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To Date One.
“My dad,” she whispered.
I blinked.
Held my breath because I knew,knewthat I wasn’t going to like this. But if she was going to share, I had to lock it down.
“You know about Billy,” she whispered. “But you don’t know that I’m the one they’ve never wanted.”
“Who?” I asked, even though I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew.
And, yup, her face told me that no fucking way was I going to like this.
“My parents.” Her voice was barely audible. “They lost Billy, and they got me instead, and I’m not the same. He was…sweet and quiet and theirson.I’m me and—”
She broke off.
So I took the moment to say gently, “They have another son.”
A beat. “You know how it is with Jeff, and he’s not my dad’s. Not really. Andmydad, my parents…they’ve always been like this. Intense. Focused on themselves. Or at least, that’s what I remember.” A breath. “Jeff was older when they lost Billy and I think he took it hard. Or maybe they were harder on him than me because he was there first, and it was so hard for my mom to get pregnant with Billy.”
It shifted my view on Bailey’s dad, Jeff. Slightly.
Not that I forgave him for the shit he’d pulled in Bailey’s life, namely getting a fucking gold star in being an asshole father who perfected the art looking after himself first, his wife second, and his daughter a distant third.
But having born witness to just two lectures from the Donovan patriarch to his offspring, and I could see the appeal of distance.
I just couldn’t see it at the expense of missing out on Bailey’s life.
Right. Layer peeled.
Information gathered.
Billie’sparents.
Not a fan.
“They love me,” she murmured. “I’ve never doubted that. It’s just…a love that has high expectations and—” A sigh. “A love that isn’t tender.”
“Baby,” I whispered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and tugging her closer.
“I’m lucky,” she went on, still soft. “Really. I’ve had more than most, and—”
“Baby.”
She kept going. “And they’ve pushed me to the best version of myself and the town and—”
I tugged her closer. “I didn’t exactly love the way he talked to you, Rosie baby. Nor the way your mom just stood there and let him tear into you.”
Teeth in her bottom lip. “Tear—”
I tucked a curl behind her ear. “I didn’t like it the first time either.”
She sucked in a breath. “Honey—”
“So, get ready.”
A blink. “Get ready for what?”
