Page 88 of All Too Well
Which then morphed into some other ridiculous statement.
Lachlan clears his throat. “As you can see, I’ve managed to make sure she hasn’t done anything too stupid.”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, because I’m just the most irresponsible out of the group of kids.”
You know, if I could go back, I wouldn’t have warned Lachlan and would have made him think we really were going to be forced to marry. That would’ve been funny.
Instead, I’m the one caught in this strange joke.
My dad shakes his head again. “I know the truth, princess.”
I grin. “Yes, Caspian and Lachlan are always at fault.”
“Well, since I know you’re okay, I should head home.”
Lachlan speaks first. “It’s late. If you want, you can stay.”
My father lifts both hands. “Absolutely not. Thank you, though. I need to get home tonight. Ainsley, the Strawberry Festival is next weekend. I assume you’ll be there?”
I nod enthusiastically. “Of course. I’ll be there, like every year.”
Dad straightens slightly. “Maybe you can see if your mother will come this year?”
Oh, Daddy. His regrets aren’t long. They really are just singular—my mother. He loved her the only way he knew how, and she was just so tired of being an afterthought.
“I don’t think she will, Dad.” My voice cracks just saying it.
“Okay. Maybe you can come stay at the house and help me with a few things?”
The defeat in his voice breaks my heart a little.
“No problem.”
He turns to Lachlan. “Take care of my girl.”
Lachlan dips his head. “Of course, Admiral.”
I wrap my arms around my dad. “I’ll see you next weekend. I’ll beg Lachlan and Rose to come too.”
He smiles. “I’d love to see her. Your dad would too, son.”
Oh, Jesus. There goes that idea.
My dad leaves, and after his taillights are no longer visible, I let out a long sigh. “Well, that was unexpected.”
Lachlan’s heat presses against my back, and I lean against him. His arms come around the front of me, and I tilt my head up to look at him. “It doesn’t matter that I’m thirty, own my home, have a good job, and am raising my kid without help, your father fucking terrifies me.”
I smile. “Imagine how it would’ve been if he came here a few hours earlier.”
“I’d rather not.”
I spin around, my hands resting on his chest. “I can give you something else to think about.”
“What’s that?”
“While you were gone, I was lying in that bed, completely naked, thinking about all the things I wanted to do while we had the house to ourselves.”
Lachlan smirks, his hand pressing against my lower back. “Knowing your very active imagination, I’m going to assume you had some good ideas.”
