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Memories from my childhood flooded my brain. I saw the lonely girl quietly crying when no one was looking after her mother had taken away all of her birthday gifts and replaced them with designer handkerchiefs, little white gloves, and dresses with way too much tulle. I’d learned to love fashion… and lived in a world that was dressed up but held no love or anything substantial. Gray was the realest thing to ever be in my sphere of influence, and I’d done anything and everything to destroy what I should have been honoring and holding dear to my heart this entire time. Had I been acting, putting on a facade this entire time, like I had at home, so he would approve of me? The thought was staggering.
“Oh, my god! Sadie, I just realized something!”
She smiled encouragingly.
“Everything I do is an act. All of it, every single aspect is driven by the need for approval, and when I don’t get what I want, I lose it. I don’t know what to do now. I mean, is it fair to Gray?”
“Is what fair to Gray?”
He stood in the doorway with Derek. Now what should I do? Sadie, seeming to understand my dilemma, stood and grabbed Derek's hand.
“Come on, Daddy, I think these two need a moment.”
Gray took the vacated chair opposite me and sat down. What’s wrong, little one?” His gentle tone made my heart ache even more for what I’d put him through, and still would until I learned full control of my reactions.
“I’m sorry, Gray. So sorry for everything. I’ve just realized that even here at Rawhide, I have been the person I thought I left behind in New York. It’s like there is no escape from the behaviors my parents ingrained in me. I honestly don’t know who I am without all that, and I’m not sure staying with you is fair to you. That’s what I was saying to Sadie.”
I waited for the disappointment, but none came, only the wise beyond his years expression I’d come to depend on from him.
“I know there has been so much, Harmony, and part of what’s happening is Daddy’s fault, and I’m sorry.”
What? How was it possible when this was all my shortcomings, and he didn’t seem to have any of those?
“I wanted to wrap up our next steps in a pretty bow and move forward so badly that I ignored your signs, and for that I am sorry. I promise you I will never put an agenda before you ever again. Can you forgive me?”
Pushing myself out of the low seat, I propelled myself forward onto his lap.
“Of course I forgive you. How could I not when you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me?”
Gray gently gripped my chin and tipped my head back until our eyes met.
“Do you trust me, Harmony?”
I had no idea where he was going with this, but regardless, it didn’t change my answer.
“Yes, Daddy. One hundred percent.”
He smiled and gently kissed my lips.
“Then would you trust me with our future and not worry yourself about the larger questions? Would you trust me enough to know I will help you get there, and in steps you can handle. Could you do that for me?”
Hope filled me, opening a heart that had hidden from true love for far too long.
“Yes, Daddy. I can do that.”
He pulled me in tight to his chest then.
“I love you, Harmony.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
Epilogue
Two years later
Gray
“Bend over the desk, Now!” I barked my order and felt a moment of satisfaction when she jumped a bit at my command. The errant Miss Carrington had been baiting me since we got word from the publishing house in New York that they had accepted her manuscript for publication.
