The slow grin that spreads across his face is nothing short of victorious. “Now that’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.” His reaction is immediate—like it’s already decided, like Magnolia’s return is inevitable. And God, I hope it is.

“It’s not set in stone. Just a possibility.”

“Sounds like a damn good possibility. Your mum will be thrilled.”

One thing is certain. If she comes back to me, I sure as hell won’t let her go again.

“You love this girl.” His statement is so direct, so matter-of-fact, it almost knocks the wind out of me.

My fingers tighten around the grip of my club as the truth comes out. “Yeah, I do. A lot.”

Dad’s face doesn’t change, doesn’t show a hint of surprise. Instead, he smiles—a knowing, satisfied kind of smile. “Your mother and I saw that from the start. Magnolia loves you for you. That’s rare when you have money and fame.”

He doesn’t know the half of my love for Magnolia or the way she rewrote the map of my heart. Not the way her laughter stitched itself into my life. He’s never seen the nights I lie awake, yearning for her in the dark. Never felt the hollow ache her absence has left behind.

She was mine before I even knew how to say it. She’s still mine now, even across the distance.

Dad reaches into his bag and pulls out a putter, handing it to me. “Here. Let’s see if you can at least clean up your short game.”

He isn’t only talking about golf.

He props his weight on his club, casual as you please, but his words hit harder than a fist. “The real question is what are you going to do about the woman you love being so far away?”

The weight of this conversation just shifted.

He steps aside, watching as I line up my shot. The green stretches before me, the hole just a few feet away, but my father’s voice keeps me from focusing.

“Your mother almost slipped through my fingers.”

I glance up, surprised. I’ve never heard that story. “How?”

He crosses his arms, looking toward the horizon like he’s seeing something long past. “Before we were married, Malie returned to Samoa. She had her life there, her family. I had mine here. We both thought we were making the right choices, choosing the lives we’d built before each other. Being apart from her were the worst months of my life.”

I understand that all too well. “What did you do?”

He smiles, like the answer should be obvious. “I got on a plane and went to Samoa.”

“Just like that?”