Page 67 of Recipe for Temptation (Madewood Brothers 4)

“But don’t you get it? The pressure to be a good girl meant I never had any fun. So, when I went off to college, boy, did I have fun.”

Frat parties. Beer bongs. Dating. Lots and lots of dating.

He held up his hands. “I don’t want to know.”

She had no intention of giving him details. There were some things a girl needed to keep to herself.

Her father shook his head, confusion again washing over his face. “I want the world for you, Pennelope, but I just don’t understand you.”

“You don’t have to, Dad.” Waves crashed loudly in the distance, startling her. “It’s not your—”

Her father grabbed her chin, forcing her to look over at him. “What if I want to understand?”

She smiled. She had to give him credit. He was trying. Trying to relate to her on a level he wasn’t familiar with—an emotional level. Harold Foster wasn’t the most demonstrative man in the world.

“I push you because I want you to succeed.”

“I have succeeded.” She straightened, her body going into defense mode. “I’ve tried so hard to make you proud, Dad, but you make it impossible when you refuse to see things outside your comfort zone.”

“I do like my comfort zone.” He laughed softly. “I just want you to have the same wonderful life that I’ve had with your mother, with you kids.”

Crap. Now he was making her feel guilty for poo-pooing his very normal, mundane life. It made him happy.

She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. She didn’t remember ever doing this as a kid. And for the first time ever, she felt a tiny bond with her father. One that wasn’t built on sports or false personas. For the first time, he was truly seeing her, and she saw the love in his eyes as he looked at her.

She might not have achieved what she’d set out to do. She hadn’t won the cup. But this trip hadn’t all been for nothing. Not even close.

She’d finally been able to get everything off her chest with her family. From now on, she would be herself, good-girl persona not required.

“I have to admit, as much as I disliked you being so…different, I hadn’t seen you that happy in a long time.”

She wasn’t so happy anymore.

“Thanks to Cole,” she said.

“So you love him.”

She shrugged— A gesture that immediately made her think of him.

She probably couldn’t do a lot of things now, without thinking of him.

“Why did he leave?” he asked. “Is it because you didn’t win the cup?”

She wished that were true. Then she wouldn’t have died a little inside hearing the awful details of his past. She wouldn’t have had to watch him walk away. That was something she might never recover from.

She shook her head, willing away the tears threatening to fall. She didn’t want to cry in front of her father. She was already too vulnerable right now. “Because I didn’t give him a reason to stay.”

When push came to shove, she couldn’t be what he’d needed. She’d let her fears push him away. And she might never get him back.

She had walked into this situation with her eyes wide open. She’d known the end game might very well strain their relationship, but she had no idea that it would break her heart.

“It’s just not meant to be, Dad. Regardless of what I want.”

Her father pulled away, straightening his shoulders, looking down at her with conviction. “If there’s one thing I taught you, young lady, it’s never to give up. To fight for what you want.”

Too bad she’d forgotten that when it mattered most.

“If this boy makes you happy, if he’s what you want, then you fight for him.” He hugged her into his side. “If you love someone, don’t be a schmuck like me. Say it. Prove it. Life is too short to waste assuming the world is right, when it’s so very wrong.”

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