Page 51 of Her Bossy Daddy

“I’m not judging. It actually makes a bit more sense. Is she your, em, submissive? It’s why she had such a hard time answering me about what she is to you, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s only one part of it. She’s more than just my submissive.” I sighed and took one of the cups. My sister immediately figuring out how Lacey fit into my life showed another side of her. Perhaps she and Lacey had more in common than I’d originally thought. “Listen, we’ve got a lot to talk about over the next week, let’s just take a moment. We can discuss other things later.”

“Wait, I’ve held some anger against you for a really long time, but when you called me I dropped everything to come up here.” Raegan sat down on one of the stools by the island and she took several small sips from her tea. “Please let me finish. If I don’t get it all out now, I may never bring it up again.”

“The conversation you’re edging toward requires a lot more alcohol than I’ve had so far today.”

“How much have you had?” Despite her candid broach into a potentially life-changing conversation, her mouth quirked up on each edge.

“None.” I abandoned the tea and ransacked the liquor shelf. I poured two solid shots of whiskey, and slid one over to her. “Are you sure you want to get into this at noon on a Saturday, Rae?”

“Yeah.” She shot the whiskey and then hit the glass down on the island. “Another shot at least. Or two. Actually, I think the number of the day is three.”

“Don’t try to out-drink me, little sister. You won’t win.” I downed my shot, and then poured us each another. Somewhere between the second and fourth shots, Lacey returned to the kitchen. She spied the bottle, and then she picked up the remaining teacup and sipped from it.

“Is everything okay?” Lacey glanced between my sister and me.

“Well, em, it’s a long story.” I located another shot glass and poured her one. “Rae is about to rip off the Band-Aid on a very old wound. Drink up.”

“You’re drinking Jameson.” Lacey eyed the glass. “I’m a wine cooler girl on any typical day.”

“It’s still Saturday, love,” I reminded, but didn’t elaborate.

“It’s Saturday afternoon.” She raised both her eyebrows up and down as if signaling to me.

“Are you asking for an extension?” I was not in the mood to be pushed, and sure enough her shoulders sagged.

“Fuck.” Lacey downed the liquid and hit the glass down, but then her eyes darted to mine. “Sir.”

“That’s a new one,” Raegan muttered and poured another round. “I didn’t mean anything about your outfit. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, no big deal,” Lacey responded, though she seemed uneasy. “Do you want me to leave for this conversation?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

My sister and I answered at the same time. “No,” I repeated. “You might as well hear it, though I’m not entirely sure of the outcome.”

Raegan hit the shot, and then slid the glass to me. “I haven’t eaten yet today. Do you have something to soak up whiskey? My head is spinning a bit.”

“Yeah, we’ve got cold cuts and rolls. I’ll get them out.” Lacey set to fixing lunch for all of us.

“Thanks, love.” I sucked in a breath and let it out, returning my attention to Raegan. “The floor is yours, little sister. Give it a go.”

“Right.” Raegan looked down into her lap. “Try to remember where my head was at, at nineteen. We lost Dad the previous winter, and I could barely keep my head above water.”

“It was a rough time for all of us. Mom poured every bit of energy she had left into taking care of Bridget. She didn’t mean to forget about the rest of us, but we were all adults by then and Bridget was just a kid.” I took a sip from the earlier neglected tea. It did little to clear the bitter taste in my mouth. This black cloud had hung over the two of us for so long. Could I hope one conversation would clear the air? “I did my best to keep everyone together, but I wasn’t so worldly at twenty-four even if I thought so.”

“You did the best you could under those circumstances, but I felt abandoned. Reilly and Nora always had each other since they did everything together, but no one had my back. I was left to my own devices, and you saw where that got me.”

“Yeah, so where did those devices lead you?” I asked gently, hoping she’d understand where I had been coming from at the time.

“Nowhere good,” Raegan scoffed. “It was a blessing I’d already graduated high school or I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have passed. Do you remember I’d been forced to drop out of college?”

“Yeah, you threw out your first and second semester grades. I found the paperwork and irritated letters from your professors.” I went to the stove and set a new teapot to boil and then returned to the island.

“I stayed out at the pubs a lot. It made going to class on time a bitch.” Raegan glanced over at the spread of food in front of her, and fixed a plate. “Thank you both. I should’ve gotten something to eat on the road but I was anxious to get here.”

---