Page 11 of Crossing Lines

“I’ll let you two have a moment.” I placed a kiss on her temple. I stepped outside the door and leaned my head back against the wall.

I’d never been one for showing my emotions. I didn’t grow up that way. Dad was a man’s man. Men didn’t show emotion. My mom taught me and my sister that it was okay to show them sometimes. Right now, I was fighting back an onslaught.

My soon-to-be fiancée was hurting, emotionally and physically. I couldn’t fix it for her, and to top it off, I was going to be a father. I never thought this day would come for Stel and me, and I’d been prepared for that eventuality. I’d accepted it. No resentment, no worry. It was just our path in life. And now…our path had changed.

Stella

I thought I’d had it hard lying here just listening to my daddy and Trace talk, but now that I was here, side by side with my daddy, his large hand encompassing mine, the emotions were swallowing me.

Tears started to fall as I leaned into his massive chest. “I’m so scared, Daddy.”

His arms came around me. “I know, princess. It’s okay to be scared. It’s also okay to be happy. A baby is a big joy in life.”

“What if I die like Mama did? I can’t leave Trace alone with a baby to raise without me. It would crush him.”

“Hey, listen to me. I’m not going to lie and say that wouldn’t or couldn’t happen to you, but I can tell you this, even if yourmama would have known bringing Carter into the world was going to take her from us, she still would have done it. You want to know why?” I nodded, my gaze locked on his. “Because she loved that little baby. She wanted him to grow and have a life to be proud of. She had nine months to love him, talk to him, and let him grow into the perfect little bundle he was. It hurt losing her. I feel that loss every single day. I think about her every time I see you or your brothers. I’m always asking myself what she would think of this or that. If she’d be mad at me for still leaving the toilet seat up.”

“She would be. That’s the most annoying thing ever. No one wants to sit down and have their cheeks take a dip in the bowl. Especially when they’re half asleep in the middle of the night.”

His booming laughter filled the room, and I smiled, wiping at my own face. “Yes, I guess she would. My life changed that day, as did yours and your brothers’. We each dealt with it in our own way. I should have done more for—to help y’all grieve. I had my failures in raising y’all. But loving you, making sure you had what you needed, wasn’t one of them. I love you all so very much.”

“No, you didn’t! I mean about the failing us shit. You’ve been the best father any of us could have asked for. Look, we are all grown, somewhat responsible adults. Even Carter has grown up into a decent young man. I was worried for a while; Trevor and Peter are dickheads, and I was afraid that gene would rub off on him.”

A cough came from outside the door, and I grinned at Daddy’s scowl. He knew it was true. They werehiskids, after all. “Princess,” he warned, but the twitching at the corner of his lips meant I’d won that one.

“You may not see the good you did for us, but I assure you, we do. Growing up and hitting milestones as a teen and now as an adult are a lot harder with Mama not being here, but yeah…”

“But you went through them nonetheless.”

“I don’t want to leave them. I’m so scared that’s what’s going to happen. I’ve tried to not think about it, but it’s always there. I don’t know how to do this. I’m cracking under the pressure already. Jesus, Daddy, I lost my mind...his poor truck never had a chance.”

I frowned at the bandages on my arm and hand.

“My sweet girl…” Daddy wrapped his arms around me and just held me for a long minute. “Nothing about being an adult is easy. Hell, nothing in life itself is easy; when you add children into that equation, it all goes up in smoke. We have to take every day as its own entity. Or better yet, look at it as a bounty. Sometimes you catch the person you’re after, sometimes you don’t. When you don’t, what do you do?” He raised a brow at me.

“I cuss up a storm, bitch at the guys, and go after them again.” A chuckle came from the hall.

I rolled my eyes. He was a jerk, but he knew it was true.

“Exactly. If you have a bad day, you pull up your big girl pants and march on after the next one. They won’t all be good. They won’t all be bad, but they’re all worth the experience of having them. You have your family and friends to help you out. The girls have all had babies; they can help when you need a moment to cuss or cry.”

“Or to bail me out of jail for being an overly emotional twat.” I sighed. “Daddy, I broke my bat. My freaking bat!” I huffed ‘cause seriously, that was the worst. Poor Louie deserved better.

“Jesus,” he muttered. “Stella Grace, the damn bat, took one for the team. If you’d have gone after Tracey, well?—”

“I’d never!” I sat up, my eyes widened. “Daddy, no. I’d never do that to him. His truck was just there, and I?—”

“Lost your ever-loving mind,” Trace finished from the door, his arms crossed as he leaned against the frame. “It’s okay, baby, I always wanted a convertible,” he joked. “And let’s just put thisout in the open, I want you both to understand something.” He met Daddy’s gaze. “No matter what her temper makes her do, even if that’s coming at me with a bat, I will do what’s needed to restrain her, but I’ll never hurt her or put a hand on her in a way that is not loving.”

I gave Daddy’s hand a squeeze before I got up, slowly, my knees wobbling. I moved to where Trace stood and leaned into his embrace. His arms wrapped around me tight. “I might deserve to be spanked sometimes,” I said softly, pressing a kiss to his chin.

His knowing grin said he’d heard me just fine. He buried his face in my hair and spoke into my ear, his beard tickling my skin. “Oh, I plan on doing that a lot, sweetheart. I’ll enjoy every minute of it, and so will you.”

A shiver ran through me, and I sighed. We were okay if he was trying to turn me on already.

I turned in his arms and met the gaze of my father. “Can you do me a favor?” He nodded his head once. “Can you call Uncle Steve and tell him I’m coming over tomorrow. I owe someone a new truck.”

Daddy chuckled. “Sure thing, princess.”

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