Save Me Santa by M.A. Innes

Author:M.A. Innes [Innes, M.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Brady

Daddy sighed…frowned…and then shook his head. “No.”

Hmm, now what?

I wasn’t pushy unless it was related to toys, so I wasn’t sure what to do, but thankfully Daddy took a breath and didn’t make me figure it out.

I had the best Daddy ever.

“My family is filled with fuckups.” It wasn’t terribly informative, but it did explain a bit about why Daddy’s frown got deeper when he thought about them. “Gambling. Drugs. Selling, not using if that makes any difference. Underground fights. If it’s illegal, they’ve tried to make a living from it.”

He scoffed. “They’re entrepreneurs.”

Oh dear.

What was the right response to that?

I must’ve looked startled because he chuckled. “Yeah, that’s them. I was in and out of foster care when I was younger until my parents cleaned up enough to keep custody of me when I was in high school.”

Nothing I could think of to say felt right, so I stayed quiet and just reached across the table to take his hand.

His frown lightened and he squeezed my hand. “It’s like their whole generation went nuts making one bad decision after another. Every fucking relative. But when I was in high school a step-grandfather I never knew about came in throwing his weight around and expecting everyone to clean up their act.”

Daddy paused, looking frustrated and thoughtful before shrugging. “He did his best, I guess, but holding money over everyone’s head would only fix so much, and let’s just say I was ready to escape when college finally arrived.”

I still had a thousand questions, but most of them could wait.

“So we’ll just tell everyone you’re estranged?” Did he actually talk to them? Was that the reason why he wasn’t going anywhere for Christmas?

Shrugging, Daddy leaned back for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, and if anyone asks let’s just say they’re not supportive of me being gay and leave it at that. It’s honest and it’s easier to say than my mother’s in jail again and my father is hiding from gambling debts he’ll never be able to pay.”

Oh dear.

“Yes, I think estranged and being vague about the rest would be best for now. My family is…what’s the polite word for nosy?” My question made Daddy laugh even though I was pretty sure he knew I was serious.

“How about we say they’re inquisitive?” He tightened his grip on my hand, smiling as I nodded and grinned.

That was a very good word for them.

“Yes, I like that.” His warm skin against mine had me imagining not-so-Christmassy thoughts, but I was being very good and trying to stay focused on restaurant-friendly date conversations. “And it’s perfectly okay to find a very nice way to tell a younger cousin or relative you won’t answer something. They’re nosy too.”

Somehow it spread through the family like a fungus.

“I will do my best to be polite when I tell everyone off.” Daddy’s eyes sparkled and I had a feeling he was going to be just a bit like my father when the rest of the family frustrated him too much.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.