HE SHOWED UP LATE TO THE DADDY-DAUGHTER DANCE\u2014BUT WHAT HE SAID WHEN HE WALKED IN MADE ME FREEZE I had been waiting near the folding chairs for almost twenty minutes. Every other girl had someone. Ties and boots and proud smiles, lifting daughters by the waist like princesses. Even Mr. Wheeler\u2014the janitor from my school\u2014was dancing with his niece like it was the best night of his life. But my dad wasn\u2019t there. I kept checking the door. The big one with the old brass handle that stuck a little when you pulled it. I was trying not to cry, because I\u2019d done my hair all by myself, and I didn\u2019t want the curls to fall out. And then, just when I thought maybe he really wasn\u2019t coming at all\u2014 The door creaked. He stepped in wearing jeans, his vest, and the same hat he always wore for work. He looked around the room, spotted me, and I saw that look in his eyes. Regret. Mixed with something else I couldn\u2019t place. I walked up to him slowly. \u201cYou\u2019re late,\u201d I said. My voice came out quieter than I wanted. He knelt just a little, held out a single white rose. \u201cI had to stop by somewhere first.\u201d \u201cWhere?\u201d He didn\u2019t answer right away. Just leaned in and whispered, \u201cI had to make sure she wouldn\u2019t stop us from having this night.\u201d My fingers were still holding the stem when \u2026<\/p>\n
I had been waiting near the folding chairs for almost twenty minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HE SHOWED UP LATE TO THE DADDY-DAUGHTER DANCE\u2014BUT WHAT HE SAID WHEN HE WALKED IN MADE ME FREEZE I had been waiting near the folding chairs for… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n