“What does he do for a living?”
“You know what he does.You called the owner of the cabins to complain on my behalf.”
Her father didn’t blink an eye at the charge.“Jackson thinks he’s a cop.”
Vanessa stared at him in surprise.“Jackson is mistaken.He used to work for a security company.”
“Is that what he told you?”
She bristled at her father’s dubious tone.He’d pegged Bennett as a liar from the start, and he’d been right.It didn’t help that Paul was secretive about his past.She remembered the way he’d scanned the restaurant for threats.Instead of sharing this information with her father, she gave him a quelling look.
“It’s none of my business,” he said quickly.
“No, it isn’t.Do you grill Jackson about his dates?”
He changed the subject.“Are you going to let that kid hit Emily?”
Vanessa glanced toward the playground.Emily had befriended a toddler who was waving a stick around like a sword.When he tried to take a clumsy swing at her, she wrenched the object out of his hand and tossed it aside.The boy ran to his mother, wailing.Emily disregarded this protest and continued playing.
“Sometimes interference is unnecessary,” Vanessa said.
He smiled at her pointed remark.“You’re a good mother.”
The simple statement brought tears to her eyes.She blinked them away before he could see the effect he had on her.She might not forgive him, but his recognition still mattered.“Thank you.”
After a long pause, he cleared his throat.“I wasn’t the best father, or the best husband.But I loved your mother.”
“You loved a lot of women.”
He didn’t argue.“I wish I’d been more circumspect.”
She twisted her hands in her lap, and said nothing.
“I wanted to tell you about something that happened to me.It inspired my career in law enforcement, and I’ve kept it secret all these years.”
“Okay,” she said, intrigued despite herself.“You have my attention.”
“Do I have your word that you won’t repeat this?Not to anyone?”
“Yes.”
“It’s about a woman.”
“Of course it is,” Vanessa said drily.
Her father told her a story about a girl he’d been infatuated with as a teenager.He’d followed her around like a lost puppy, but she was a year older, and she’d never been interested in him.Even so, he’d been there to help her when she needed it.She’d killed a man in self-defense, and her father had buried the body.
Vanessa listened to the tale with wide eyes.She was too shocked to speak.She was aware of Emily in the background, her pink shirt a blur of color as she climbed a giant mushroom.She swallowed hard, uncertain how she felt about this news.It wasn’t every day a parent confessed to a crime in the middle of a play structure based onAlice in Wonderland.She felt like she was having a bizarre nightmare.
“Did you tell Jackson about this?”she asked finally.
“No.”
“What happened to the girl?”
“She ran away, and stayed gone for a long time.I didn’t see her for more than a decade.Now she lives on a ranch outside of town.”
“Does Mom know?”
