Page 29 of Take My Hand

“Hey sweetheart, good night?” Dad’s tired voice drew my attention from the garden, and I swung around to face him.

He rubbed both his eyes with the heels of his hands and yawned, looking all dishevelled and sleepy.

“Good, thanks, and you?”

A smile brightened up his face. “Yeah, pretty good actually.” He walked over and pulled me into a hug, and I melted into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He smelled of bed and traces of his favourite aftershave. Like home. “You didn’t tell me that boys were going to be there.”

I looked up at him, resting my chin on his chest. “How did you know?”

“That doesn’t matter, but what does is that you didn’t tell me.” I attempted to pull away from him, but Dad kept a tight hold. “Stay right there, young lady, and explain to me about the doctor’s kid.”

Stiffening, my throat went dry. “W-what?”

“Sam told me that the new kid was joining you last night. What’s he like?”

What was he like? Wow, how to answer that without sounding like a love-sick idiot. “He’s nice.” I shrugged. “He wants to be a vet.”

“Great career choice, kid, but was he respectful to you?”

“Dad!”

“You’re my baby, so I’m entitled to ask.” He put a finger under my chin, keeping my attention on him. “Was he respectful to you and your friends?”

“Yes, he was. He’s nice. Liam wouldn’t hang out with him if he wasn’t.”

Dad nodded. “Very true.” He dropped a kiss to my nose. “I wish you’d told me boys were going to be there but I’m glad you had a good time.”

I blinked at him. He normally questioned me like a murder suspect where boys were concerned.

“Did you kiss a pretty lady last night, Daddy?” I grinned, tipping my head to study him.

“No.”

I burst out laughing and slapped his chest. “You liar, Dad. You did, didn’t you.”

“Alright, alright.” His lips were tipped up at the edges, and there was a definite glint in his tired eyes. He started laughing. “Her name was Maya, and shewaspretty and lives in Leeds.”

“Like you said, a couple of hours’ travel is nothing. You did get her number?”

He winced. “She took mine and said she’d message me, but I haven’t had anything yet.” He reached down to the pockets of the sleep pants he wore and pulled out his phone. When I escaped from his arms, he tapped at his phone, looked at the screen and shook his head.

“Nope.”

“Maybe she wants you to know what it’s like to be left hanging.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Hmm?”

“I’ve never left a woman hanging,” he protested, and I almost choked.

“Lizzie, Maria, Bonnie.” I counted the names off on my fingers. “And they’re just the ones I know about.”

“Lizzie wanted to marry me after one date, Maria wanted to marry me after two and Bonnie kept making a weird noise with her throat.”

“And Maya? Do you think she’ll want to marry you?”

“I guess I’ll never know,” he said before kissing the top of my head. “Now, I’m going to get showered so we can go for breakfast.”

Watching him leave the kitchen, I hoped she called him because he deserved to be happy. If he got that with a lady called Maya maybe I wouldn’t be so worried about leaving him alone.

“Hey, Monique.” Dad flashed our waitress a smile and got a huge smile back, along with a flirty wink. “The usual, please, love.”

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