“No,” he says thoughtfully after a beat. “Sometimes I manage to pull myself together and deny you. But not often. Have a good night, Ev.”

“Wait!” I cry out.

He stays on the line but doesn’t say anything. I know I’m going to ruin things, but I can’t help myself. I can never help myself with this man.

“Did you really have a threesome?”

There’s a stretch of silence before he answers: “Yes.”

All this time, I’ve naturally assumed he said this to hurt me. Not so. Maybe Joe has moved on. I know he tried to fight it hard when Dom was in the picture.

“Is that all?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I choke out.

He hangs up.

I put my phone down, grab a pillow from my childhood bed, and scream into it. When I’m done, I pad downstairs. I feel empty. Like if I jog, my internal organs would rattle in my body like pennies.

Dad and Donna are sitting on the patio. The sliding door is open. They’re drinking iced tea and planning a last-minute vacation. Mexico, they think. Shorter flight time than Hawaii, and not as expensive.

“Plus,” I hear Dad say at the tail end of their conversation, “if Ever needs us, we can get here faster.”

And my mangled, put-together heart breaks all over again.

I clear my throat to announce my arrival.

“She’s behind me, isn’t she?” Dad flinches.

Donna turns her head, flashing me an easy smile. “Yes.”

“Am I in trouble?” He turns to me.

I shake my head, advancing toward them. “No, but I should be for all the crap I’ve put you through.”

“I do sometimes wish I could ground you. It was a power I didn’t enjoy wielding quite as often as I should’ve back in the day.” Dad strokes his chin thoughtfully.

“I was a great kid.” I nudge his shoulder, then bend down to kiss his cheek.

“True. And unfortunately, parents and children don’t play on even ground. You can get away with a lot more than I do.”

I grab a seat in front of them. Donna must see the trepidation written on my face, because she stands up and stretches. “I think I’m going to try those new bath bombs Dylan got me. Have a good evening, you two.”

It’s just Dad and me now, and even though I imagined I would get cold feet, I find that I can meet his stare head-on. This is the moment of truth.

“There’s something I’ve been working on these past two months. It was partly for self-healing, to get over what happened with Mom. But also a tribute to her, since she believed in what I did.”

He offers me a small nod.