I kiss her head. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” She taps my cheek. “You earned a second miracle. I’m proud of you, Cord.”
I stare down at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that before.” My heart squeezes at the white lie. IknowI’ve never heard either of them say that.
“Well, she’s saying it now. I’m sure she’s right,” Dad mutters,his feet planted wide, hands folded at his sides. Expecting a fight, even when his opponent backed down long ago.
Lanie slips into my side as my mother steps back. My girl’s hand wraps around mine and I grip her tight, needing the contact desperately right now.
“Your father struggles with the idea that you no longer need him to support you,” she says, squeezing my fingers. I turn to face her, my mouth hanging open, but she holds up a finger, stalling the many objections that fly to the forefront of my mind. “Although he’s monstrously proud of you, he feels he’s somehow let you down by not being able to achieve in his lifetime what you’ve achieved in yours. That his job as a father figure is obsolete.”
I stare between Lanie and my father and finally find my voice. “That’s—Is that true? And how do you know?”
“You’re not the only one who sits up late at night while someone else sleeps,” she teases gently.
I rub the back of my neck.Shit.“You could have warned me,” I mutter under my breath.
“What’s the fun in that?” she murmurs back.
I squeeze her hip to let her know we’re having a different conversation in the bedroom later, and that one of us will have fun during it.
Then I focus on the job at hand. Because it’s a necessary one that I’ve been hiding from for a long, long time. “Dad. Your job isn’t obsolete. The reason I’ve earned my way into the world so well is because you made sure I studied and formed a hell of a work ethic.Youshowed me all the ways to tell if the man in front of you is lying.Youtaught me to get up early and not quit until the job is done for the day. That alone got me to where I am right now. And Mom’s cooking,” I add, winking in her direction.
She smiles back, rubbing her hip.
My father shifts his feet back together. “Well, it looks like you have a smart girl and all the family you need right here, then.” He nods his decision, catches Mom’s arm, and turns away, heading for the car he just left.
It’s so like the man who provided the basis for everything that made me who I am right now, the man who gave me all the tools to work my ass to the bone and taught me how to manage money and income and business skills, to run away the moment that emotional shit gets tough.
Maybe that’s why I struggled with all the worst parts of my life so badly. Thank God for West and Lanie and all the family I found at Coyote Falls.
Mom frowns, making no move back to the car. I spot the keys clutched in her hand and grin.
“That car’s not going anywhere, Dad.”
My father freezes, his head turning to the side, and notices Mom’s silent protest. His shoulders slump as he kicks up a dust bunny and mutters something uncomplimentary under his breath.
Clarity slams into me with all the grace of a delayed train. I just hope it’s not too late.
“Actually.” I clear my throat. “It’s a pity you have to leave at all. Because there’s a place for you here, always. I have an empty house and not enough people to fill it. I’d love to make it a home.” I make eye contact with both Mom and Dad no matter how uncomfortable the moment is. “With all of you.”
Winnie and Sally, too. That way I’ll get my best friend back, at least some of the time.
Mom trades the car keys for a tissue. Dad folds his arms.
“Looks like you’ve got more manners and brains than I thought,” he says gruffly, stretching forward to clap my shoulder.
I don’t bother to hide the wince. Dad can deal with the way I live, or not. Neither his judgment nor anyone else’s will be a deciding factor in my life ever again, unless it’s Lanie’s. My focus involves a redheaded bombshell and building the family she’s helping me rediscover.
Winnie emerges from around the corner of the wraparound veranda where she’s obviously been listening. “We’re going to find our rooms,” she announces, holding Sally’s hand in white-knuckled fingers. The other hand, she extends towardMom.
My heart swells. “Does this count asno unnecessary exertion?” I ask Lanie in a stage whisper.
She turns her pretty face up to me, a frown marring her brow. “Why?”
“Because my heart is about to burst.” I swing her into my arms, kissing her deeply. “Thank you,” I whisper.
Lanie’s smile is a thousand watts bright, and I swear it stops my heart.Screw the exertion.
