Free Unacceptable by Kristen Hope Mazzola

fell as tears started to drip slowly down his cheeks. “There wasn’t much I could do after your mom claimed I beat her that night I ran off. I got about thirty minutes down the road before cops were cuffing me and throwing me in jail for three days. There’s so much to tell you, sweetheart. But please just know that the moral of all this is I never wanted to leave you with her. I wanted to protect you and I failed.”
    “I was so wrong all these years.” My head was spinning, trying to take it all in.
    His hand landed on mine and I laced my fingers through his, gripping with all my might.
    “All those years wasted.” He coughed a little. “And look at you.” He tried to smile. “You’ve turned into such a beautiful woman. Abel is quite taken with you, and that says a lot.”
    I wiped the tears from my cheeks. “So what now?”
    He leaned back in his chair. “We make up for lost time.”

    We sat and talked for hours, about the good and the bad. He told me how he’d actually been part of another chapter of the Unacceptables back in Arkansas and that was how he’d found his way to North Carolina. I went on to tell him about how my mother had spiraled out of control. I even told him that I used to be a stripper. I could tell the words stung, but he listened and didn’t show judgement.
    When I heard Raine’s light footsteps trotting down the stairs, I felt like no time had passed with my father and me.
    Raine bolted for him. “Pop!” she yelled, jumping into his arms. “Have you met my friend Crickett yet?”
    He smiled and kissed her forehead. “Yes, we’re becoming fast friends too.” He winked at me as she bounced Miss Gilda on the table.
    “Good. We need to keep her around. She’s pretty and nice. I like that.” She beamed at me and grabbed my hand. “Will you make me Captain Crunch again? You do it the best with the perfect amount of milk.”
    Raine started dragging me into the kitchen and I glanced over to Rave. “Thank you.” I breathed as relief flooded me. It wasn’t the scenario I had pictured for all those years, but slowly I was realizing that the situation I had stumbled into was probably better.
    He pursed his lips slowly as he nodded. “See you later. I need to head in to the shop.”
    Abel made his way down the stairs, catching Rave at the front door. I strained to eavesdrop on their conversation as I grabbed the fixings for Raine’s breakfast.
    “How’d it go?” Abel’s hands were dug deep into his packets as he glared at Rave.
    “Better than I expected.”
    Abel’s shoulders relaxed. “Good. Heading down to the garage?”
    Rave nodded and Abel slapped him on the back. “I should be heading up there in a few hours, we’ll see how the day goes. Tell Ronda to cover Crickett’s shift again this morning.”
    “Will do.” With that Rave was out the door and I was happily sipping coffee at the breakfast table while Raine chattered away about how happy she was that it was Saturday and she didn’t have to go to school.
    Abel poured himself a cup of coffee and topped off my mug, even adding in a little extra sugar for me. “Hey, Raine?”
    She looked up at him with wide eyes, chomping on a mouthful of cereal. “Yeah, Daddy?” I laughed as milk spilled down her chin while she spoke.
    “How about Crickett and I take you to the park over on Elm today?”
    She perked up in her seat and started bouncing as her cheeks got red. “That’s the one with the really big slide!” The excitement that was pouring out of her was intoxicating.
    “It sure is. Finish your breakfast and brush your teeth.”
    Raine scarfed down the rest of her food and bolted up the stairs to get ready. I rinsed my mug with her bowl and started to load the dishwasher when I felt Abel’s hands run up my arms.
    He gently kissed the top of my head. “Are we ok?”
    I turned into his arms, wrapping mine around his waist. “Yes.” Our lips slowly brushed together for the faintest touch of a kiss. “Sorry I