Page 66 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

She scowled at him yet again, and didn’t move.

“I’ve about had it with your scowling, little girl. You’re about two seconds from going back into the corner until dinner is ready.”

“Nooo!” She stood up, grabbed the pillow, and quickly walked to the other side of the table.

Connor took the pillow out of her hand. “You can have this back once dinner is ready if you start behaving yourself. Scowling at Daddy repeatedly isnotgood behavior. If you’re unhappy about something, you use your words, and you use them politely. If I see one more angry little scowl directed at me, I am going to swat your bottom.”

She shook her head vehemently, “No, Daddy, I’m sorry. I won’t scowl again.”

“You’d better not.” He pointed to the chair. “Sit down.”

She sat with a small wince, and looked up at him with sad eyes.

“Good girl. You can pout all you want. I know being Little can be difficult and frustrating, and there will be times that you’re upset about Daddy’s rules. I don’t mind if you’re sad about the rules, but if you’reangryabout Daddy’s rules, that either means Daddy missed something and you need to tell him about it, or you don’t believe that Daddy always has your best interests at heart.”

She shook her head.

He squatted down so they could be eye to eye. “Yes it does, Tessy. I’m not telling you to focus on your coloring for selfishreasons. I’m telling you to focus on your coloring because I fully believe that’s what’s best for you in this moment. So it’s okay to be sad and a little frustrated that you don’t enjoy doing what’s best for you, but you don’t get to be angry with Daddy about it. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Daddy.” Her chin quivered and her eyes filled. “I’m sorry.”

“Good girl.” He stood and put the pillow on the table. “Stand up for a minute.”

Her eyebrows furrowed with confused, but not anger, while she stood. He sat in her vacated chair and pulled her down to sit in his lap. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him tight.

“I know this is all new for you, and it’s going to take some getting used to, but I promise you that Daddy always, always, always has your best interests in mind. That’s especially true when I’m punishing you, or making you do something difficult. Do you believe me?”

She nodded against his chest and sniffled. “Yes, Daddy, I believe you.”

“Good girl.” He squeezed her a bit tighter, and then let go. “Okay, time for Little girls to color while Daddy makes dinner.” He nudged her up with a hand to her back.

He stood, and she sat down again. He pushed her chair in, and moved the other two coloring books and the crayons over so she could reach them. He tapped them with a finger. “This is where your focus needs to be until dinner is ready. I don’t want to catch you looking back while I’m cooking. I expect you totrustDaddy. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Okay.” He went back to searching for spices, and within minutes he was browning some sausage. While he was cooking,he checked Tessy several times. Every time, she was dutifully coloring, and seemed to be fully engrossed now that she couldn’t see him.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Connor waited until the spaghetti sauce was done and the noodles were boiling before he broke Tessy’s concentration on her coloring. She hadn’t turned around once since he’d made her face the other direction.

He walked over to stand beside her. “What picture did you decide to color?”

“The turtle.” She turned her coloring book slightly so he could see.

The image was a sea turtle swimming with some fish near the ocean floor with some coral on the sides, and she’d colored a little over half of it.

“Good choice. The oceanic coloring book was my favorite of the three.”

“Me, too.”

“You did an excellent job with the turtle. I like your color scheme.” He ran a hand down her hair.

“Thanks, Daddy.”

“Dinner is going to be ready in about three minutes, so finish whatever section you’re coloring, and then we’ll put the coloring away until dinner is over.”

She nodded without a scowl or a complaint.

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