Page 69 of Too Far To Sea
“I was angry.”
“That is my girl. Go big or go home. You never have done things by halves. What you put your mother through redefined ‘custody battle.’ You made it an all-out war.”
“I needed to.”
His eyes crinkled with a mixture of affection and exasperation. “Have you ever thought that you could have achieved the same result with a few conversations? I had no idea you were unhappy enough to report Sheila to CPS. You never told me half of what was going on.”
Dana raised her brows. It wasn’t the first time her father had brought up her over-the-top attitude. “I was ten. And Sheila wasn’t much of a mom.”
“I agree. Your mother treats you horribly. I’m not saying otherwise. Changing your cabin was low, even for her. However, if you actually spoke to her, the plane could have gone better. Iimagine you saw her at the airport, pointed to your foot and said, ‘Don’t worry, it will be fine.’”
She shifted uncomfortably. “Something like that.”
“Sheila may have been looking for you on the plane out of concern, too. Economy tickets and a surgical boot don’t seem like a winning combo to me. She may have felt guilty. Maybe they didn’t have enough seats in the premier class. When she couldn’t find you, she would have been frantic. The fact is you never give her a chance to explain.”
Could there be another side to her mother’s actions? If so, what did that mean for McKay? “You’re saying I should actually talk to Sheila?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it for at least a month.” A wry smile crossed his face. “I know you have mostly ignored her for the past decade and a half, unless you absolutely had to talk to her. I had hoped you would have had some time to talk things out on this trip.”
“I never thought of anything but avoiding her so we didn’t upset Chey.”
Dad wrapped an arm around Dana’s shoulders. “Sheila isn’t all bad. I fell in love with her for a few reasons and yes, at eighteen we were too young.”
“I’ve heard this lecture before.”
“Apparently it hasn’t sunk in yet. And as far as the man you met—well, I thought you were smarter than to let someone go without talking about it.”
Dana bit her lip. “I don’t have his number.”
“Now there is an excuse if I’ve ever heard one. Don’t you work for Colin Ogilvie? How old was he when he hacked the Whitehouse?”
“Pentagon. I think he was twelve.”
“There you have it. Ask your boss. Easy peasy.”
“Lemon squeezy.” If only it were that easy. Colin stayed firmly planted on the ethical side of the fence and he would tell Candace, then the kids would learn of it. They were already far too concerned about her lack of dating. She could try an internet search. She had a name and a town. A yawn interrupted her thoughts.
Dad kissed the top of her head. “Off to bed with you, girl of mine.”
“Love ya.”
“Same, kid.”
“Three full-sized suitcases?” Jen moved a box to make room in the trunk of her car. “Good thing I left Gracie at a friend’s. She’d think this was all for her.”
McKay put the last suitcase in the back seat. “I guess I accumulated more stuff than I thought. And lots of it is for you, mom, and Gracie.”
Jen let a car pass before pulling out. “I’ll give you a pass then.”
“How did you keep Gracie from coming with you?”
“It wasn’t easy, but we need to talk.”
“Why?”
Jen turned the wrong direction at the next intersection.
McKay looked out the window in confusion. “I thought we were going to Mom’s.”
