Page 22 of Mountain Man's Longing
“Graham—”
“I betrayed your trust. Hurt your relationship with your daughter before it even got started.” I straighten, bracing myself. “I deserve whatever you want to give me.”
Eric studies my face for another long moment, seeing something that makes his posture shift. The fight goes out of his shoulders.
“You really mean it, don’t you?”
I don’t have to confirm it. He knows I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.
He’s quiet for what feels like forever. When he speaks again, his voice is softer, distant. “Years ago—hell, it feels like a lifetime now—I was young and fell in love with a girl from the city.” He scuffs his boot at a rock on the ground. “She was up for the holidays, staying at the resort. It was only my second seasonworking the slopes. She was from a wealthy family, went to private school. She was everything I wasn’t.”
Dread pools in my gut. I know only part of this story. He’s never shared the details.
“We…we fell hard and fast. I was going to ask her to marry me the day I found out she was pregnant.”
“Eric—”
“I did the honorable thing. Went to her father in their luxurious penthouse, where the ridiculous art on the walls was worth more than I’d make in a lifetime, where my boots left marks on the marble floor. I asked for permission to marry his daughter.”
I don’t know the details but already know the ax is about to fall. And my stomach’s churning for the blow that’s about to land.
He shoves his hands into his pockets. “He told me I was a nobody and would never amount to anything. Said his daughter deserved better than a life of struggle. Had security escort me out onto the street.”
The parallel hits me like a sledgehammer. The fact I’m old enough to be her father adds fuel to the fire.
“I never saw her again after that. Her family made sure of it.” His voice cracks. “I could have pressed the issue. Stood up for my rights, but I didn’t. All this time, I’ve wondered about my child. But what got me through was the fact that he or she was provided for. Was safe.”
Understanding floods through me, followed by something that might be hope.
Eric turns to face me with resolve in his eyes. “I’m not making the mistake Caroline’s father made.”
“You’re giving me permission?”
“If Brenna wants to be with you, it’s her choice.” His voice hardens. “She’s old enough to make that call. To give upeverything. To leave her life behind. But I’m talking to her first. Making sure she understands what you’re really asking.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you, Graham. For you to be here now, for us to be having this conversation…you mean forever.”
The weight of his words settles over me like a heavy blanket. He’s right. I do.
“She might say no,” I admit, the words tasting like ash.
“She might.” Eric’s expression softens fractionally. “Or she might surprise you. That girl’s got steel in her spine.”
Despite everything, I smile. “She told me I was making decisions for everyone without giving them a choice.”
“Smart girl.” A hint of pride creeps into his voice.
“Must take after her father that way.”
We stand in the stony silence for a moment, sizing up each other, our breaths visible in the frigid air. Finally, Eric speaks again. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow during our hike. But Graham—” He fixes me with a look that would shred a weaker man. “If she says yes to this, to you, I need your word you’ll take care of her. That you won’t break her heart and send her running back to where she came from.”
“You know I wouldn’t.”
“Your word,” he insists, his tone inviting no argument.
“You have it.”
