Beautifully Awake

“Thanks, Dad. I’ve missed you so much.” I squeezed him tighter and glanced back at Chase. His soft smile warmed my heart. The two most important men in my life were meeting. “Dad, I have someone important to introduce you to.” My giddiness must have been infectious, because both men looked genuinely happy. “This is my boyfriend, Chase Colton. Chase, this is my dad, James Porter.” Boyfriend. I really liked the sound of that.

“Chase.” My father’s rough, oil-stained hand made contact with Chase’s clean, surgeon-quality hand. The affectionate embrace was my two different worlds colliding.

“My pleasure, Mr. Porter, very nice to finally meet you.”

My dad slid back into the booth, and Chase and I filed in across from him.

“Please call me Jim, we’re not that formal up here. So Chase, my daughter tells me you’re a well-respected doc.” My overprotective father wasn’t wasting any time feeling Chase out. Trusting another man with his daughter was not something my father took lightly. Trust, period, was a rare commodity for us Porters over recent years.

“Dad, I told you Chase is a neurosurgeon at the hospital.”

“That’s right. You good at what you do, son?”

I don’t think I ever heard my dad use that term, even casually, when speaking to fuck-face.

“I’d like to think I provide the best care possible for my patients.” Chase squeezed my hand under the table.

“That’s a good answer, son. So how long have you known my Lili?”

I held my breath, unsure how my dad would accept our relationship if he knew we’d only been dating three and half weeks.

“Coffee? Miss, Sir.” We nodded at our waitress, who handed us menus then slopped coffee into our mugs. A perfectly timed pause. “Cream, milk?”

“Black is fine, thanks. So Dad, what have you been up to?” Luckily he was easily distracted.

“Just working, babydoll, and lots of it. It’s been nuts down at the garage this week. Street car race up at the speedway this weekend. All the boys left this morning. Hopefully gone the whole weekend, but damn, was my garage packed this week. Of course everyone wanted their car in top shape.” His accentuation of boys lifted a three-year weight from my shoulders. I knew exactly who he was referring to. He was assuring me there wouldn’t be an accidental run in with fuck-face; he never missed one of those stupid races. The yacht-sized knots in my shoulders and neck released.

“Oh yeah, I remember those stupid races. Good for business, though.”

He nodded and took a sip of his coffee.

“When you gonna retire, Dad, have you thought about it?”

“I don’t know. Sharon really wants to travel a bit. I’ve been trying to save a little money.”

“Dad, you should do it while you’re healthy. You deserve some time to yourself, not working. Why don’t you start with a visit to us?”

“It’s been years since I was down in Philly, last time had to be when your mother was still alive.” Dad still couldn’t mention my mother without an aura of longing. She was his world. His everything. I always felt cheated that I never got to see their story play out firsthand. “You look just like her, babydoll. You’re turning into a beautiful woman.”

“Thanks, Dad. But don’t get all mushy, Chase doesn’t want to witness that.”

Chase ran a soothing hand up and down my thigh several times.

“So Jim, know anything about this trial Lili has to testify for today?” Chase tactfully changed the subject this time.

“It’s been in the paper on and off for weeks. A sad one. Kid got burned, luckily he recovered, though.”

Chase’s hand froze on my thigh. He was so not okay with this whole situation.

“I only spoke on the phone with the attorney briefly the other day and they emailed me all my old documentation to review. Poor kid was only seven when I saw the red flags, mostly verbal abuse then. I suspected physical abuse and reported it. But there was no evidence. The system makes it so impossibly difficult sometimes. One look at the poor kid and you could tell something was wrong. I recommended foster placement pending a more thorough investigation, but his mother denied everything and the case was closed. Unfortunately, she was the picture of abuse as well, but wouldn’t admit it. Still turns my stomach.” Nothing was going to change the outcome, but I couldn’t help but feel partially responsible. The bastard burned his own son. “Look, I can’t say I like testifying, and it definitely makes me nervous.” I needed to rethink the full-caff coffee. Ugh. “Okay, really nervous, but it’s part of the job. Someone has to be a voice for these kids. If I had screamed louder for this poor kid when I had the chance maybe it would have never gotten this far.”

“You’re not to blame.” My father barely let me finish my sentence. “You did everything you could to help that kid, you always do. He was lucky he had you on his side, especially back then when everything ... was going on. No one else could have done more.” Dad caught himself. “You didn’t fail that kid, the system did, just like it fails everyone. It’s not right you got dragged back here, Lili, it’s not right.”

“Dad.” I covered his worn hands with my own. “It’s fine. Really, Dad. I’m fine. And I’m glad I’m here with you.” I gave him one of his own comforting winks, hoping my overprotective father read between the lines. I was fine. And the gorgeous man secretly caressing my thigh had almost everything to do with it.

“Still, babydoll. It has to be hard to sit up there. I give you a lot credit.” Dad looked at Chase, who gently kissed my temple.

“What do you say, let’s order. I’m starved.” Dad waved our waitress over.

“I think that’s a fine idea.” Chase agreed and steered the conversation toward idle chitchat while we ate.

I stayed quiet, listening to the two men of my life get to know each other. Chase seemed genuinely interested in Dad’s shop talk and asked my father lots of questions about some classic cars he was interested in. Boys and their cars. And of course, my dad rambled on about how Claude Julien needed to make serious changes next season if the Bruins had a chance. Chase was smart enough to agree. Emphatically. Even though, I swore there were a few moments Chase looked a little lost. Basically testosterone drove the breakfast conversation. I didn’t mind in the least. Who was I kidding? I loved it.

Before it was time to go, Chase excused himself to the restroom and quietly handled the bill, insisting to my dad that it was the least he could do to thank my father for arranging our hotel stay.

“It was great meeting you, Jim. Would love to have you down to Philly or even Manhattan. Your daughter took a real liking to the Big Apple, especially the planetarium.” Heat flushed my cheeks instantly. Oh no he didn’t. “She’d probably be a better tour guide than me. Maybe we can plan something for the fall.”

“Sounds good, I’ll check with the boss lady.” Dad smiled and pulled me in for a tight embrace. “Take care of my babydoll, Chase. I don’t trust easily, but you seem like a good man.”

“Thanks, Jim. She’s definitely precious cargo.” Chase and Dad shared one last handshake. Damn, my heart near melted.

“Bye, Dad. Please send Sharon my love and tell her sorry we missed her. I’ll call you later, let you know how it went.”

“Bye, babydoll. Good luck.” After one more precious wink, my dad headed back to work, and Chase and I crossed the street toward the courthouse.

“First, thanks for breakfast.” I kissed his perfectly chiseled cheek. “I know it’s no big deal to you, but my dad is kind of a proud man. Thanks for how you handled the check.”

“He should be proud. He works hard and raised an amazing daughter as a single parent. I couldn’t have more respect for the man. And I told you, baby, you never have to thank me. I would feed your entire family every meal for the next twenty years to see that smile on your face.” This time Chase leaned down and kissed my nose. “So if that was first, is there a second?”

I loved that devilish grin, but even more, I loved that I was the only one who got to see it.

“And second, the planetarium? Really! I could have killed you.” I playfully pushed him away from me.

Laughing, he embraced me tighter. “Hey. Did I lie? I distinctly remember you chanting how amazing it was, like it was your mantra. Or were you referring to something other than