Page 30 of All Along The Watchtower

Maybe it was a mistake to rent something. Maybe I ought to wait until my job situation was sorted, then look at actually buying a house. But much as I adored my moms, I wasn’t sure if they’d be able to let me be the parent if we were living under their roof. Not that I had a damned clue how to be that parent, but this wouldn’t be my first trial-by-fire experience, and I was committed to figuring it out. I felt like Peyton and I needed our own space to do that.

Or maybe I just didn’t want my moms to have a front-row seat to my inevitable fuck ups.

Peyton stared at me, a faint line forming between her brows.

“What?”

“It’s just…” She trailed off, dropping her gaze.

“Just what?”

“Never mind.”

“No really. Say what you’re thinking. All of this is a huge change for both of us, and good communication is the only way we’re gonna get through it.”

She sucked in a breath. “It’s just… you’re taking all this awfully well.”

“All this?”

“I mean… me.”

Did that mean her foster family had considered her a problem? One of those “too much” kids? Curling my fingers around my mug, I chose my words carefully. “Peyton, you’re my daughter. You may have been the world’s biggest surprise, but I’m not upset you exist. I’m only sorry I didn’t know about you sooner. So that I could have been there with you growing up. Helped your mom, whether we worked out as a couple or not.”

She angled her head, apparently fascinated by that. “You would have done that?”

“Hell yeah, I would have done that.”

Her lips pressed together, another clear sign she wasn’t sure she could say what she wanted to.

“Communication, remember?” I prodded.

“I just… Mom never talked about you. Ever. And for a long time, I wondered if that was because you were a bad guy.”

I had so many questions for Casey. And I’d never get the answers. “Fair question to have, under the circumstances. But you came anyway.”

“Yeah. I thought I’d do some recon to find out what you were like, if it was even worth telling you who I was.”

“Guess Bree kinda spoiled that.” And thank God for it. I may have only had a week of knowing I was a dad, but nothing on earth could make me give this kid up.

Peyton’s lips twitched. “Yeah. But it was okay because she insisted you were a good guy. The best guy.”

Had she really? That definitely wasnotthe assessment I would’ve expected from Bree Cartwright after all these years.

“What’s your verdict?”

She studied me for a long moment with those eyes so like mine. Then her lips quirked up the barest hint. “You’re all right.”

From a suspicious teenager, that felt like the highest form of praise.

“I can work with that. You’re pretty okay yourself.”

The quirk turned into a brief flash of an actual smile.

“So how ’bout it? We go look at houses, and then maybe get some lunch while we’re out?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

CHAPTER 15

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