Free Into the Deep 02 Out of the Shallows by Samantha Young Page A

tone, I huffed, “Last time I checked, I was in Scotland.”
    “Smart-ass,” Dad grumbled, the edge chipped off his tone. “What I meant is where exactly are you, right now? Because I’m standing in your apartment after your roommate stupidly let me in without checking my identification first. Does that happen a lot? Because maybe while I’m here, I should hold a stranger awareness meeting with you girls.”
    I didn’t hear anything after “I’m standing in your apartment…”
    “I’ll be right there.” I hung up, eyes wide on Jake’s curious expression. “My dad is here.”
    Jake’s eyebrows squished together. “ Here , here?”
    “Yup.” I turned and started down the steps.
    “Hey, I’m coming too.” Jake hurried to catch me.
    Marching into the courtyard of my building, I threw over my shoulder, “Do you think that’s wise?”
    “I think he’s here for a reason and I think we need to reassure him.” His hand curled around my arm. “Would you slow down—as in, calm down?”
    My breathing was way too fast. “I can’t.” I pushed my building door open and rushed the stairs. “My dad has flown all the way across the ocean to come talk to me. That’s not a good sign, Jake. My parents don’t exactly have the kind of money where plane tickets aren’t a luxury.” I stopped in the middle of the first floor and Jake immediately wrapped his arms around me.
    “It’s going to be okay,” he promised. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
    “I don’t want you to get punched.”
    “If I get punched, I get punched. It’s no less than what I deserve.”
    “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
    I gasped at the sound of my dad’s voice, wrenching back from Jake to gaze up onto the next landing. My dad stood above us, huge, intimidating, and not at all happy to see me in Jake’s arms.
    “Before anyone says another word,” Jake said, “let’s get inside.”
    My dad threw him a disgusted look but turned and headed back upstairs toward the apartment.
    There was a great deal of pounding going on in my chest as Jake and I followed.
    Dad stood in the middle of the kitchen. His dark hair, speckled with gray, was mussed, and he had day-old bristle on his cheeks. He looked exhausted.
    “Your roommate left,” Dad’s voice rumbled. “We’ll have privacy to talk as soon as he leaves.”
    I braced for the battle to come, the nerves suddenly disappearing as indignation moved through me. Dad was the one intruding on our lives. He’d flown clear across an ocean to have this out without even telling me, after having shut me out for days.
    I was not a child.
    “Jake stays.”
    Dad opened his mouth to argue and I held up a hand to stop him.
    “Jake stays,” I insisted.
    Jake was treated to a look that would fell a mountain lion. “Fine,” Dad snapped.
    “Can I get you anything?” I gestured to the kitchen.
    “Coffee.”
    “Jake?”
    Jake gave me a small smile but shook his head.
    I brushed past my dad to prepare his coffee. “I can’t believe you flew all the way over here. I take it Mom knows.”
    “Of course she knows. I had to dip into our savings.”
    “You didn’t have to do anything.”
    “My daughter is in the middle of making two momentous decisions in her life and she wasn’t even in the same country as I was. Of course I needed to do this.”
    “If you’re here to talk, Dad, then we’ll talk. But if you’re here to tell me what a giant mistake I’m making without hearing me out, then you might as well leave now.” I shot him a look. “Which would be crap because I haven’t seen you in two months.”
    Dad’s eyes softened. “Can I get a hug?”
    I nodded, suddenly feeling like a little girl, trying not to cry. Abandoning the coffee, I strode over to him and sank into his tight embrace. No one gave good hug like Jim Redford.
    He held on to me longer than usual and I let him because I knew there was a possibility we were about to have a huge falling-out.
    When I