CAPTURE THIS (Updating regularly)

Chapter 32

"I know," she replied, gazing into the murky green eyes which she shared. 

"Steph just weaseled her way into my life. She's a special kind of person, Amber. I don't know how else to put it." 

Amber said nothing but nodded to encourage him to keep talking. 

"I met her when I was getting drinks with the guys. We decided to try out a new pub near the mall. She came in looking for the barkeep when she walked past our table. You know how rowdy the guys can get." 

Amber did know. Once, as a child, Mr Riley had taken her to the pub with him when she had spent the day at work with him. After a long day of working under the grey, cold English rain, his colleagues would indulge in the warmth of drinks. Sometimes the drinks would run through them a little too fast and they'd get a little too loud. Mr Riley had rushed her out of there before she could see the antics they'd get up to when they had had too much to drink. Her mother had scolded her father for taking her to the pub in the first place. 

"You should have seen the way she told them to settle down. It was like being at school again. 'Try to keep your men under control', she said to me." He relayed the story with such a fond smile on his face that the dread sloshing around inside of her seeped away and was replaced with a tingling warmth. "She was the landlady. We got to talking as she waited for the barkeeper. She has a boy around your age. I guess that's where it all started. I asked to see her again." 

It surprised Amber that her father was the one to initiate their relationship. This story was bringing to light a side of him that she hadn't seen before and she couldn't be angry about it. 

"I should have told you about her earlier." He stated simply. "I don't ant to make excuses but what with everything with your sister and you being so busy with school, I didn't want to upset you." 

"Upset me?" Amber echoed, frowning in confusion. 

Mr Riley smiled gently, despite his eyes filling with sadness. "I know you still miss your mother, Amber. Look at all the effort you went to to get her paintset back." 

That felt like a very long time ago, all of a sudden. 

"Of course I still miss her. But that doesn't mean you need to walk on eggshells around me." She paused, trying to compose her thoughts. "Do you love her?" 

He couldn't meet her gaze but he nodded. 

Amber placed her hand into his large calloused ones, causing him to look up at her. "Then that settles it, Dad. I have to be okay with her - and I will be. It'll just take me some time to get to know her."

"I'm sorry I've been so absent lately. You must have been so alone in this house sometimes." 

Amber stared at her hand in her fathers and felt her heart sink slightly with guilt at having lied so much about where she had been spending her evenings. 

"Actually,"  Amber replied hesitantly, "I've not been spending much time at home either. I have a boyfriend." 

Her father stiffened a little bit.  Mr Riley took a moment to absorb the information. His face formed a tightly controlled blank look of curiosity. "Is that so?" 

Amber nodded slowly, still avoiding his gaze in embarrassment. "His name is Alex. He's the one who helped me in the forest when I passed out." 

Mr Riley frowned as he tried to recall the face of the man he had thanked profusely in the hospital waiting room. 

He sighed after a moment. "I suppose it's only fair that I'm okay with it." 

Amber couldn't help but laugh. "I guess we'e even then."