Page 68 of Until Daddy

“Not as hard as I thought it would be.” He went on to explain the situation with his father, and his search for his mother. She stood, hands at her sides, gripping the countertop, listening. Intently listening. He saw the rage in her when he described the lies his father had told about his mother, and the sincere hope in her eyes when he talked about Detective Warren’s work in trying to find her.

“I’m really sorry all that happened.” She didn’t move but she looked ready to pounce.

“I’m really sorry, too. I’m sorry that instead of sticking around to explain it all, to let it all settle in my head first, I let it ruin us.”

Her lips parted but she didn’t make a sound.

“I was so angry, so confused about what to do next, that dealing with you and that at the same time mushed into one thing. I should have waited. I should have dropped you off and gone home to get my head on straight before talking with you. I never should have come up here and taken my anger out on you like that.” He raked his hand through his hair. Could she forgive him for that?

“I didn’t exactly make things easy for you. I reminded you too many times about our deal. When the truth was that I didn’t want the month to end, I didn’t want to walk away. And it terrified me. Instead of telling you, instead of bringing you my worries, I held them in and made a bigger mess. How could you possibly think anything other than what you did about me?”

“We did a great job at doing everything wrong that day, huh?” His lips tugged into a smile.

“Yeah, we did.” She let out a long breath. “Do you think I can confess one more thing?”

“Sure, why not.” He chuckled.

“I don’t want to go to the concert tonight. I want to stay here. With you. I want to clear the air and start over. I want my daddy back.”

His chest could have exploded, his heart expanded so quickly from her words.

“I want my Carissa-girl back, too.” He nodded. “No expiration date.”

“No, no timestamp.” She shook her head.

“And no more hiding feelings. We deal with them head on, both of us.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

His knees just about buckled. God damn, she knew how to pull his strings.

“And the next time I see you get off that bus at the shelter without proper clothing, I’m going to paddle you right there. Don’t think for a second I didn’t see you without your hat and gloves at least a dozen times over the past few weeks.”

She lowered her eyes, and a rosy blush covered her cheeks.

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Lift up your skirt for me, Carissa-girl.”

She turned around and rolled up the hem until he saw the words he’d seen before.

“Bad girl, huh? What did you do that was bad?”

“I got arrested, for one.” She laughed and looked over her shoulder at him.

He laughed too and it felt so good.

“You did a lot more than that, little girl. But we can start there.”

He closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her, burying his nose in her hair and squeezing her tight. “I missed you so much. I missed you.”

“Please don’t leave me again.”

“Never, Carissa-girl. Never. I swear it.”

Before she could respond, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

Chapter 19

---