He was still trying to figure out what Sadie’s parting shot about Carys had been about? What did she mean by that? It was true, a handful of his former girlfriends seemed to have an aversion to Carys, but he assumed it was because of the type of women he’d been attracted to. He thought things would be different with Sadie. There was no way he would demand answers from his daughter when she’d already been through so much, with losing her mother, Sadie’s attack, and finally letting go of the secret she’d been holding about her paternity. To top it off, she nearly lost her horse. It had been touch and go for her beloved Buttercup but the horse was slowly but surely making a recovery. It would probably be a long time before she could be ridden, though. Carys was at the stables everyday taking care of her.
Downing the remaining contents of his glass, he grabbed the half empty bottle off his desk but stilled when he heard a knock on the door.
Without waiting for him to say come in, Carys poked her head in. “Daddy, can I talk to you?”
Rhys immediately put his glass down and capped his bottle. “Uh, I thought you were in bed?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
He sighed. “Can we postpone this until tomorrow sweetie? I’m kind of out of it right now.”
“You mean you’re drunk.”
“Not yet, but if you leave me to it, I’ll be there in about an hour.”
She flipped on the lights and walked in. Her eyes were bloodshot as if she had been crying. This sobered him.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. What’s the matter?”
“I can’t live with this anymore, Daddy and I’m so sorry.”
“What, baby?”
She burst into tears. “Promise me you won’t stop loving me if I tell you something.”
Rhys was by her side in a flash. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her back and forth. “Baby, nothing you could say or do will make me stop loving you. You should know that by now.”
She sobbed against his chest as if her heart were breaking and it tore him apart. What could have happened to make her break down like this? When her cries had simmered down to sniffles, she raised her head to look at him. He stroked the back of her head. “Tell me what the matter is, Carys.”
“I…I was the one who stuck Buttercup with that pen when Sadie was on her, but I only wanted to scare her. I didn’t mean for her to get hurt. I’m so sorry. I…I haven’t been very nice to her and I’m so sorry. And I-I put that CD in her bag too. It was only a joke. I di-didn’t know it would get so out of hand. I’ve said a lot of mean things to her when you weren’t around. Called her ugly and fat. Told her that you’d find someone prettier, but she was always so nice to me!” She cried even harder than she had before.
Rhys stepped away from her as if he’d been burned. It took him several moments to comprehend what she’d told him. Those weren’t the actions of the girl he thought she was, but of a very disturbed person. Everything was starting to come together. Sadie!
He’d been an absolute dick to her today and probably damaged any chance he had of getting back into her good graces. He wanted to be sick.
Carys sniffed. “Daddy, you’re not saying anything?”
Rhys was numb, he wasn’t sure what he should feel, but he knew he didn’t want to lash out without first thinking things through first. “Carys, go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Daddy?”
“Go now before I say something I can’t take back.”
She let out another sob and raced out the office.
When he was alone, he fell to his knees, head in hand. What had he done?