Dear Diary

Chapter 106

"Do you want to go for a walk with me?" my dad asked and I hesitated.

"I don't really feel like it, Dad."

Walks reminded me too much of Dobey. I haven't gone on one since and it was obvious due to my considerably paled skin.

"Please, I want to talk to you," my dad said, but it wasn't begging, it was almost as though he was telling me to go on a walk with him. His tone made me rethink.

I sighed. "Okay," I muttered and placed my book on my bed before standing. 

Dad held the door open for me as we made our way out of the house and began trekking down the street. The sun shone brightly down on us as we walked, but my dad never uttered a word until we had veered off the busy side street and into the park where I so often used to take Dobey.

"So ..." my dad began and I glanced at him to acknowledge that I was listening before looking back at the dirt path beneath my feet. "Tell me about Cole."

Those words made me freeze and I turned to stare at my dad wide-eyed, looking for any signs of a joke. However, he stared back at me with a calm expression. 

"Pardon?" 

Maybe I heard him wrong?

"Tell me about Cole," Dad repeated. "What's he like?"

I blinked. "Why ... are you asking me this?" 

I thought my parents wanted nothing to do with him. Why would my dad suddenly want to know now?

My dad glanced to the side for a moment. "I remember I had promised you that you would be able to tell your side of the story. I know it's a bit late, but I want to hear it."

I didn't speak for a moment, just stared at him. I didn't know that this was what he wanted to talk about. I thought it would've been about university or something. 

"Well," I trailed off and glanced at my feet, "he's the best guy I ever met."

"How did you two meet?" my dad asked. I glanced at him in suspicion. "I really want to know, Lizzy. I'm not pulling your leg." He assured me and I slowly nodded my head before retelling him the story of my senior year.

-

"I never knew that," my dad said over an hour later where we found ourselves seated at a booth in a quiet diner. "Your mother failed to mention all of this to me."

I was quiet for a moment and took a sip of my strawberry milkshake. "Why does she hate him? He never did anything to her, so why did she flip like that?"

Dad sighed and shifted in his seat. "She's always been wary of rough-looking boys, Lizzy. Ever since her high school years."

"But why?"

"Well," my dad crossed his arms, "I ... wasn't your mother's first boyfriend."

"What?" I asked shocked. "But you always told me-"

"I know, it's what we decided to tell you girls."

I frowned. "I'm lost."

Dad sighed and shook his head. "When your mother was in high school she dated a guy. Rough-looking, tattoos and the like, much like Cole. Her parents forbid her from dating him, but she saw him in secret anyway."

"Sounds much like me," I muttered, with no humour in my voice.

"Yes, but unfortunately he ... didn't have the same moral standards as Cole."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a frown.

"Your mother was infatuated with him, but he never really loved her. He didn't protect her, or confide in her, he was just in the relationship because he wanted something out of it that your mom refused to give. So one day he ..." Dad trailed off and looked down.