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“Lily…”
But she was already shaking her head wildly. “I won’t do that to him. He’s already had to work for the last several years being afraid of you. I’m not going to make him suffer more. For once, I’m not being selfish!”
“You’re not selfish!” he argued. “And yeah, okay, I was kind of a hard-ass to Noah. But in my defense, the whole thing looked like a setup, and I was more upset with your grandfather about it.”
“Seriously?” she mocked. “Did you treat Grandpa the same as you treated Noah?”
“Well, no, but…”
“So you were actually more upset with Noah because…why?”
Rolling his eyes, Lucas shifted on the stool. “Look, as a father, I don’t want to see any guy groping one of my daughters. That’s a thing, it’s a rule, and it’s allowed,” he said firmly. “I looked at Noah like he was taking advantage of the situation.”
“Okay, but even after I explained the situation to you, you still gave him a hard time!”
Lowering his head, he nodded. “You’re right. I don’t even have an excuse except…I hold grudges. Ask anyone, they’ll all tell you I’m a jerk like that.”
“Yeah, well…”
“But if I promised to apologize to Noah, would that make things better?”
Her heart wanted to yell, “Yes!” but her head was saying the opposite. “This is for the best,” she said quietly. “Noah’s got so much going for him and he’s pretty structured. I’m a chaotic mess and I don’t know if I want to stay here in Charlotte or go dance in Miami or Nashville or Dallas…” She looked up at her father sadly. “I’m not good for him.”
He studied her for several long moments. “But you love him.”
She nodded. “I do. And that’s why this hurts so much.” Swallowing hard, she nodded again. “Didn’t you walk away from Mom to get your life together?”
“Sometimes I hate how much you know about all my mistakes,” he murmured.
“Everyone says we’re a lot alike,” she said, giving him a small grin.
“And I’m sorry for that. I messed up my life a lot by my own making and I’m watching you do the same, Lil. Learn from my mistakes; don’t repeat them.”
For a minute, she let that sink in, but ultimately, she knew she was doing the right thing. “I know what I’m doing,” she told him. “It’s what’s best for Noah.” She paused because even saying his name hurt. “And for me.”
Lucas finally stood and walked around the island and pulled her into his embrace, kissing the top of her head, which was easy because she was quite a bit shorter than him. “I love you, baby girl, and I hate to see you hurting like this.” He sighed. “Tell me what I can do to make it better.”
She held on tight and wished there were something he could magically do, but…there wasn’t. “Just…trust me, okay?” she whispered. “I’m finally growing up and I need to do this all on my own.”
She felt him nod. “Know that I’m here if you need me.”
“Thanks, Dad. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
* * *
The rest of the week had been a blur of long days and longer nights. Noah worked, doing everything he could to make things as smooth as possible for when Mac, Lucas, and Jason came back to work.
And William too, of course.
But once the weekend hit, he was lost, miserable, and alone.
Basically, he was back to living the way he was a month ago before Lily Montgomery came crashing back into his life.
His emotions were all over the place—he was angry and full of rage one minute, and then sad and depressed the next. It was like riding the biggest, scariest roller coaster and he hated rides.
Actually, he hated everything right now.
