Justice in Love

Ch. 57 Lucy

Around five in the morning, I got up and went downstairs. I couldn't lay there anymore. I couldn't stare at the light on our ceiling anymore. I got up carefully, so I didn't wake Reed.

Quietly, I made my way downstairs. I went to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. Then, I poured a cup and went into the living room. I sat on the floor, looking out at the New York City skyline. It was so quiet, so peaceful.

My mind was racing. I couldn't believe my father was letting one woman change him so much. Closing Mom's store? Not drinking? He'd barely said twenty words to me since he'd been there. He was my father, but he felt like a stranger.

I'd had enough. My heart had enough. Tears began to stream down my face. I didn't like anything about the situation. I couldn't take much more.

"Georgia?" Dad spoke.

I sighed.

He came over and sat beside me, sitting in the floor and turning to me. When he saw I was crying. He pulled me in his arms. He sighed, "Oh, Peaches."

I shook my head, but let him comfort me. I missed my dad. I'd not seen him for what felt like forever, and I'd not talked to him in I wasn't sure how long. I missed him. He used to have such a presence in my life that seemed to just disappear the last couple of months.

When I was able to stop crying, I pulled back from him and wiped my eyes. I took a drink of coffee.

"How long have you been up?" he asked.

"What time is it?"

"Five thirty."

"Just half an hour. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to make some coffee."

He nodded.

"There's a pot in the kitchen if you want some."

"It's a little early for coffee."

"No such thing," I spoke around a drink of it.

He smiled. He ran a hand over my hair. He sighed. "Don't be so angry with me, honey."

"I'm not angry."

He gave me a knowing look.

"Okay. I am a little bit, but I'm more hurt than anything. Even when Mom was alive, you were always there for me. You always have been, and now, you're gone. It makes me feel so alone."

"Honey-"

"I have Reed, but he's-he's not my father. I can tell him about things, but he's got no idea what I've been through."

He was quiet.

"And you gave up alcohol? Really?"

"Lucy has been sober for nearly a year. I don't want to undo her work."

"Sober? She's an alcoholic?"

"She's a recovering alcoholic."

I sighed. "And Mom's shop?"

"I can't afford it, honey. I can't."

"Then, hire someone to help you."

"Georgia, there's no money."

"Let me pay for it."

"Who would work there?"

"I don't know. I'll find a way to make it work."

He sighed.

"If you put it on the market, I'll just buy it."

"Georgia-"