Cassie’s little face twisted into a frown. “But… the town is called Honeycreek.”
Mason grinned at her. “True, because there’s a creek here that gave it that name. And I’ll take you right to it. There’s a plaque along the creekbed that states when the town was founded and who bought it. It's pretty cool.”
Part of me wondered if Cassie would grow up to have an interest in history, or even science, with the way she hurried off to the nearest berry tree, eager to get to her history lesson. She seemed pretty interested in what June always had to say.
Mason wandered over, hands slid into his pockets. “I think that kid’s going to be even smarter when she grows up. She’s amazing already, Bryce. You’ve done incredible with her.”
I flushed under the praise. As a single mom with no friends in White Bay, I’d really struggled ever feeling valid or seen for what I was doing for Cassie, and while I hadn’t needed that particularly as long as she was happy, the fact that I was being praised for it now felt good.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“You shouldn’t have had to raise her alone, but you have, and she’s… she’s great. She’s a mini you.”
I snorted. “Likes her food, asks questions, stubborn.”
“And a dancer.”
“You don’t remember that,” I muttered. “You heard us talking about it.”
“True, but I remembered as well. And I actually left a gift for you in the guest room. Did you see it?”
I shook my head, frowning. “I’ve been a little zoned out, I guess, since the fight with the djinn. I still haven’t spoken to Jackson, and every time I’ve headed over there, he’s been out.”
Mason winced, nodding. “Yeah, Nate said he’s been shifted since our fight, running patrols like crazy. I think what happened with me is eating him up. We’ve never fallen out before.”
Guilt speared through me, and I winced. “I never should have forced him to be in the middle of us. I’m sorry, Mason.”
“Don’t be.” He shook his head. “I was angry and approached it all wrong. He was right to protect you. And I hate that I never knew Cassie, but I hate the reasonwhy,most of all, because of my own immaturity and awful behavior back then. I’m angry at myself and took it out on both of you.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “You did. But…” I hesitated before speaking. “The Mason I walked away from years ago wouldn’t have admitted any of that. He would have scoffed, and when I apologized, he would have saiddamn right, you’re sorry.”
Mason winced before he raised a brow. “Was that your impression of my voice?”
“Yeah, did it work?” I let myself smirk right back at him, leaning forward. “Did my big, scary alpha voice work?”
“I’ll happily show youveryintimately how a big, scary alpha voice works tonight if you wear my hoodie again with nothing under—Hey, Cassie!”
He whirled around, cutting himself off, right as I was fiercely blushing pink. I turned to face Cassie with him, who held aloft a fistful of berries, looking proud of herself.
“I didn’t have a basket,” she said simply. Impatiently, she dumped the berries—some squashed, some whole—into Mason’s unsuspecting hands, and tore back off, shouting that she wanted to get more.
Slowly, he turned to me. “Did I say she’s a mini you?”
“Only once,” I teased, relief flooding through me.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
I could only laugh at his bewildered look as he looked around, as if trying to find a solution. “It was your idea for her to pick them.”
“I didn’t think Cassie would… present them like a gift.”
“Come on,” I said. “It's the first gift she’s ever given her dad. I’m sure you can hold them until we’re home.”
Home. I realized what I had called his house, and even though it wasn’t a home, it didn’t feel like it yet; it had come out instinctively.It's because you know that’s where your alpha lives. I pushed aside that little traitor of a voice in my head and watched as Mason realized he had truly just been given a gift by his daughter for the first time.
And the smile that spread over his face made me think a little more than things really would be better, even if it was a guarded hope. A very, very guarded hope.
***
