Reunion (46 page)

Anthony wrote in reply:
“
—
es,”
and Amelia smiled.
Kisses
. On the heels of his reply came her mother’s:
Hi. I’m in durham for a meeting. Will try to get it to you by lunch ok?
Amelia wrote back,
K, thx
. The girl on Amelia’s right, Bella Giordano, nudged her and hissed, “Braddock.” The Upper School’s headmaster was coming down the aisle behind them. Amelia wondered whether Anthony was right in thinking there was something romantic going on between Braddock and his mother. That, she thought, would be weird, but also nice; they’d make a perfect pair. Like herself and Anthony. Meant to be. Amelia pressed her phone between her palms and sighed.
Seven months
, she thought.
Two hundred and ten days, give or take
.

The waiting—for graduation, but more than that, for The Future, was exhausting. Every day was like treading water while waiting for a ship she could barely see on the horizon. Time passed so slowly that Amelia would swear the Earth had quit rotating—possibly at her father’s request. Hardly a day went by when Harlan Wilkes didn’t lament that
Next year at this time, you’ll be waking up in a Duke dorm room
, which he didn’t know wouldn’t happen even if she did get in, or,
It’s going to be way too quiet without you here
, despite her spending almost no time at home already, and his rarely being there when she did.

He wanted Amelia to be ten again, his adoring, adorable princess waving from atop the back seat of a Mercedes convertible as they inched through downtown Raleigh in the Christmas parade. He missed the pre-teen who’d been his steadfast companion in the “stable,” helping him wash and wax whichever roadster they would take out for a drive that day. There were Bugattis, Triumphs, an Austin Healey, a Bentley, a Morgan, and a 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, which he would drive only early in the morning on days when the roads were dry and there was no wind. Though Amelia had no genuine interest in the cars themselves, she’d loved listening to her father’s stories of his childhood, of how poor he’d been, of how he’d dreamed of one day being rich enough to buy a brand new Chevy truck. “And now look at us,” he’d say, polishing the Wraith’s black fender into a mirror that reflected his satisfaction and her proud grin. He had been the only man in her world then.

The phrase “Daddy’s Girl” had been inspired by daughters like Amelia, who couldn’t know that by simply growing up they were bound to break their fathers’ hearts. Had Amelia known that a tough man could be fragile too, she might have taken even more care to protect him.

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