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His new antidepressants might actually be starting to help, but it’s hard to tell, with so few good days struggling to shine through the bad. He seems to like Viv, but when he made theassumption she was Shelby’s, I didn’t have the strength to tell him the truth. Didn’t want to send him reeling backward into despair, which is what Gunnar’s about to do.
My heart’s practically in my throat. “Gunnar, please.”
“You’re the baby’s father?” Dad looks up at the large mountain man, without a clue what he’s asking.
“I am,” Gunnar says, not taking his eyes off me. “But she ain’t Shelby’s. I can see you’re sad, and I know you’re missing your man, Gabe, but you need to pull your head out of your ass and take a good, hard look at your daughter, sir. I know for a fact you haven’t done that in over a year, and that’s too fucking long to ignore your kid.”
“Call meDavid.” Dad looks between me and Gunnar. “Jemma, who is this man?”
I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t form the words.
This is happening.
It’s somehow both my worst nightmare and a fantasy I will replay later in my bed. Gunnar Scott is simultaneously fucking up my lifeandleading a white-knight charge for me, and I don’t know whether to run or throw myself at his feet and worship him.
“I’m the man who got your eighteen-year-old daughter pregnant, and this is our baby,” Gunnar says outright. “Jem hid her from me until this week, but I will be here for them both, for as long as they’ll have me. I’m not sure if Jem’s been intentionally hiding the truth from you, too. I don’t understand how that could be possible. How she could hide an entire pregnancy from you, is beyond me. And the fact that you let her handle such a huge fucking event on her own is unacceptable. I need you to really hear me when I say she needs your help, because all you’re doing is being a burden.
“I get that you’ve lost your spouse. Twice. But Jemma’s lost those same people, and you made her grow up too fast. She has ababy, David. Withme. Look at me. Do I seem like a suitable man for her?” Gunnar says, his volume escalating.
The voice in my head says,Fuck yeah, hero. You’re more than suitable. Swing your big dick back over the fence, and I’ll meet you there.
But my dad’s voice asks, “Is this true, Buttercup?”
He hasn’t called meButtercupin nearly two years, and he says it so tenderly, my heart cracks open. He sounds the way he used to, when he’d turn my way and actuallyseeme.
I look away, as the tears start to fall.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispers.
“You weren’t here, for me to tell.” I let some of my anger seep through in the words. “I doubt you’d have heard me. And I wanted to start a life beyond what I had in this house. A better life.”
“Withhim?” Dad cries, finding some volume from somewhere.
“Alone, actually. But why not him?” I argue. “He’s kind, and he’s got the makings of a good father.”
“To whom?” Dad asks. “You? He looks twice your age.”
“He’smorethan twice my age,” I snarl, ready to go head-to-head with him, now that he’s acting like he’s got enough pith to fight me back. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Forbid you from seeing him.”
Cool, harsh laughter peels from my throat. “On what authority, Dad? I’m an adult. I don’t even live here.”
“You don’t?”
“David,” Gunnar says in a warning tone, “I don’t want to yell at you in front of the baby, but I’m losing a lot of respect for you right now. You raised a smart and beautiful woman, but you fucking fell at the last hurdle, man. You need to pick up your game. You hear me? Sort your shit out, pay attention, and support your daughter the way she deserves.”
“You speak as if you know what’s best for her.” Dad narrows his eyes to slits.
“Oh, I have an opinion about the need to prioritize your daughter over your self-absorbed misery, if that’s what you mean. You’re missing out on her life, and she’s fucking amazing.”
Fucking hell, I should not be getting wet between my thighs from this argument.
Dad looks between Gunnar and me, his gaze lingering on the baby. “You’re right. I’ll make an appointment with my doctor, first thing in the morning, and I’ll make every effort to learn all that I’ve missed. I’m sorry, Jem.”
I nod and keep my gaze on my toes. “So am I.”
Dad shifts his focus to Gunnar. “But I think you’ll agree that a man like you — who takes advantage of vulnerable young women, and irresponsibly impregnates a teen when he clearly has enough moral standing to know better — is not a man my daughter needs sniffing around.”
