Page 120 of Taming the CEO

Once we were alone, I couldn't help but say, "Dad, you're behaving far better than I thought you might."

He smiled at me, putting a hand on my cheek like he did when I was a little girl. "Well, I still have reservations, especially after he confirmed that he was... well, in my time, we called that a ladies' man."

I winced, not liking that expression at all.

"But he’s a good man," he continued. "I actually did take a look at the contract. There was no need for them to include that modified plan."

"I know."

"So I figure anyone who does that must care about you a lot."

"I really care about him, too, Dad," I whispered.

"I can tell from the way you look at him. I always hoped you’d bring someone to meet me."

"I just figured you didn't want to meet everyone I was dating."

"And I didn't," Dad said, taking another swig of champagne. "But for a long while, I figured you might not want to get into a relationship because..." He sighed. "You know I've been devastated since losing your mom. I'm not sure I set the right example."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've left you to pick up the pieces. And I remember hearing a conversation with you and Miriam that summer. You told her that you weren't sure you ever wanted to fall in love if losing them would do that to you."

"I said that? I don't even remember it."

"You were in pain. People say a lot of things when they're in pain. Others like me just disappear into themselves. Anyway, I always wondered if that's why you didn't bring anyone to meet me."

I shook my head but pressed my lips together, really considering his words. "Honestly, I don't know. I don't think so. At least not consciously. And don’t worry about being an example. You're the best dad in the world. I wasn't a kid then; you didn't have to be an example for me."

"That's always a parent's job."

"You've been the best role model I could ever have dreamed of."

My eyes stung a bit. I heard footsteps behind me, and as Maddox joined us, I carefully wiped a few tears with the back of my hand.

Dad and Maddox busied themselves with the fire. Seeing them together filled me with happiness but also a bit of sadness. I would have loved nothing more than for Mom to be here, too, and witness this moment. I put a hand on my chest. Somehow, I knew she was watching over us and was smiling right now.

As the fire was crackling, we got to work. Dad’s ancient MacBook took a million years to start, but after that, we went through the contract. It was pretty self-explanatory, but there was a lot of jargon. It was a good thing our lawyer was working through it as well. Of course, as a rule of thumb, I’d never do a business transaction without a lawyer checking it.

The gist of it was simple. The sale would go through immediately, and we'd do the acquisition right before Thanksgiving. I was actually very giddy at the prospect, because that meant I could honestly and truly enjoy the Christmas season with a lot of money in my bank account and without having to worry about the seasonal downturn in business the winter months brought the park.

Dad seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he beamed at that and said, "I'm going to get a one-way ticket to Florida."

I blinked. "What do you mean, a one-way ticket?"

"I don't know yet if I'm going to come back for New Year's."

"Oh right, yeah, you did mention that." I was a bit sad about not spending Christmas with Dad. But he seemed so excited at the idea of being in Miami that I didn't have the heart to even mention it.

“Will you still be here for Thanksgiving?” Maddox asked, looking back and forth between me and Dad.

“Of course,” Dad said.

“I haven’t cleared it with my grandparents, but I know they’d love to have both of you over for Thanksgiving dinner.”

My face exploded with happiness. My smile was huge.

Dad looked at me for a split second—probably for confirmation—then nodded. “I’d love to.”

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