Page 69 of Delinquent Daddy (Banks/Kincaid Family 2)

Obviously, Boston had been expecting the fight.

Hesitating, he paused and looked at her. Then he nodded a brief thanks.

Stepping carefully over the threshold, he glanced her way one last time as if he expected her to change her mind. Then, he passed through the living room and started down the hall.

Ellie moved to the hall entrance to watch him. He knocked softly on Cassie's door and opened it. When Cassie's ecstatic cry echoed back, Ellie cringed. Boston disappeared through the doorway and shut himself inside with his daughter.

That was when Ellie decided it was time to have her breakdown.

She hurried to the kitchen, out the porch/laundry room, through the back door, and onto the patio. There was a tattered old picnic table sitting on the cobblestone deck. She collapsed onto the bench, clutched her stomach, and looked up at the house, wondering if Boston was busy helping Cassidy pack.

She could fight him. And she could fight Cassie. But there was no way she could fight them together. If they wanted to be with each other, there was no way Ellie could deny it.

Cassidy was the most important person in the world, and if Boston was what she truly wanted, Ellie knew she'd grant it.

Even if it destroyed her in the process. She'd die for her daughter if she had to.

Cassidy was lying on her bed, staring at the wall when Boston tapped on her door and popped his head inside.

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"Hey," he said quietly.

She glanced over, looking moody and rebellious. But when she saw him, her eyes shot open. "You came!" she screeched and leaped off the bed.

Boston slipped inside and softly closed the door behind him. He barely caught Cassie as she launched herself into his arms.

"You really came," she repeated in awe and nuzzled her face in his shoulder, wrapping her arms tight around him.

"I told you I would," he murmured and stroked her hair as he carried her to the bed. Boston sat and settled her on the mattress next to him. He pondered idly as he did so, wondering if he would've kept her nestled on his lap if he'd known her for the past nine years and ten months. If he was familiar and comfortable with his daughter, would he have set her next to him like she was someone else's daughter and kept that polite distance between them? Or maybe he would've kept her close and continued to run his hand comfortingly down her back.

A wave of regret hit him. He'd missed so many years.

He waited a beat for the anger to follow, the resentment against Ellie. But he didn't experience it. Instead, he focused on Cassie, intent to make up lost time.

"Now," he said. "What's going on between you and your mother?"

"Nothing," Cassie mumbled, ducking her head. "I just want to come live with you."

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"Well, I don't think nothing happened," Boston said, staring down at the top of Cassie's hair. "I think something definitely happened."

"She's so mean," Cassie finally admitted, lifting her face to show Boston a rebellious look. "I can't do anything because of her. She treats me like a little kid."

Boston checked the impulse to say, "But you are a little kid."

"I hate green beans, but she makes me eat them. My friend Ally gets to stay home from school at least once a month because her mom is so cool. But my stupid mom makes me go every day. I have to take a bath when she tells me to and eat what she tells me to. And she kept me from you. She always makes me do stupid stuff that's good for me.

I'm sick of it. Maybe I don't want to brush my teeth every night. Maybe I don't like healthy food."

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