Chapter Eleven
Nathan
If he could turn back the clock he would’ve kept his big mouth shut with Scarlett the night he admitted his true feelings, how being a dad had come at totally the wrong time and if he could’ve done it differently he would have. But his biggest regret in life wasn’t that they’d had a baby, it was that he’d been too immature to handle it properly and had been absent at times when he really should have been around. And being pulled up on that particular failure by his own daughter hurt more than anything.
Breakfast at the Inglenook Inn was a quiet affair this morning, as it had been for the last week since he and Scarlett had had the confrontation, and it wasn’t making for a pleasant holiday.
‘I’m sorry about what I said,’ he told Scarlett, again. He’d tried so many times to apologise but she was stubborn, something he knew she got from him.
‘About not wanting me, you mean.’
‘You’re sixteen, not six, I know you don’t believe that.’
‘I suppose not.’
He hated to admit it but maybe it was time with Kyle and without her dad that had calmed Scarlett down. She hadn’t said that was who she was seeing, how she was filling her free time, but it was kind of obvious. ‘Not being there for you when you were little will always be my biggest regret.’
‘Is that why you’re so overbearing now?’
‘I wouldn’t say I was overbearing, but I guess it’s why I’m so obsessed with trying extra hard to help you make good decisions.’
‘And not make the same mistakes,’ she added for good measure.
‘I want what’s best for you.’
‘And what about school? Do you think I’m making a mistake wanting to take my passion for art further? I’ve been looking at universities, you know.’
‘I know, I’ve seen you googling them. I’d love to be involved if you’ll let me.’ He scraped together the last mouthful of toast and egg sunny side up, its yolk smeared across the plate. ‘We could go look at some. I can take some days off work, make sure you’re making an informed choice.’
‘Sounds good, unless it’s all a ploy to make me choose something I don’t really want to do.’
‘I’ll do my best to embrace what it is that you want, and how about we make the choice together?’
She didn’t seem keen. ‘This is why we never talk about it. It always comes down to what you think I should do. You say we’ll choose together, but together really means I get an opinion, but your word will be final.’
He didn’t have a chance to deny it before she stropped away from the dining room, past the Christmas tree decorated just as beautifully as the one in the lounge. He put his cutlery together on his plate as Darcy appeared with a coffee.
‘I didn’t order that,’ he told her.
‘You didn’t but I’m bringing it anyway. And my company if you need it, though happy if you don’t.’
He gestured for her to sit down. ‘What is it with teens? One minute you feel like you’re making headway, the next…’ He looked towards the empty hallway his daughter had just stomped along to get to the stairs that would take her up to their suite. ‘This holiday seems to be pushing us further apart rather than closer together.’
‘From my experience, daughters and fathers will always fall out when it comes to boys. I can’t say my dad was ever that happy when I brought someone home. Even when I introduced Myles to the family, Dad took a while to warm to him. It’s a dad thing.’
‘It’s hard, that’s what it is.’
‘It must be hard being a single parent,’ she said.
He added cream to his coffee but no sugar. ‘It is.’
‘Girls need their mom. Myles told me about your wife, I’m sorry.’
‘Thank you. It’s not been the easiest of roads for Scarlett. I know I haven’t helped matters but since Dawn died I’ve been doing my best.’
‘Are you worried about her interest in Kyle?’
‘I don’t want Scarlett to make the same mistakes as her mum and I did.’
