“You couldn’t have known.”
Dad sucked in a breath, voice starting to crack as he spoke. “You’re my baby, my daughter, my firstborn… I should have known, Cleo. And maybe I did on some level. Maybe that’s why I’ve been so goddamn torn up about it since you told us.”
I pulled back, looking up into his weary eyes. They were so consumed by regret that I couldn’t bear it. “Dad…”
“You’ve always had this special light in your eyes. Even as a kid, and despite all the pressure and responsibility your mom and I put on you, it was there. And that light only grew as you got older and went off to college. That's why I didn’t make you attend a small-town school, so you’d be close to us. I wanted you to go out there and feed that spark, even if it meant you leaving.” He shook his head. “But when you came back from college, there was something different about you. I thought it was just about the breakup. I told myself it was normal, that it would’ve been strange if you hadn’t been torn up about it because you and that boy were so tangled up in one another,but then it never came back. Each time I saw you, it was like looking at a damn ghost, and I—” Tears fell down his cheeks, but he didn’t wipe them away. He let me see, and I forced myself to watch. It was the cruelest form of torture. “I was too stupid to speak up. To ask you if you were alright. I thought you’d come to me if you needed me, like you did when you were a little girl and believed there were monsters beneath your bed.”
“It wasn’t that simple,” I whispered. “I wish it was.”
“I know, and I’ve hated myself for my silence. I could’ve saved you so much pain if I’d just spoken up. If I’d just talked to you.”
This time, I did reach up and wipe his tears away. “I get it. I really do. Sometimes I wish I’d spoken to someone sooner about what was happening behind closed doors. But if therapy has taught me anything, it’s that I needed to learn how to save myself. I’d been saving others for so long I’d forgotten to advocate for myself, to be able to recognize that I stayed in situations that were not good for me just for the sake of someone else’s comfort.” I paused, blinking back tears. “Daddy, I needed to know I could rely onmyselffor once.”
He gave me a watery smile. “I haven’t told you this enough, but I’m proud of the woman you’ve become. Your mom and I made you grow up too fast. We relied on you too much.”
I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. His skin was softer than it was a year ago, the byproduct of being forced into retirement earlier than he wanted. If it were his choice, he would’ve worked this land until the day he died. “You both did the best you could. I don’t hold any grudges about that,” I said honestly. “But I am finally at a point in my life where I need to focus on what’s best for me versus what’s best for this family.”
“I know, and I want that for you, sugar. After so many years of looking defeated, I finally see a glimpse of your light again. Whatever, or whoever, is contributing to that, I want you tochase it,” Dad said, voice breaking. “Even if it means your journey takes you off this ranch.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just let him pull me into his arms and hold me like he used to when I was a little girl. Weeks ago, this kind of intimacy would’ve made me feel uncomfortable. It still did on some level. I would’ve batted Dad’s concerns away and downplayed my past to appease whatever guilt he might have felt—whether it was warranted or not.
But as crazy as it sounded, I wasn’t the same woman I was prior to Grady and Charlie showing up like a hellish tornado. They ripped the roof off my self-imposed martyrdom and forced me into a state of vulnerability I otherwise never would’ve experienced.
“I love you, Daddy,” I whispered, letting the steady beat of his heart ground me.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “I love you, too, sugar. You’ll always be my little girl.”
I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that. It was long enough I was nearly asleep when a knock sounded on the door. We both turned to look as Mom stood in the doorway, hand resting over her chest. “I hate to interrupt, but there is someone here asking to see you.”
I groaned into Dad’s chest. “Tell Lennox I’ll deal with her later.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “While I’m sure your sister would be thrilled to hear, she’s not the one asking to see you.”
“Who is it?” I asked with a yawn.
The soft cadence of boots on the hardwood floor caught my attention as a deep voice I knew better than my own said, “Me.”
grady
. . .
I didn’t knowif I’d ever seen someone move as fast as Cleo did when I walked into her bedroom. One second, she was cuddling close with her father, and the next, she was standing in front of me, throwing her arms around my neck and pulling me close. Out of all the things I prepared for on the way over, her eagerness had not been on the list. I assumed I’d be met with resistance, that I’d have to drop to my knees and beg her not to leave me, to tell her I couldn’t imagine my life without her.
After breakfast this morning, Liv had all but kicked me out of the house, telling me not to come back unless I got my girl. It seemed great until I was halfway here, realizing all the things that could go wrong. Then I panicked so severely I had to pull off on the side of the road so I didn’t throw up all over my ex’s rental car.
Cleo pulled back, staring up at me with silver-rimmed eyes. “What are you doing here?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but stopped at the sound of a throat clearing behind me. We turned to see her mother staring at us with amusement. She looked over my shoulder at herhusband and jerked her chin. “Come on, Dougie. Let’s leave the kids be.”
Doug stood from the bed, grumbling under his breath about being comfortable, and moved to follow Ruby down the hall. He stopped at the threshold, rapping his knuckles against the frame. “Just remember this is still my house, son,” he said, narrowing his eyes at me. I loved the fierce protective look, wondering if one day I’d be doing the same for my own daughter.Abso-fucking-lutely, I would.“No funny business.”
Ruby gave an exasperated sigh. “Douglas Hayes! Don’t make me tell you twice.”
To his credit, Doug didn’t balk. He held my gaze, waiting for a response. “Yes, sir,” I said, giving him a little nod. “She’s safe with me, I promise.”
He held my gaze a moment longer before his expression softened a touch. “Good. Come find me before y’all head out.”
“Love you, Daddy,” Cleo whispered, clinging to my arm. We watched her parents disappear around the corner before she dragged me inside her bedroom and shut the door. It looked just like it did when she was a kid, a fact that made me so damn happy. It was so predictably Cleo. She wouldn’t have wanted to put the time and effort into re-decorating a space just for the sake of it. The room was practical, so she left it alone.
