Her da raised a hand toward the man working Sanctum’s barthis evening.“We need two.Make ’em doubles.”
She was kind of glad Nate had taken his anxieties out on herbackside because she needed to be loose for this talk.Despite the fact her dahad told her he loved her, she was still nervous.“Da, I thought we shouldtalk.”
He shook his head.“Not until we’re properly lubricated.”Henodded as the bartender slid two glasses in front of them.He raised his towardher.
She picked hers up and they clinked glasses as they saidsláintein chorus and she tipped back for her first drink.
She sighed at the taste and realized her da had made thesame sound.
Her mom was right.She was her father in feminine form.Thequestion was could he accept her.
“Now, we should talk,” her father said with a sigh.“Isuppose this conversation is a long time coming.”
She was confused, but then she was often confused.“Longtime?I thought you just figured out I’m not some saint.You know I’m not evileither.I’m pretty normal for a woman.”
“Normal?Ain’t nothing normal about you.”He snorted.“Mydarlin’, did you honestly think I didn’t see you all these years?Did you thinkI missed all the times you said you were going to Bri’s or Devi’s and you snuckout with some gangly boy who couldn’t grow facial hair?”
There hadn’t been too many times.“Why didn’t you stop me?”
He took another drink.“Because I know what my relationshipwas like with my mum when she brought her foot down.Right on me neck.Mymother put the raising of my brother on me and ignored us most of the time.Shehad other priorities.But when I did what most young men would do, like haveany kind of a social life, she would ground me.I hated my mother a lot.Dreamed about being anywhere except her house.I couldn’t stand the thought ofyou hating me, Daisy.”
Her heart clenched.“I could never hate you, Da.”
He seemed to let the words sink in.“I followed you most ofthe time.To make sure you were safe.”
“A lot of those times Aidan came with us, or Cooper or thetwins.”
“Yes, I made sure of it,” he confessed.“You weren’t doinganything that’s not natural for a young woman your age.But I always worriedyou would end up… I worried you would end up finding a man like me one night.”
“What?”Her father was the best.
“Like I used to be,” he said with a sigh.“Not now.Fallingin love with your mum set me straight, but I wasn’t the same man before.”
“Momma says you went through women like they were chickenwings.”She and her mother had several long, painful conversations about herda’s past.
“I really liked chicken wings.”A wicked smile hit her da’sface.
She could see his call.“I really liked bartenders.”
Her da’s head shook, but he laughed.“Oh, Daisy, you’re mysweetest miracle and my worst nightmare.”He reached out, cupping her cheek ashe stared at her.“I was ready for Aidan.I’d practically raised my brother.Iknew how to handle a boy.My brother went bad, but I figured your mum wouldoffset anything nasty in my DNA.”
“It wasn’t in your DNA.It was in his.Your brother was abad guy.He was selfish and mean.There wasn’t anything you could have done tosave him.I know you tried.”She couldn’t allow her father to think he’d beenanything but wonderful.Even if he had apparently been the stud of choiceamongst the Dallas chicken wing waitress scene.
“Then I found out we were having a girl.”His expressionwent soft.“I can’t tell you how scared I was at first.I didn’t know how toraise a girl, but I knew Avery would teach me.When they put you in my arms andI looked down at the sweetest face I’d ever seen, I lost my heart all overagain.I thought I was raising a little Avery.”
“I’m not like Mom.I’m afraid that’s Aidan.”Her brother hadtheir mom’s temperament.He was patient and kind and knew how to stick withsomething.She was like their father.A bit mercurial until she knew what shewanted.Something of an imp at times.
“Yes, I realized you were like me when you were aroundtwelve.And then I realized you had my sex drive, too, and that was when Istarted to choose delusion.”He knocked back the rest of his whiskeyresolutely.“Now, what you have to understand is delusion is not a bad place tobe.Delusion can be nice.Just because a man chooses to park his RV in delusionand live there happily for a few years doesn’t mean he doesn’t love hisdaughter, doesn’t mean he don’t understand her.”
“It means he needs time to process that his baby girl is awoman and she’s going to make mistakes and go wild at times,” Daisy saidsoftly.
“But she’s still my little girl,” he replied.“And I’llalways be her da.Daisy, you and Aidan are the best things I’ve ever done in mylife.I’ll always see you as a sweet baby who toddles around after me.I’llalways feel the way you used to rest your head against my shoulder and sleep,and I would sit there no matter how much work I had to do because nothing wasmore important than letting you rest.This family… It’s more than I could haveimagined.”
Tears pierced her eyes.“I love you more than you can know.”
“You’re just learning about love,” he said with a smile.“And I’m happy for you.So Nathan Carter?”
She sniffled and decided to tease him a bit.“I don’t know.Maybe.”
