A knock sounded on Keeley's bedroom door. "Honeybun? I have a surprise for you, can I come in?"
Light streamed through the slats in her blinds and she blinked sleepily. Morning already? She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah."
Her dad opened the door carrying a large tray of blueberry pancakes with bacon and a wine gla.s.s filled with orange juice. Keeley beamed at him. "What's the occasion?"
He set down the tray and joined her on the edge of the bed before reaching out to muss her bedhead.
"It's not every day your daughter gets into a top 30 university. I'm sorry I couldn't celebrate with you yesterday. Why don't we go check out the campus and get dinner today? I might even be persuaded to get you a t-s.h.i.+rt at the bookstore."
"Really?" she asked excitedly, nearly knocking over the orange juice as she lunged forward to hug her dad.
"Careful," he chuckled. "You should eat your breakfast first. Where's the letter? I want to see it."
Keeley pointed to her desk before chowing down on her pancakes. They were delicious but oddly shaped. She smiled a bit wistfully. Her mom always managed to get perfectly round, identical pancakes every time. When asked, she would simply wink and say it was her superpower.
As hard as Keeley's father tried, he could never quite get the proportions right. His pancake stacks were always a bit lopsided.
"We should put this in a frame so I can hang it in my office. I can brag to everybody who walks in," he joked.
She stared at him like he was nuts as her cheeks bulged with pancake. After swallowing she complained, "Dad, you're so embarra.s.sing!"
"I'm only teasing. But I hope you know how proud I am of you."
Tears formed in Keeley's eyes as she nodded. There was so little to be proud of in her previous life. She gave up going to a good school, never used her degree, and drifted farther and farther away from him as she tried to fit into Aaron's world. She wouldn't let him down this time!
"I'll do even better, Dad, I promise. I'm going to go all the way and become a researcher for Kaleb."
