I roll my eyes and change the subject as my next appointment arrives. Not wanting to listen to Lucy continue to beg me to join her on Friday, I decide to end the phone call quickly. I give her a maybe, deciding that maybe I will get out finally. The more I stay shut in, the more Drew wins, so perhaps getting all dressed up and going out for drinks and dancing is just what I need.


I PULL up in my dad’s driveway several hours later, ready to get our Wednesday night dinner ritual over with. I’m in no mood to talk, and Dad’s always a chatterbox. He’s the only parent I’ve ever known, and he’s fulfilled both roles tenfold, but sometimes he can get a little overbearing. I understand it, because I feel the same way towards him. After my mom died in childbirth, it’s just been Dad and me. He rarely dated as he devoted all his time to me, trying his hardest not to make me a tomboy but a well-rounded kid.

He told me stories about how my mom had wanted to name me Charlotte Rose and he’d fought her every step of the way. He liked Charlotte, but he was opposed to flowery names. When the doctors came out and told him that she’d passed away due to immense blood loss, he couldn’t help but give me that name. However, from the moment I could talk, my daddy called me Charlie. Never Charlotte, never Rose. And definitely never Charlie Rose. The last thing I want is to be compared to an old guy on Sixty Minutes. Nope, I’m just plain old Charlie. And to be honest, I’ve always been okay with it. I was and always have been my daddy’s girl. Being a single parent in the Army, he had a hell of a time raising me, but he made it work. I was always loved, cherished, and protected. I’ll always love my dad for that.

Putting the car in park, I exit the vehicle and take a deep breath, knowing Dad’s going to want to talk about Drew. I think he’s equal parts pissed and disappointed that we were both fooled by his gentlemanly façade. He doesn’t know the full story, just that Drew did something to push me away. I scrounge up the courage to finally make my way to the door, and it swings wide before I can even knock. I’m instantly drawn up into strong arms as I throw my own around Dad, loving his warm embrace.

He draws back from me and brushes the lone bang out of my face. “Oh, Charlie, it’s been too long since you’ve visited your old man.”

I smile up at him, shaking my head at his ridiculousness. It’s only been a week since we had our last weekday meal and he knows it, but he still loves me enough to give me shit. We break our embrace and move towards the dining room, where he’s prepared an incredible spread.

If there’s one thing Wade Davenport learned as a single dad, it was how to cook. My mouth waters as the Carolina barbeque smell fills my nostrils. We both make ourselves pulled pork sandwiches, me passing on the coleslaw, all the while Dad chuckling at my constant refusal to put the stuff on my pork.

“Charlie… Drew called me the other night. He’s concerned about you and wanted to know how to reach you,” Dad tells me nonchalantly.

I gape at him, wondering if he’s gone crazy. “Umm, Dad, I have no desire to see Drew, hear from Drew, or to even speak his name.”

Sighing, he sets his fork down and looks at me. “You know, if you’d just tell me what happened, maybe I’d understand why you refuse to speak to him. Last I knew, everything was fine and you were planning a wedding. Then all of the sudden you’re calling, asking to borrow my truck so you could move out. Dammit, Charlie, what the hell did he do?”

My dad’s always been a very actively overprotective father, so when I caught Drew in his…compromising position, I had no desire to tell Dad about it. I knew at the time he’d fly off the handle, and all I wanted was to be moved out before Drew got back to the apartment. Fortunately, I’ve been able to stay with Lucy until I can come up with enough money for my own place. I’ve been living with her for two months now, and it’s taken some getting used to on both our parts. I know her lease is up soon, right before she goes home to work for her parents for the summer, so I’m going to have to figure something else out in the near future.

Knowing that I might as well finally tell him what happened, I take a drink of the beer he placed in front of me before answering him. “I caught him screwing the maid,” I blurt out, wincing at my bluntness.

The fork he picked up drops again and the sound clangs throughout the silent room. His hands brace the table as he scoots his chair back, his strong forearms flexing against the hard oak. He meets my gaze and his jaw clenches, twitching slightly in what I’m guessing is anger.

“You caught him doing what?” he asks gruffly, as if he didn’t hear me correctly the first time.

Toying with the beer bottle, I drop my eyes to the table before looking up to catch him watching me intently. “You heard me the first time. I walked in on him screwing another woman.”

“That son of a bitch. I’m going to kill him,” Dad seethes, rising out of his chair. I roll my eyes, having heard the same speech more times than I can count, starting when I was six and the brat next door ripped the heads off of my G.I. Joes.

His braces himself against the table with his fists, his eyebrow furrowing. “Wait… You don’t have a maid. I know you don’t because he was always complaining about how messy you are.”

Clarifying, I relay, with little detail, finding Drew with the woman from the custodial staff. I watch as his face turns red—again, not something new when it comes to the disasters of my love life.

I love my dad. We’re extremely close. But I think he’s been ready to marry me off since I graduated college. It’s his fatherly duty or something like that. Personally, I think he’s using my love life to keep from moving on with his. He’s dated on and off, but he claims he’s never been able to find anyone he loves as much as my mom.

For a long time, he wouldn’t talk much about her until one evening I found him in his office, clutching a glass of scotch in one hand and a photo of her in the other. He wasn’t crying, but I remember being confused by the pained expression in his eyes. I was only five, so the memories are hazy, but I recall watching him from the doorway before seeing one lone tear fall onto the photograph. I’d never seen him that emotional before, so I entered the room and crawled into his lap. Wiping his cheek with my small thumb, I plucked the picture out of his grasp and set it face down on the desk.

“Don’t look at things that make you sad, Daddy,” I told him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. At the time, I had no idea what I was saying, but it seemed to help. He held me close for a few moments while we sat in silence.

Eventually, he pulled me away from him and settled me in on his lap. He picked up the picture and started to speak. “Let me tell you a story,” he said, and I listened intently for the next hour as he told me how they met, how he got her to agree to a first date, and how it was almost love at first sight. Halfway through the story, he carried me into his room, where he pulled out a photo album, one he’d shown me before but never with commentary. After that day, it was like he’d done a one-eighty turn. He started talking more about her, telling me that, although I looked just like him, my personality came from her and that I had her spirit, her heart.

That comment stuck with me for my entire life as I tried my hardest to live up to the woman I never got to know, wanting to make both her and my dad proud, and I think I’ve done a pretty damn good job at it.

“Charlotte Rose Davenport, are you listening to me?” his stern voice asks, breaking through my memories. I glance up at him, giving him a smile as I shrug.

“What’s done is done, Dad. I can handle a lot, but I won’t tolerate cheating. If he can’t keep it in his pants now, how will I ever be able to trust that he’ll be faithful in a marriage? It’s been two months. I’ve processed it. I’m fine, I promise,” I tell him with fake bravado as if I haven’t spent the last two months crying myself to sleep.

I don’t even know if it’s that I’m devastated from the loss of Drew or from the shock of it all. Going from living with someone and planning the rest of your lives together to being single and living temporarily with Lucy with nothing but your movie collection to keep you company wreaks havoc on a girl’s emotional state. But for everyone else, I’m fine. I put on the mask of tough Charlie, the hard exterior portraying that all is well with the state of my heart.

No longer hungry, I get up and take my plate to the counter. Dad comes up behind me, turning me around and pulling me in for a hug. “I’m sorry, Charlie.” I can’t help the giggle that escapes from the phrase he’s loved saying to me over and over through the years. “I always thought those academic types were supposed to be known for their intelligence, but he’s clearly dumber than dirt if he’d step out on you.”

Smiling, I give him a kiss on his cheek before pulling away so I can finish cleaning up the kitchen. “Definitely not the brightest idea he’s ever had. Maybe he’ll learn his lesson for future relationships, because he’s not getting a second chance from me.”

He laughs, knowing that I’ve always been a one-strike type of girl. I have an extremely low tolerance for bullshit, and I don’t like to waste my time. Maybe I just haven’t met the right person who’s worth forgiving, and until recently, I thought that person was Drew. I know deep down there are certain things I can get over if I’m really in love, but infidelity isn’t one of them. I’ll admit that late at night, when I’m alone, I miss him. I miss his closeness; I miss our intellectual discussions on today’s writing compared to classical literature. I loved egging him on by comparing new romance novels to his favorites. He almost had a coronary when I admitted that I hadn’t been able to finish Wuthering Heights. And Jane Eyre? Don’t even get me started.

It’s not completely my fault, and it’s not that I don’t appreciate the love many have for the classics, but I grew up reading Harlequin romance, so I’ll take a sexy Italian billionaire or a rich cowboy over Dorian Gray any day. In that way we were incompatible, but it ended up becoming a running joke between us. I’d pretend to be interested as he discussed his upcoming lectures with me, and he feigned interest when I detailed super steamy scenes to him, hoping to give him inspiration.

I shake my head, trying to wipe the thoughts away. Changing the subject, I inform Dad of my new assignment with the veteran’s volunteer program. As an Army doctor, he understands the importance of helping wounded soldiers, and he’s always been proud of me for the work I do.

“I wonder if it’s anyone I know,” he comments, having seen many wounded soldiers on his operating table since he’s been stationed at Ft. Campbell.

“It’s possible. They didn’t give me his name yet, but I know he had pretty extensive injuries, though I’m not sure what all they entail. He can’t drive, so that’s one of the things I have to do for him. Take him to appointments, things like that. I’m just glad I finally have another assignment. I’ve been going crazy with all my extra free time. Lucy thinks he’ll be a good distraction, but I have no interest in dating, especially not a soldier.”

I have nothing against military guys. I swoon right along with Lucy when we’re out and can pick out the Army hotties just from their tattoos and haircuts. The hard, rugged bodies are definitely a turn-on after spending the last three years with Drew’s lean frame, but past experiences have left me avoiding all relationships with a military man. Things usually always go really well until they meet Dad. It’s not like he sits there cleaning his M4 rifle when they pull up in the drive. It’s just that they go all rigid and “Yes, sir,” “No, sir” to the point of annoyance. The thing is, Dad’s not that kind of Army dad. He respects his position but has never used it to intimidate any of my dates, so when a guy’s personality goes cold upon meeting him, I instantly lose attraction.

“Honey, there’s nothing wrong with dating a soldier. You just need to find one who doesn’t pee his pants when he finds out that the dear old dad you’re bringing him home to is also an Army officer. You find that guy and I’ll show you a guy who can handle you, quirks and all.”

Playfully I slap with him the dishrag in my hand. “I do not have quirks and I don’t need someone special to be able to handle me. I resent that!”

For some reason this makes him laugh at me. “Charlie Davenport, you’ve been stubborn since the day you were born and it’s only increased tenfold since you’ve grown up. I have to say, it doesn’t surprise me that Drew fucked up. I was a little taken aback when you introduced him to me. I never thought he’d be able to hold his own with you.”