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Sitting on my bed, I set my head on my hands. I promised not to leave Tiana ever again, and yet here I was literally making plans to handle business in London. However, if I played my cards right, and I usually did, the international expedition would be my last one for business. If the merger was successful, it would transfer all my duties to other associates. I’d grouped my sister Eloise’s branches and tasks into the mix, but she was nervous. Unlike my parents, she wanted me to pursue my dreams without being stuck in a business suit and trapped in endless virtual meetings. She was relocating from her location in New York City, home to Falcon Creek, and my older brother Drew was following.
My parents would hate to lose two of their biggest assets but they would recover from the blow. Eloise and I departing might actually get them to listen to what we’d been trying to tell them for most of our lives. Tanner’s injury prompted me to take a leap of faith. I didn’t want to be miserable anymore. My sister realized she’d been begrudgingly living in our parents' shadow for far too long. I’d built up an excellent reputation and my assets were solid, as were hers. We were lucky to have the opportunity but it would take a bit of maneuvering to get everything off without a hitch.
“Daddy?” Tiana knocked on the open bedroom door.
“Come in, sunshine.” I patted my lap, and she climbed on top of me, straddling my thighs. “What’s on your mind?”
“What if something bad happens while you’re away?”
“You’re safe here, darling. I know you want to be out and about so you can use my car if you want.”
“Thanks.” She slowly nodded. “I’ll probably have to stay in a ‘Big’ headspace if it’s just me and Tanner.”
“Since when has an injury stopped Tanner from taking care of you?”
“Well, the doctors said he shouldn’t overexert himself.” She fretted her lip. “I’m a lot to handle.”
“No, little girl,” I chided sternly. “You arenota lot to handle. You feel safe enough to be yourself. Our home is the perfect place to do so.”
“Ourhome?” She blinked her gorgeous brown eyes at me.
I hadn’t had one moment of time with her to explain all the thoughts spinning through my head. Moving Tiana into our home was at the top of the list. “I’d love it if you'd consider staying here with us all the time, sunshine. However, I won’t push you to decide now.”
Tiana threw her arms around me. “I was so worried that you’d never forgive me! I was the reason Tanner got hurt. It could have been so much worse!”
“You and I already spoke at length about different choices that could have been made, however, you were under a great deal of stress. Seeing Chet terrified you, and all you wanted to do was keep everyone safe.”
“Yes, but I messed up.”
Tanner assigned her lines once he was up and moving around instead of physical repercussions. Jesse took her over his knee after the two of them formally established their dynamic. He had been an integral part of her life, and I’d been too blinded by my own insecurities to have ever been jealous.
“You were punished for not listening after you promised to do so. We also gave you tasks to help relieve the guilt from running away from the people who could have helped. But that is done and over with.”
She nodded but still looked upset. “I guess.”
“There’s no more hashing out the past. Am I understood?”
“I’ll be on my bestest behavior. Well, at least as much as I can be.” She wrung her hands in the hem of her skirt. “May I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything, darling.”
Tiana stared at me, her huge eyes locked on mine. “I know you’re busy, but can you please spank me before you leave? I learned my lesson about trusting other people, especially everyone who’s always been there for me, but that was hard after my life in California.” She let out a long breath. “My parents have been really hard on me since I came home, so I’ve been pretty distant. All they care about is what could have happened to their precious Tatum. It’s made me build up a lot of resentment against my twin, even though it’s not his fault. I’ve also fallen back into bad habits.”
“What sort of bad habits?”
“After they formally returned Chet to prison, I logged on to all my social media accounts. No one cared that I was away. My friends who I thought would be there for me didn’t even message me. It was like I didn’t matter. So, yeah, it showed me that my real family is in Falcon Creek. It made me really upset, and I started drinking a lot.”
I frowned trying to remember the last time she’d had a drink at dinner and failed. I couldn’t recall her drinking at the party either. “I haven’t seen you drink anything but coffee, cocoa, and water. When did you drink anything else, darling?”
“After you and Tanner went to bed, I’d drink half a bottle of wine.”
“Since when?”
“Since Tanner came home from the hospital.” Her lower lip trembled. “I guess technically I broke the bedtime rule, but it wasn’t intentional. The alcohol numbed my emotions. You were worrying about Tanner, and I didn’t want to be a burden.”
“I wish you had come and told me.” I lifted her chin in between my thumb and pointer finger. “You are not a burden to us, little girl. No more alcohol unless you have permission. For the next week you’ll go to bed an hour earlier. You need rest or you’ll tire yourself out and make it even harder…”
“For Tanner to handle me?” She finished with a pout.
