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Joel waved a hand at me. “Walk with me to the snack shack. I need some sugar.”
I shot Brooke an uneasy look, but she just smiled. “Sure.”
When I fell into step with him, Joel said, “When Brooke told us you two were dating, I almost didn’t believe it.”
“Oh, yeah. Why’s that?” I wanted to wipe my sweaty hands on my shorts but didn’t want him to know he made me nervous.
“You two were at each other’s throats all the way through high school. I thought I’d have to step in a couple of times.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” I think my heart stopped at the thought of Brooke’s dad confronting me in high school.
“Oh, I had my suspicions about what was going on.”
“You did?” I didn’t think anyone saw through me.
“You liked her even back then.” Joel paused behind the backstop where the pitcher was warming up.
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “I did. Maybe not when things first started up, but later. I didn’t know how to talk to her unless it was challenging her.”
“Brooke and her mother didn’t believe me, but I said, ‘That boy likes you.’ Brooke would roll her eyes and say what a jerk you were. She couldn’t see it then, but I’m glad she sees it now.”
“Are you saying you approve of me dating your daughter, sir?” It didn’t matter, but since he’d brought it up, I wouldn’t mind the clarification.
“Honesty is really important to Brooke.”
I sobered quickly at the mention of her history. “I know that. I’ll never lie to her.”
“See that you don’t. She’s been through enough. She has a trusting nature. I know it probably didn’t seem like it now, but that boy took advantage of her in the worst way. I was worried she’d never give anyone a chance again.”
“She’s stubborn, but I’m not going to give up on her.” If she pushed me away again, I was fully prepared to fight for her.
Joel scrutinized my face before finally saying, “Good. She needs someone like that in her corner.”
Cammie ran up to us with a brightly colored bag of candy and a snow cone. “The game’s about to start, Daddy.”
“Go sit by Brooke. I’ll be there in a minute.”
She nodded and ran to our chairs.
“If you need anything. Someone to watch Cammie, or help at your new house, just let us know.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate you welcoming me like this.”
“I think you know that Brooke won’t want to get married again.”
“I was worried about that.”
“Stick with it. I think you’ll get her to come around.” Then Joel turned away and walked toward the line at the snack shack.
It sounded like Joel had faith in me and had just given me permission to ask his daughter to marry me. I knew I had my work cut out for me. We hadn’t discussed marriage, but I suspected she’d be wary of taking that step again. Though she seemed perfectly content to move in with me when I settled on the house, saying we were her family.
I headed back over to our spot. Cammie was popping candy in her mouth, one after the other, while standing by the fence watching warm-ups.
Brooke smiled at me when I sat next to her. “What did he want to talk about?”
“He wanted to give me his blessing.” That’s what it felt like, anyway.
Her mouth dropped open. “You asked him for it?”
