Free Off Duty (Off #7) by Sawyer Bennett Page B

of events, but I hear Tim say in his deep voice.
“Congratulations on your award, Dr. Reynolds.”
    My father turns to
me, leans over, and kisses my cheek. ‘Think you have a moment
you can spare for me? I really need to talk to you, but it would be
better in private.”
    I nod, not trusting
my words. My father turns away, but then says, “Tim… do
you mind coming too? You need to hear this as well.”
    Tim looks at me with
eyebrows raised and I shrug my shoulders, but we both follow along
behind my father. My mother, oddly, stays behind.
    We walk out of the
ballroom, Tim and I holding hands. We silently follow my father
through the hotel and right out onto 5 th Avenue. I’m
surprised that his definition of private is a busy New York City
street.
    But as we walk a few
paces away from the door, I realize the loud hustle and bustle of a
New York Saturday night actually provides more privacy than the
ballroom. Here… everyone is walking quickly by, not paying
attention to us at all.
    My father turns,
sticks his hands in his pockets, and looks me directly in the eye.
“I’m sorry for my actions, Holly.”
    I flinch…
because his words actually pack a punch. Before I can even process
that this is turning into something I never expected, my father turns
to Tim. “And Tim… I’m sorry and so very ashamed of
myself.”
    “I don’t
understand,” I manage to croak out, and Tim’s hand comes
supportively around my waist.
    “You don’t
understand that I’m sorry for my actions all those years ago?”
my dad asks with a wry smile. “Why ever not? I mean, I never
gave you any indication that I was wrong.”
    He’s being
sarcastic in a completely self-deprecating way.
    I appreciate it
immensely, and it causes me to award him with a small smile.
    My dad takes in a
deep breath and looks upward briefly… maybe asking someone
above for strength. Blowing it out, he looks back to me and says,
“Parents aren’t supposed to learn from their children.
It’s supposed to be the other way around. My greatest shame is
in knowing that I was not a good role model to you. My greatest pride
is in that you taught me something very important.”
    “And what’s
that?” I ask hesitantly.
    “That love is
love,” he says quietly. “I didn’t realize it. Not
for a long time. I was just as hurt by you cutting me out as you were
by what I did to you and Tim. By the time I realized the fool I had
been, it seemed too late to make amends. You weren’t having
anything to do with me, and I was confident I had lost any right to
ever ask for forgiveness.”
    “That’s
an awful big turnaround,” I say skeptically.
    “Not really,”
he says with a shrug of his shoulders. “You know this, Holly…
but as doctors, we have to be forward thinking. If we weren’t,
we would be stuck in the stone ages of medicine. Hell… I was
just given an award in part for my innovation. I’m a
progressive thinker.”
    I can’t help
it… I snort, completely disbelieving of what he just said.
    “Scoff all you
want, but I am. What you heard? What you saw ten years ago? That was
nothing more than how I was raised. I was raised by parents who
didn’t believe in people of different races mixing. I had no
cause to ever question it. It never touched my life… until the
day you brought Tim home for us to meet. And you saw nothing but
pure, unfiltered beliefs that were handed down to me by my parents. I
didn’t stop to think if they were wrong. I just spouted them
out and, in the process, I hurt my daughter who I love beyond
measure, and I hurt who I’m suspecting is a fine young man.”
    I’m so in tune
with Tim that I can literally feel the tension melt away from his
body. I can tell… by the subtle loosening of his hand in mind
and the soft exhale of breath he had been holding, that he has
completely accepted my father’s words as true.
    My father looks over
at Tim, because he must see what I just felt on Tim’s face.
“I’m sorry, Tim. I hope you