. I wasn’t
expecting this.”
“You don’t
have to say anything, Holly,” my dad assures me, and I raise my
eyes to meet his. “Just know that I am truly sorry for the pain
I caused. I know it kept you from the man you love… the man
you’re supposed to be with. I hope, in time, you can forgive
me.”
“Okay,”
I whisper, finally starting to accept that perhaps my father can
change. “Thank you for saying that.”
“Sure,”
my dad says with a thin smile. I know he expects me to say something
more. Perhaps give him the words of forgiveness that Tim just so
valiantly gave him.
When I remain
silent, still processing this momentous event, my dad clears his
throat and says, “Well… I need to get back inside. Guest
of honor and all. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
My dad walks past
us, and I catch the familiar scent of his cologne. It’s the
same scent he’s worn since I was a little girl. I used to love
hugging him, pressing my face into his tummy and inhaling the spicy
smell.
“Dad,” I
say as I turn around toward him. He stops and faces us with hopeful
eyes. “Maybe we can get together next week… for lunch or
dinner.”
My dad’s lips
peel back, and his smile is enough to outshine the New York skyline.
“That would be great. Maybe the two of you could come over?”
“Three of us
actually,” I correct him. “We’ll have Tim’s
son, Sam, with us.”
“Even better,”
he says with a smile. “Your mother will be thrilled to have a
little one in the house.”
“Alright,”
I tell him with a smile. “I’ll call you to arrange it.”
Tim and I watch my
dad nod his head toward us in gratitude before heading back inside
the hotel. Taking my hips, Tim turns me toward him and pulls me in
closer. “Wow,” is all he says.
“Wow is
right.” I laugh. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
“He was
sincere,” Tim says confidently.
“I think you
might be right,” I agree, not minding that Tim knows I saw that
in my father, even if I wasn’t able to actually admit it out
loud to said father.
“Want to go
back in?”
“Nah…
let’s go back to your place.”
“Our place,”
he corrects me.
“Our place,”
I agree. “Until we can find a house.”
“With a
fence.”
“And a dog.”
We both start
laughing as we step out toward the curb hand in hand so we can hail a
cab.
Dear Reader: Before you turn that page, I just want to thank you for
reading and if you enjoyed the story of Tim and Holly and intend to share it
on social media, do me a favor… use the hashtag #loveislove. Let’s spread
the word and get it to trend that skin color is irrelevant because Love Is Love!
If you enjoyed OFF DUTY as much as I enjoyed writing it, it would mean a lot for you to
give me a review
.
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Books By Sawyer Bennett
The Off Series
The Last Call Series
The Legal Affairs Series
- Objection
- Stipulation
- Violation
- Mitigation
- Reparation
- Affirmation
- Confessions of a Litigation God
- Clash: A Legal Affairs Story
- Grind: A Legal Affairs Story
- Yield: A Legal Affairs Story
- Friction: A Legal Affairs Novel (Releasing October 27, 2015)
Stand Alone Titles
The Cold Fury Hockey Series (Random House/ Loveswept)
The Forever Land Chronicles
New York Times and USA Today bestselling Author, Sawyer Bennett is a snarky southern woman and
reformed trial lawyer who decided to finally start putting on paper
all of the stories that were floating in her head. Her husband works
for a Fortune 100 company which lets him fly all over the world while
she stays at home with their daughter and three big, furry dogs who
hog the bed. Sawyer would like to report she doesn’t have many
weaknesses but can be bribed with a nominal amount of milk chocolate.
THE END