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“He died. Liver cancer. I didn’t go to the funeral. Just paid for a cremation. Then dumped the ashes. I couldn’t . . . he didn’t deserve . . . do you think I’m a terrible person?”
Drawing her back, he gently grasped hold of her chin, tilting her face up. “You could never be a terrible person, understand me?”
“Well, that’s blatantly untrue, as you know.”
“I don’t care how we met or what you’ve done. I know who you are inside. You’re a good person, Keira.”
“You don’t know me that well if you believe that.”
“I’m going to prove it to you. I’ll show you the person I see when I look at you. But I do not want to hear you say any more bad things about yourself.”
“Or what?” she challenged.
“You want to have a chat about punishments, baby girl? Considering the blatant lies you just told me?”
She gave a mock gasp, placing her hand on her chest. “Daddy, you’re accusing me of lying?”
“Let’s recap.” He leaned back, dropping his hand from her face to hold it up so he could tick off each finger. “You lied when you said you were listening to me. You clearly weren’t. Then you lied when you were repeating back what I said. I most certainly did not say that you were to get whatever you wanted or that you could have all the gummy worms you desired or that you could ride me like a horse.”
She stuck her lower lip out. “That’s not very nice, Daddy. I’ve never ridden a horsie before.”
“If you want to ride a horse, you can ride an actual one. Not Daddy.”
“I suppose I would squish you.”
“You wouldn’t squish me.”
“I’m pretty heavy. All those gummies are probably going straight to my pudgy thighs and chubby ass.”
“Right,” he said firmly. “It’s most definitely time to talk about punishments.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you need to learn that it is not all right to put yourself down. Ever. We were meant to have a chat after the last time you said bad things about yourself. What you need to know is that it’s not acceptable and I won’t have it. Got me, girl?”
She swallowed nervously.
She might have bitten off more than she could chew. But rather than feeling scared, all she had was a bit of trepidation mixed in with some interest. Excitement.
What would he do?
“Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Daddy Z.”
“Good. So you’ll understand why you’re going to now spend ten minutes in the corner.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What? I don’t want to spend ten minutes in the corner!”
“That’s why it’s called a punishment. That will give you time to think about why you shouldn’t lie to Daddy or throw pillows at him. That was naughty.”
She huffed out a breath. Ten minutes for one pillow throw! Seemed excessive to her.
“Then after corner time, you’re going to write fifty lines. I want you to write out: I will not say bad things about myself.”
“What? No way!” Nerves tightened her stomach. She wouldn’t manage that.
“Yes. Now, come on, corner time.”
