“What's going on?” he asked. They’d had this conversation several times over, but he was yet to get any sort of answer.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me. We don’t do that in this family.”
“You lied abouther,” Lindsay seethed.
“I absolutely did not. I met her one time at a wedding, then again the day before we told you about us. I didn't want to lie, that’s why I told you and your brother from the beginning.” He still wasn't sure whether he’d made the right move, but it was what it was.
“We don’t need her.”
“It’s not about need. IwantAshlyn in my life.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“I'm sorry to hear that, Lindsay, because she’s going to be part of your life.” Grant loved his kids with his entire being, but he was falling in love with Ashlyn, and he refused to let his teenage daughter bully him into breaking off the relationship.
“She’s always hanging around. Butting into our family things,” Lindsay said with a pout.
“That’s categorically untrue. I go out on a date with her once a week, and this is maybe the sixth time she’s done something with all of us together. We’ve gone out on the boat at least half adozen times this summer, and this is the first time she’s joined us.” He was doing his best to balance both parts of his life and make sure everyone was getting the attention they deserved.
“I don’t want her around at all. Ever. I hate her.” Lindsay said it with such conviction that Grant feared his daughter meant it. He had no idea what that meant for his future relationship with Ashlyn, or with Lindsay. But he did know he wasn't giving up on either of them.
“If you won't speak to me, tell me why you're so adamantly against me dating Ashlyn, then I think I'm going to book you an appointment with a therapist. Maybe that will help. But make no mistake about it, I love you more than you will ever know, but I will not tolerate this bad behavior any longer. You will start treating Ashlyn with the same respect that she shows you. Starting with an apology for throwing the strawberry cinnamon scrolls she made for you overboard.”
“No,” Lindsay said simply, shoving to her feet. “I’m not a little kid anymore, I'm going to be sixteen in less than six months. I'm not apologizing to her for anything. She should be apologizing to me.”
With that, his daughter stormed off back outside, down the opposite end of the deck from where Kevin and Ashlyn were still talking, leaving Grant staring after her, wondering how he was ever going to join all the pieces of his life together to make one where everybody was happy.
Chapter
Thirteen
December 1st
6:11 P.M.
Drawing in a deep breath, Ashlyn gave herself a few seconds to pull herself together.
This had become her custom over the last several months whenever she was going to be spending time with Grant and his kids.
It was getting increasingly difficult to deal with this.
Despite the fact that it had been almost seven months since Grant saved her life and asked her out, Lindsay hadn't budged one tiny little bit. In fact, things had gotten much worse, although she hadn't told Grant about it.
Somehow, Lindsay had gotten hold of Ashlyn’s number and was constantly blowing up her phone with a barrage of nasty messages. Since she was quite literally a millionaire in her own right, the teenager couldn’t call her a gold digger, so instead Lindsay had been calling her a whore, saying she was selling her rich self to Grant for time and attention.
While of course she knew none of that was true, the language the girl used, the venom in her tone, the pure hatred, it was wearing her down, making her wonder if maybe this was just never going to work out.
Seven months and no changes.
How much longer were they supposed to give things?
Grant had Lindsay in therapy since the day on the boat last summer when Lindsay had thrown overboard the homemade treats Ashlyn had painstakingly made for her. It didn't seem to help. Instead of getting less angry and more used to the idea of her dad dating, Lindsay was just doubling down and getting more and more furious.
The last thing Ashlyn wanted was for Grant to lose his daughter because of her.
Over the last couple of months, the teenager’s anger bled over toward her dad and her brother, and Ashlyn had found herself praying for a Christmas miracle. Walking away from Grant would be heartbreaking. She already loved him, but she was feeling more selfish by the day, no matter how many times Grant apologized for his daughter’s behavior and asked her not to give up on them yet.
