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had been dad and I against the world. It was always me, my dad, and the shop.
    When dad got home and saw me limping around the house, with puffy red eyes from crying, he immediately asked what had happened. Breaking down again, I told him about the tea and how Brock had shared his past with me and how I had run when he mentioned seeing a future with me. My dad looked back in shock. “Damn sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I’ve failed in my job as a dad if you think you are anything less than stunning. What you think are your faults and your fears, are really your strengths and a testament to how strong you are and I hope one day you see that and I feel shitty that I haven’t taught you that yet. Teagan, you are so unbelievably beautiful that men all over would give anything to get a chance with you.”
    “Dad, you have to say that, you are my dad.”
    “No. I don’t. I could tell you that you are pretty and that someday a man will see that. But you are not just pretty darling. You are stunning. You are the complete package. Do you know how many men come in and apply for jobs with me just to get the chance to work near you?” he said.
    I gasped, shaking my head. This wasn’t true. “If this is so true, why have I never had a boyfriend who really loved me? The few I have had, get me and use me. One even admitted he was in it to get closer to Meghan.”
    “Sweetheart, the kind of beauty you are, it makes men speechless. You are the kind of woman that a man sees and if he doesn’t approach, he wasn’t man enough to get you in the first place. Men see you and are terrified by the idea of rejection from you. They see you, standing in the corner, and can’t bring themselves to talk to you because they know, inherently, they are not good enough for you. You are that beautiful. And, yes, I am biased. No one is good enough for my little girl, but it’s also the truth. The fact that Brock had the courage to make a move, and tell you his ghosts, baby, that’s a real man. I think you need to give him a chance.” With that, he kissed my cheek and made a plate of dinner to eat in his chair in front of the TV.
    What did that mean? I was so beautiful that men were scared that they couldn’t measure up to me?  Yes, I’m the one that is typically standing on the outskirts of the party, sipping my drink and people watching, but it wasn’t like I was trying to remain alone.  Hell, if anything, I stand out in crowds. I wear what I want and be who I want to be, just, covered.  Meghan was the pretty one and I had long since come to terms with that. When we went out, she was always approached and asked out. Most of the time, she turned them down, not wanting to leave me alone at the bar. I was seriously having a hard time with the theory my dad had just tossed at me. Besides the fact that I was still living at home, having made no forward progress except working for my dad, since graduation from high school. I was stalled. I don’t know why, but I was stalled and comfortable with that. This wasn’t okay but I also wasn’t sure how to go about fixing this.
    Deciding that there wasn’t much I could do about his theory anyway, unless Brock found the note and really did want to get to know me and took the chance to call me when I asked, I sat down and joined my dad for football and dinner. That was a lot of ‘ands’ that had to happen and I happened to think that fate wasn’t that generous to me.
    *****
    After we ate, with dad screaming at whatever team he was rooting for at the moment and me contemplating a nunnery, I took our plates to the kitchen and told him I would see him in the shop in the morning. I heard him “hmmp” in response and headed to my room. I just wanted to be alone. I needed time to think.
    In my room, I stripped the dress and the now ripped from walking forever, back seam stockings, trashed those and put the dress in the laundry bin. Then I went to work on my corset. They were getting easier to get on, but