“I'm having a problem,” he said, putting aside whatever it was he was working on.
“What's wrong? Are you hungry? Is it your pain level? What do you need?” she asked, jumping up and standing next to him. He waved her away.
“No, calm down,” he urged, using the lever on his motorized wheelchair to turn himself around. “I need to get rid of something, but it's kinda big. I was wondering if you could deal with it.”
“What is it?” she asked, glancing around.
“That thing over there, under the tarp.”
He pointed and she followed his finger to a large lump on the other side of the van. A motorcycle shaped lump, that happened to be under a motorcycle cover.
“Your bike? You want to get rid of it?” she was confused.
“Well, I can't exactly ride it,” he chuckled.
“Well, not now, but who knows what you'll be able to do with the new leg?”
“Funny thing – getting T-boned and almost dying made me a little hesitant to get back on the horse, as it were.”
“Ooohhh, right,” she mumbled.
“So I clearly don't need it anymore.”
“I could sell it for you,” she suggested. “Put it on Craigslist. Just tell me the -”
“But it was a gift!” he interrupted her. “I would feel bad about doing something awful like selling it.”
“Then … give it to someone else?” she tried again.
“That's even worse, regifting a gift,” he told her.
“Then I'm sorry, Dad, but I'm not sure what you want me to do with it,” Katya held up her hands.
“I might have an idea,” he said, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin.
“What's that?”
“We could call the bike's rightful owner, have him come pick it up.”
“Dad, Wulf won't want a -”
“And he could give you a ride home on it.”
Her jaw dropped.
“Dad!” she said, plunking her hands on her hips. “Okay, first of all – I keep telling everyone, I am home. And second of all, I am not calling Wulf. And third of all, even if we ignored all of that, I would not ride back to San Francisco on the back of a motorcycle!”
“It could do you good, sweetheart. It's very liberating.”
She was flabbergasted.
“What's gotten into you!? Did you mix up your pills again?” she asked, looking him over carefully.
“Nope. I just ...” he took a while to search for the right words. “I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate everything you've done. I always knew you were strong, Katya, but these past few weeks ...”
Both of them were working hard to keep the tears at bay, she could tell.
“Daddy,” she whispered, then cleared her throat. “Of course I would do anything for you. You and Mom.”
“I know that, but seeing it in action – not everyone gets to experience that. And I hope they don't, at least not like this, but everyday I feel so blessed to have you as a daughter,” he told her. She took deep fortifying breaths.
“Thank you. I'm very lucky to have you for a dad,” she assured him. He smiled.
“Good. Keep that in mind after what I do next.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm going to tell you what an idiot you're being.”
That gave her a start. She glanced around, wondering if this was a prank.
“Excuse me?”
“Your mom and I love you, and sure, deep down I wish you'd stayed our little girl forever. I wish I could keep you here, warm and safe, and we could all live together forever,” he said. “But that's not right. We're not children to be taken care of, and neither are you.”
“I know you're not kids, I never thought -”
“I know, sweetie. But we raised you to be an independent woman, and you are at that time in your life when you should be forging your own path. You had already started down a good one – now is not the time to derail it.”
“Dad, I'm not going to stop my baking career,” she said. “I've even already spoken to a couple old clients, and there's a bakery downtown here that I could -”
“Horse shit.”
She gasped. She wasn't sure if she'd ever heard her father curse before, it was a little shocking.
“What did you just say!?”
“You are meant for more than some bakery in Carmel, California, and you know it,” he said, pointing sternly at her. “So we're not even going to discuss that.”
“Okay, fine – I could go work in L.A., though. Sacramento. New York, New Orleans, lots of places. I just want to be sure you're okay, that both of you are good,” she told him.
“Well then, we're good. And you aren't going to any of those places, because your heart is somewhere else.”
“I swear to god, if you say I left my heart in San Francisco, I will hit you with one of those weird looking tool thingies,” she warned him. He burst out laughing.
“I should have!” he guffawed. “It's true.”
“Dad.”
“What?”
“Just stop it,” she urged him.
“Just listen to me, okay?” he asked. She sighed and nodded.
“Okay. But listening doesn't equal automatic agreement.”
“You came down here to take care of me. To make sure I wasn't struggling or in constant pain,” he said, and she nodded. “Well, I have Nurse Laney to take care of me, and I'm not struggling and I'm managing my pain.”
“Oookkaaayy ...”
“But I am witnessing my baby girl deal with both those issues.”
“I'm not -”
“You are,” he interrupted her. “I've talked with Wulf, and I've talked with Tori.”
“You're a regular chatty cathy,” she mumbled.
“Wulf is keeping his mouth shut about you – just asks that you're okay, and that's it. Won't engage in any conversation involving you.”
“Good.”
“Tori, however, is my new best friend.”
What a scary thought.
“Oh god. Don't believe anything she says!”
“We both happen to agree that your heart is with Wulfric. Sweetie, you may be confused, and you may be hurting, but one thing I've always been proud of about you is your heart,” he told her.
“My heart?” she asked, confused.
“Yes. You follow it, always. Loyally and without question. I tried to mold you into a doctor, and your mother wanted a lawyer, but even as a little girl, you followed your heart into baking. I wanted you to go to Los Angeles, and your mother wanted you to stay here, but you said no, and you followed your heart to San Francisco.”
She wasn't sure where this was all leading, or what any of that had to do with Wulf.
“Kiddo, most of us are scared to follow our hearts,” he told her. “Of what people think and how they'll react, but not you. When it comes to the heart, you, Katya, are fearless. You trust in it fully and you love with it wholly. I've always been so proud of you for that, and so impressed, and even a little envious.”
“Wow, Dad. Thank you,” she said, staring down at him with wide eyes.
“And like I said – it's quite obvious to anyone with eyeballs that your heart is with Wulf.”
“Sometimes that's just not enough. We went through some rough patches. A lot of lying, a lot of fighting.”