I jolted at the sound of my nickname coming out of his mouth. Not once had he ever used it before, not even when we were alone. I swallowed against the emotion gathering in my throat. “I really am okay.”

“I’m just going to get these wrists and ankles cleaned and bandaged. You should keep them covered for the next few days, at least.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

We stayed silent as he worked, Ford rubbing a hand up and down my back and occasionally dropping a kiss to my head.

My dad snapped off his gloves, throwing them into the trash. “All done.” He glanced around the room and then back to Ford and me. “I was wondering if I could have a private word with you and Ford?”

I stiffened, but Ford squeezed my shoulder. “Of course.”

“We should be going anyway,” Kenna offered.

Hunter pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Me, too,” Caelyn said. “I’ll bring you guys dinner tomorrow night.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at her.

“I can’t bring dinner, but I can bring beer,” Crosby said with a grin.

Kenna muttered something under her breath and gave Crosby a hard shove towards the door. When the sound of the front door closing reached us, I looked at my dad. “What is it?”

He sighed, easing himself onto one of the stools. “I tried to be a good father, but I can see now that I made a lot of mistakes along the way.”

He rubbed a hand over his face and looked deeply tired. I couldn’t help the way my heart squeezed in sympathy. I swallowed, my throat having gone dry. A part of me wanted to reassure him that he had been a good dad, but there was so much pain and hurt standing in the way of those words. Instead, I opted for silence. Ford pressed in at my back, and I grabbed hold of his hand, twining our fingers.

My dad let out a breath. “Violet was always the easy child. She just went along. Didn’t ask why. Seemed happy to do whatever your mother and I asked. But you…” He chuckled. “You always wanted to know why, always went against the grain. I should’ve seen that quality in you for the strength it is, but instead, your mother and I got easily frustrated. I’m sorry for that.”

The threat of tears reemerged, but I forced them back and nodded for Dad to go on.

“Your mom and Violet had cheerleading and their charity work to bond over. Violet and I would always talk about medicine. It was effortless. I should have found things to do with you, Bell. I should’ve taken up drawing or painting or…something.”