Harlequin Superromance November 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: Christmas at the Cove\Navy Christmas\Until She Met Daniel (20 page)

“What’s going on, Scottie?” Lucy spoke into his chest. “You okay?”

Scott squeezed his eyes shut. “Not really.”

She pulled back and tipped her head back to look into his eyes, the brightness fading. “What’s wrong?”

He ran his gaze over her young face, and loathing for his father rose again, despite his intention to move on. The one thing his sisters had in common was their integrity. They might be too honest and forthright for their own good sometimes, but there weren’t any two sides to them. What you saw was what you got. He owed them his honesty and needed to tell them what little he knew about their father—and about Carrie and Belle, too.

Forcing a smile, he touched his finger to Lucy’s chin. “I want you to go downstairs and put on a pot of coffee.” He glanced at the grandfather clock across the landing. “Wait half an hour or so and then call Bianca and Ella. We need a family meeting. Ask them to come here for lunch.”

She frowned. “Why?”

He sighed. “It’s about Dad, Luce.”

His mother’s bedroom door opened and Scott stiffened. He lifted his gaze and met his mother’s glare. She shook her head and the pile of laundry she carried trembled. “You don’t think it was my place to let her know about her father?”

Lucy turned around. “Dad’s back?”

She sucked in a breath and Scott held her close, his arm across her shoulders. He frowned. “This involves all of us. You said I can’t stop you from talking to him, and I can’t. What I can stop is you bringing him back into our lives without any of us having a say in whether we want to see him or not.”

Their gazes locked and Scott’s heart picked up speed. Couldn’t his mother see he was trying to protect her? Protect all of them?

She put the laundry on the floor. Ignoring Scott, his mother took Lucy’s hands. “I’ve been speaking to Dad over the last few weeks and he’d like to visit on Christmas. There’s nothing to worry about. I haven’t agreed to anything yet.” She glanced at Scott, her gaze cold. “Your brother is making a mountain out of a mole hill.”

Scott glowered. “You haven’t just been talking to him. He’s here. I want us to talk about this. What happened after I left last night?”

Lucy touched his arm. “What happened last night? You’ve seen him? Did you speak to him?”

Her eyes were wide with confusion.

Scott inwardly cursed. This was not the way he wanted her to find out. Her hand slipped from his arm and she stepped back, anger burning in her eyes. “Have you spoken to him, Scottie? Yes or no.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but their mum got there first. “Yes, he has.” She shot Scott a glare. “In a roundabout way. Scott ran into your father and me at The Oceanside last night.”

Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “You were having a meal together? Why didn’t I know about this? Am I the last to know, as usual?”

Scott stepped forward, this time managing to grasp his sister’s elbow. “No, you’re not. Bianca and Ella don’t have any idea yet, either. That’s why we need them to come here ASAP.” He looked at his mum. “We have to talk about this now. Where’s he staying?”

His mother looked from him to Lucy and back again as two spots of color darkened her cheeks. “I don’t know.”

Scott stiffened. “Why wouldn’t he tell you where he’s staying?”

She looked past him. “I don’t know.”

“Did you ask him?”

She glared. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not like that. He wants to take this one step at a time, just like I do.”

Scott shook his head. “Fine, then let him take his time. All I care about is you, Bianca, Ella and Lucy. If you want to try again with him, we can’t stop you, but we can decide if we actually want him to be our dad again.” He turned to Lucy. “What happens between you and Dad is up to you, Luce. If you want to see Dad, you can. Okay? If you don’t...that’s okay, too.”

Her gaze flitted over his face. “What about you? Will you see him again?”

Scott inhaled a breath. “I don’t know.”

His mum cleared her throat and he turned. Her eyes were dark with determination. “You made your feelings pretty clear last night. I’ve told him no to Christmas and we’ll see how things go in the New Year.” She faced Lucy. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s call Bianca and Ella and start thinking about what we can make for lunch.” She picked up the laundry and tossed a scowl at Scott. “While we leave your brother to have his shower. Maybe he’ll cool off a little.”

Scott stared after them as they descended the stairs, a voice screaming in his head that the longer his family had no clue about Carrie and Belle, the more he was a hypocrite for confronting his mum. When lunchtime rolled around, all the cards would be laid out on the table. In the meantime, he’d spend what was left of the morning running his business before he lost that on top of everything else.

He stalked into the bathroom and closed the door.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A
FTER
THE
MORNING
from hell due to ruffled customers calling the garage wondering where Scott had been hiding for the last few days, he was cranky and in the worst mood possible to face his family as he pulled into his driveway at one o’clock. He got off his bike and stowed his helmet in the rear box. As he walked up the drive to the house, Scott glanced at Bianca’s and Ella’s parked cars...and then halted as he stared back toward the street. The hairs at the back of his neck rose. A black sedan was parked at the curb.

He clenched his jaw and turned to glower at the house.

His father was here. Inside his house.

Sending up a silent prayer for the strength for whatever came next and the ability to hold his already simmering temper, Scott strode forward and pushed his key into the lock of his front door. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, the unusually muted and strained blend of female voices filtered from the kitchen. Scott toed off his work boots and approached the kitchen. He paused with his hand on the door, took a deep breath and pushed it open.

He entered the battlefield, determined to start the discussion with a sense of calm civility. This unachievable notion was kicked into oblivion as soon as he saw his father sitting at the kitchen table.

His self-control vanished on a puff of air. “What the hell are you doing here?”

His father’s blue eyes darkened and he rose to his feet, his hands lifted in a gesture of surrender. “This was your mum’s idea, Scottie. Not mine. She thought it best we get everything out in the open and I see all of you again at the same time, in the same place.”

“And you agreed?” He glanced around the kitchen at the pale faces of his mother and sisters. “Are you okay with this?”

His sisters stared at him.

He clenched his jaw. “Well?”

Bianca pushed away from the counter. “It’s for the best. We’ve all got things we want to say to Dad, but ultimately, this is about Mum, not us.”

Scott’s blood burned with frustration, but he couldn’t deny Bianca’s words. He snatched his gaze to his mother. She stared back at him, her gaze steely but laced with pleading. “Sit down, Scottie. Please.”

Asking him to sit with his father was a step too far, so Scott strode between Bianca and his mother, straight to the sink. He cursed the tremor in his hand as he lifted a clean glass from the drainer and filled it with water. He needed to get a handle on the overwhelming need to shout and curse before ejecting his father from his home. He took a fortifying gulp and turned. “So, where do we go from here?” He trained his glare on his father. “I hope to God you’re not here expecting a white Christmas reunion?”

His father lowered back onto his chair. “I’m expecting nothing more than you kids are willing to give me.” He drew his gaze from Scott’s to look at each of his daughters in turn. “I’ll take whatever it is. Good or bad. You’re...” He shook his head and briefly closed his eyes before opening them again. “You’re all so grown up. I can’t... I won’t insist we work this out right now, but I’d love for us to start working on something to make up for what I’ve done.”

Scott gripped his glass so tightly, how it didn’t shatter he had no idea. “I’d love to hear your summary of what you’ve done. Why don’t you sum up the last ten years for us?”

His father met his glare. “I ran, Scottie. I ran and didn’t look back. I own that. That’s my fault and looking at you kids now, I know I messed up big time.”

Scott glared, not trusting himself to speak or refrain from spewing his resentment all over his sisters and mother. It wasn’t his place to tell them what they should or shouldn’t do as far as their father was concerned. He glanced at them.

Ella and Lucy stared at their dad with awed fascination, whereas Scott imagined the hot glare coming from Bianca pretty much mirrored his own expression.

Silence followed.

He could count on one hand how many times his sisters and mother were quiet for more than two seconds when he saw them individually, let alone when they were together. The tension was palpable and his eldest sister’s temper was notorious. The insane urge to laugh rose inside him. Maybe their father was braver than he ever gave him credit for.

Scott lowered his shoulders and faced his mum. “What do you want, Mum? Do you want to try again with him?”

Her mother glanced from Scott to her daughters, to their father, before moving closer and resting her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Yes, I think I do.”

The joined tut of his younger sisters and the curse of Bianca permeated the room. Scott inhaled through flared nostrils. “Then I don’t see there is a lot any of us can do to stop you.” He met his father’s eyes. “But that doesn’t mean you’re forgiven. I can’t speak for everyone else, but it’s going to take a hell of a long time for me to even come close to trusting you. A hell of a long time.”

His father nodded. “I understand that.”

“Good.” Despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Scott casually leaned his butt against the kitchen counter and took another sip of water. He met Bianca’s gaze as she watched him. He swallowed. “Anything to add?”

Bianca turned to her father and walked closer, fisting her hands on her hips and staring him down. “I’m with Scott. Ella and Lucy don’t remember or know you like Scottie and me. Their forgiveness might be easier to come by. You’ve got a lot of work to do and if for one single, tiny moment you hurt Mum again...”

“I won’t.” He looked up at their mother, standing rigid by his side, her face a mask of determination. “I might be an idiot but I’ve learned from my mistakes.” He met Bianca’s gaze and then Ella’s and Lucy’s before concentrating on Scott. “You have my word. This time I’m here for keeps, whether you want to see me or not.”

Wariness edged up a notch as Scott’s wafer-thin hold on his need to smack the man in the face took a hairline fracture. “Do not say that out loud. Do not say we have your word on anything.” He glared. “Your word means nothing to any of us. Not yet.” He faced Ella and Lucy. “What do you two think about this? You’re very quiet.”

Ella continued to stare at their father rather than look at Scott. “I don’t know what I think yet, but I do know I want Mum to be happy.”

His gut clenched. Ella was right. That was what he wanted, too. What they all wanted. He swallowed and turned to Lucy. “Luce?”

Lucy blinked and faced him, her big blue eyes shining with unshed tears. “I want the same as Ella.” She faced their father. “I don’t know you. You’re a stranger to me so this is going to take time. A lot of time.”

Scott looked to their father. He nodded and his cheeks turned red, but there was no denying the relief in the slump of his father’s shoulders. “Thank you. Thank you all...” He looked around the kitchen before he reached up and clenched his wife’s hand where it lay on his shoulder. “I won’t ask for any more than that.”

Nausea coated Scott’s throat in bitterness and he took another drink of water in an attempt to dilute it. He pushed away from the sink. “Fine. Then we take this slowly. You and Mum are entitled to do what you want, when you want, but I think I speak for the rest of us when I say we take this one step at a time.”

“Scottie?”

His mother’s voice was like a vise around his heart. He met her eyes. “What?”

“What about Christmas? I’d like your father to come for lunch.”

The seconds beat with each dangerous thump of Scott’s heart. He looked to Bianca and she shrugged; he looked to Ella and Lucy and they nodded in unison. Shit. He faced his mother. “Do what you want. I’ve got more important people to worry about at Christmastime than him.” He dumped his glass in the sink and made for the door. He needed to get out of there so he could breathe.

“Where are you going?” Bianca’s question halted him.

Scott turned. “I’m going to see Carrie. My time with her is too precious to waste.”

Bianca smiled. “You really like her, huh?”

He nodded, cursing the gleam of satisfaction in his sister’s eyes. “Yes.”

“I heard on the grapevine she has a kid too. A little girl.”

Scott tensed and cast a glance around the kitchen before meeting Bianca’s gaze once more. “Who told you that?”

“Oh, the wonderfully delightful Miss Arnold, of course. She was practically peeing her pants with excitement when she caught me at Marian’s yesterday.”

The weight of his mother’s, Ella’s and Lucy’s stares pressed down on Scott’s chest. Unasked questions hovered like an unexploded grenades around him. “Yes, she has a daughter. Her name’s Belle.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but Bianca got there first. Her steady gaze pinned him to the spot like the accused in the box. “Is she yours?”

His heart picked up speed as he stared at his eldest sister, her tone as calm as it always was, but her gaze told him in no uncertain terms she wanted the truth.

He pulled back his shoulders. “Yes.”

The collective gasp of his mother, Ella, and Lucy bounced from the kitchen tiles and smacked him right in the gut. He focused entirely on his mother. It was her feelings he cared about the most in that moment. This was not the way he wanted her to find out about her very first grandchild.

“How can you be so sure?” Bianca demanded. “The woman hasn’t been in town more than a few days.”

Swallowing the need to apologize to his mum, to go to her and put his arms around her, he turned to his eldest sister. “Kevin rushed through a DNA test. Belle’s mine. I have a daughter.”

He looked back to his mum.

Her eyes glistened with tears and she pressed a hand to her heart, her mouth stretched to a grin. “You’re a daddy?”

In spite of everything and everyone in the room, including his father, Scott smiled. “Yes, Mum. I’m a daddy.”

A sob caught in her throat and she immediately left his father’s side, her arms coming around Scott in an embrace. “I’m a grandma. Oh, Scottie, this is the happiest day of my life.”

Closing his eyes to his father’s smile, Scott grinned. “You’re going love Carrie, Mum. All I want is her and Belle.”

“I am so happy for you, sweetheart.” She pulled back and held him at arm’s length. “When do we get to meet Carrie? Could you invite her over now?”

Scott tensed and shot his gaze to his father. “Not now, but soon.” He smiled to ease the worry that immediately clouded his mother’s happy gaze. “I love her, Mum. I’ve loved her since the moment I first laid eyes on her. I waited for her to come find me instead of going to find her. I was an idiot to let that happen and waste every damn minute we could’ve had together.” He stole an arm around her shoulder and met his father’s eyes. “You and I share the same gene pool, have made similar mistakes but from here on in, we have a lot of work to do. No more playing around. No more women. You and I are going to do it the right way from now on and not lose the women we love. Deal?”

His father smiled. “Deal.”

Scott nodded, his heart beating hard. He pressed a kiss to his mother’s temple before stepping back, only to be embraced in a family hug by Bianca, Ella and Lucy. When they released him, he exhaled. “Right, I’m out of here. Christmas doesn’t wait for anyone, including Carrie, and she’s desperate to get home in time to be with Belle. I’ll see you later.” He glanced at his father for a final time. “And I’ll give some thought about Christmas lunch.”

* * *

C
ARRIE
REACHED
FOR
her third latte of the day, her mind busy with the words and ideas flowing through her brain like the snowflakes running down the bakery window. She grinned as her pen flew over her notepad. She hadn’t been this creative, this energized or excited about her work in months. It was as though the darkness since Gerard died had lifted and a sliver of light for a possible, happier future had kick-started her heart and mind.

She sucked on the end of her pen and stared across the bustling bakery toward Marian and Stacy as they worked behind the counter. Carrie smiled and her heart swelled with fondness for the good people she’d met in Templeton. When she arrived, her defenses were high and her mind set on nothing more than clearing the air with Scott. She hadn’t expected to feel like anything more than a stranger visiting an even stranger town.

Yet slowly, the pull of this small town with its beach and promenade, quaint shops and restaurants and colorful characters were seeping under her skin and making her understand Scott’s reluctance to leave.

Templeton Cove was his home. Her smile dissolved as Marian blurred in her vision. Carrie hastily swiped at her eyes and turned back to her work. She was leaving. The receptionist had rung Carrie’s cell an hour before, telling her the Cove was now open to incoming trains but as yet hadn’t given the all-clear for departures. She would call again as soon as she knew more.

Carrie closed her eyes and prayed God stopped throwing snow down on them and let her go home to her baby for Christmas. The alternative, to be stranded here without Belle, was something she couldn’t contemplate. Tears threatened and she blinked. It wouldn’t happen. No God would be so cruel as to bring her to Templeton to find Belle’s father and not let her return in time to sit with her by the tree and open their presents together.

As soon as she got the call from the hotel, she’d book a cab for first thing the next day. Christmas Eve. Carrie blew out a breath. In the meantime, she needed to call her mother and explain the reason for the delay. She snatched up her cell and dialed home.

Her mother picked up on the second ring. “Carrie, I’m so glad to hear from you. Any news from the station?”

Belle’s delighted laughter resounded in the background, along with her father’s bad impersonation of a train. She smiled. “They’re allowing incoming trains but no departures. The hotel will call as soon as anything changes.” Her breath caught. “Mum, I need to be there for Christmas. I can’t be without Belle—”

“Come hell or high water, you’ll be with her. You mustn’t think that way.”

“What if nothing changes? What if the line is still closed tomorrow?”

“Then your father and I will bring Belle to Templeton.”