Page 66 of Parentmoon

The house had killed the wedding.

“Daddy, you have to understand. I’m spoiled.” Keli sheepishly glances down. Her blonde hair and blue eyes remind me of her mother when Katherine had been young. That sweet wholesome look got me into all kinds of trouble with the wrong kind of woman. But the physical resemblance is the only thing Keli and her mother share. Keli’s never come across as spoiled like her mama. Then again, I might be too close to the situation to see the evidence. I just didn’t want my baby girl to struggle like I had.

“Michael tells me no.”

“He what?” I snap.

“It’s good for me, Daddy. I can’t always have my way.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.” Her voice strengthens. “If it comes too easy, it isn’t worth it.” She points at me. “You say that all the time. Difficult is worth fighting for. Easy is for breezy days.”

Easy. I’d said that Jo was easy but that wasn’t true. She wasn’t just a breezy day. She was a thunderous investment. Someone worth fighting for. But I had to put my thoughts of Jo on hold for a moment. This was about Keli.

“Michael and I want to forge our own path.”

I don’t want my girl forging anything, but I understand what she means. Hard work builds character. It can also break backs and spirits.

“You’re here together. Does that mean you mended fences?”

Keli slowly smiles, showcasing a dimple that mirrors mine, and giving me that grin that breaks my heart and has me saying yes to anything she asks for.

“Almost perfect.”

Tipping my head, I ask, “Almost?”

“We have some things we want to talk to you and Jo about. That’s why we came down here together.”

“You know I’m happy to see you, baby girl.”

“But Jo looked a little stunned.”

I duck my head. “I might not have mentioned to her that you were coming.”

“Daddy!” Her voice is a proper scolding. “How could you do that?”

I shrug, not willing to tell my girl my reasons. With Jo, I figured everything in due time but then time went haywire. Michael and Keli cancelled their wedding. Jo ended up here. I panicked.

“I didn’t mean any harm.” Keeping something from Jo hadn’t been my intention, but I could tell from the look on her face I’d mis-stepped. Stepped right into a huge pile of cow dung. Her expression suggested I knew something, and guilt was written on my face.

I should have told her Keli and Michael were coming.

She isn’t going to forgive me when she finds out what else I’ve withheld from her.

As my daughter and I stare at one another, the sliding glass door opens, and Jo enters followed by Michael.

Jo Hudson is so fucking pretty. That honey-blonde hair. Those big, brown eyes. How fabulous she looks when she wears fucking pink. She’d looked at me like I could capture the moon. And I would, then I’d give it to her if she asked. If only she’d ask for more from me.

She glances at me, then quickly looks away. Gone is her belief in my superpower status. She looks like I just scattered the planets.

The set of her shoulders and the tightness of her jaw are her tell-tale signs she’s upset. She’s so readable. Every inch of that woman has been examined by me with mouth and fingers and tongue. I don’t want her irritated with me, but I understand before anything has been said that she’s pissed.

Keli slips from the stool and crosses the distance to Michael. He slides an arm around her shoulders, and they smile at one another.

Nothing in the world makes me happier than to watch that man so enraptured with my daughter. He damn well better be. She’s right, though. Michael tells her no, when I never have, and it’s good for her. I’m allowed to spoil her, and he can to an extent, but I don’t want her walking all over her husband. Thankfully, Michael is a stronger man than that. His mama is to credit for his strength.

“So, we have a few things to announce, and we’ve come to a few conclusions,” Michael states, holding his eyes on Keli for a second before turning to face me.