Daddy Next Door - The Complete Series Box Set (A Single Dad Navy SEAL Romance)

by Claire Adams

  I took Emily and Nina to the diner on Lexington for dinner, and for several hours we sat and laughed about everything and nothing. It was good to see Emily slowly returning to the way she had been before the confrontation with her parents, but there was something in her eyes that told me that whatever had happened at her house wasn’t quite over yet.

  On the drive home, Nina sang loudly with the radio from the back seat and then nudged me once I’d parked in the driveway in front of Emily’s house.

  “Dad, walk her up to the front door!” Nina urged. “It’s totally rude not to do that!”

  “Where are you getting your information from, young lady?” I said, shooting her a warning look.

  “It’s okay, I’m fine,” Emily laughed, as she got out of the truck and headed up toward the front door.

  “Dad!” Nina whispered. “Go! Now! You need to give her a goodnight kiss!”

  “Don’t lecture me, daughter,” I said sternly before getting out of the truck and following Emily up to the door.

  “Seriously, I’m fine, Blake,” Emily said, turning to look at me. Before she could say anything else, I cupped her chin with my hand, bent down and softly kissed her lips. When I pulled back, Emily let out a small sigh and said, “Oh.”

  “Do you want to have dinner with me and my nice family tomorrow night?” I asked. “I would like it, and I know they would, too.”

  Emily nodded before turning the key in the lock and letting herself into the house. I watched with a big grin on my face as she turned to close the door.

  “I’ll pick you up at 5!” I shouted, just before she closed the door. When I returned to the truck, Nina flashed me a big grin and two thumbs up.

  “Way to go, Dad!” she cheered, as she climbed over the backseat and took her place in the passenger seat. “Let’s rock and roll!”

  Chapter Thirty

  Emily

  The next afternoon, I spent a long time getting ready for my date with Blake and his family. I pulled everything out of KO’s closet trying to find something decent to wear. I passed on the T-shirts with obscene sayings on them in favor of a fluffy pink angora sweater that KO had shoved in the back of her closet. I paired the sweater with the new jeans I’d bought after the fire and a pair of black leather boots. The effect was a juxtaposition of innocence and danger.

  I’d just finished brushing out my hair when I heard a knock on the front door, followed by the sound of it opening.

  “Emily? Are you here?” Nina called as she entered the house.

  “In the back bathroom finishing up!” I called back as I dabbed a little more lipstick on my lips and smacked them together to set it. I took a last look at myself in the mirror and smiled, “Perfect.”

  “Oh, you look good!” Nina exclaimed as I emerged from the bedroom. “You look really good, Emily!”

  “Why thank you,” I smiled. I headed to the kitchen calling, “Howard! Dinner!”

  “Where is the little rascal?” Nina asked, as she looked around the living room for the ball of orange fluff that was my cat. I guessed she’d found him when I heard her holler, “Ouch! Bad kitty!”

  “Howard, what are you doing to Nina?” I yelled, as I dumped his food into his bowl and then reached for his water bowl.

  “He smacked me!” Nina said, as she came into the kitchen holding one hand with the other. “I was petting him, and he just reached out and smacked me with his claws.”

  “He’s kind of a jerk that way,” I said, pulling her hand away from the injured one and taking a look at the scratches. Howard had left his mark, but it didn’t look too serious. I cleaned the wounds with warm water and soap and then put a bandage over them. “That should be okay; I don’t think there will be lasting damage.”

  “What a jerk,” Nina muttered, as she perched on the stool and watched Howard eat his dinner. “Boys.”

  “They’re not all jerks,” I laughed, as I checked my purse to make sure I had everything I needed. “Your dad’s a good one.”

  “Yeah, but I can’t date my dad,” she grumbled. I sensed that something else was going on, but I didn’t know if I should pry.

  “I take it you know one of these jerk boys?” I said in as off-handed a manner as I could muster.

  “Yeah,” she muttered. There was a long pause before she spoke again. “Emily, why do boys say they like you in private and then act like they hate you around their friends?”

  “Ahhh, the age old question,” I said, nodding. “I think your dad would be much better able to answer that question, don’t you?”

  “No. He’d just want to go after the guy and beat him up,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t want my dad anywhere near my love life.”

  “He lets you near his,” I said, trying to encourage her to talk to Blake without sounding overly adult.

  “Yeah, but that’s totally different,” she said. “I’m the kid. I have no say in what he does. Plus, I like you.”

  “You don’t think he’ll like the boy you like?” I asked, wondering which boy it was.

  “I’m pretty sure he’ll hate him,” she sighed. “He hates everyone I like.”

  “I don’t think he hates everyone,” I said sympathetically. “I think he’s just protective of his daughter.”

  “Try overprotective,” she sighed again. We were interrupted by an impatient blast from Blake’s horn. Nina looked out the kitchen window and said, “We’d better go. Dad’s getting impatient.”

  “What took you girls so long?” Blake asked, as we climbed into the truck.

  “Girl talk and my jerk of a cat,” I said, as I leaned across the front seat and kissed his cheek and whispered, “Let it go for now.”

  Blake nodded as he cranked the radio, and we all sang at the top of lungs the whole drive. At his parents’ house, Ellie had a feast awaiting us, and when I walked into the kitchen to ask if I could help, she wrapped me in a big hug.

  “It’s been far too long since we’ve seen you, dear,” Ellie said with a warm smile. “Now, if you’ll put those dishes on the table, we’ll be ready to eat!”

  We all gathered around the table and ate until we were ready to burst. Ellie and Alan had taken a trip to Costa Rica the week before and were full of tales of the rich, lush landscape, delicious food, and friendly villagers. As Nina cleared the table with help from her father, Alan pulled out the dominoes and began prepping the playing area.

  “Aw, Dad, no!” Blake groaned, as he re-entered the dining room to grab a few more dishes. “Do we have to do this every time?”

  “What?” Alan said, shooting his son a look. “Emily is good at the game, and I think she’d probably enjoy a game or two. Am I right, Emily?”

  “I, well…I…” I stammered, looking back and forth between Blake and his father, unsure of how to answer.

  “Fine!” Blake laughed, throwing his hands in the air. “Just steal my girl and play until the cows come home, Dad.”

  “I believe I will,” Alan grinned.

  Once the dishes were taken care of, Blake and Nina rejoined us at the table, bringing the cake and coffee that Ellie had prepared. Alan split us into teams, and he and I proceeded to make quick work of Blake and Nina’s team. We won several rounds before Nina pointed out that she had to be up early the next morning because Remy was coming to pick her up.

  As we prepared to leave, Alan disappeared into his work room and emerged holding something behind his back.

  “Emily, I’ve got something for you that I think you’ll appreciate,” he said with a grin, as he handed me a long, narrow box. It was surprisingly heavy, and I gave Alan a confused look as I sat down and unwrapped the present.

  “Oh, Alan, this is lovely!” I said, as I looked at the lid of the box, which had a picture of a set of beautiful ebony domino tiles on it. “Thank you so much!”

  “Now open the box,” he said, as he exchanged a knowing grin with Ellie. “There’s more inside.”

  “Oh no, you shouldn’t have,” I said, as I lifted the li
d and found a plain white envelope inside. I picked it up, opened it and gasped. “You really shouldn’t have!”

  “What is it, Emily?” Nina asked, as she stepped up beside me and peeked around my arm then exclaimed, “Whoa, Gramps! That’s so cool!”

  “Will someone tell me what’s going on, please?” Blake said, as he peeked over my shoulder.

  “Your dad gave me the rest of his Celtics season tickets,” I said, holding them up so Blake could see them and grinning as I added, “If you’re nice to me, maybe I’ll take you to a game or two.”

  “Geez, Dad,” Blake said, as he looked at his father. “I had no idea Emily was your favorite!”

  “She’s a nice girl, and I knew she’d appreciate the tickets,” Alan said, as he grabbed his son and hugged him tightly. “Unlike my ungrateful sons who don’t know a basketball from a hole in the ground.”

  “Now listen here, old man,” Blake laughed, as he returned the hug. “Don’t try and show me up!”

  Alan laughed as he stepped back and let Ellie hug Blake. I moved toward Alan and hugged him tightly.

  “Thank you so much,” I said, in a voice choked with emotion. “It’s really very kind of you.”

  “Be good to him,” Alan said quietly. “He’s fallen pretty hard for you.”

  I stepped back and nodded even though I didn’t quite understand what Alan was saying. I wasn’t sure he knew what had happened between Blake and me, and I definitely didn’t want to try and explain my parents to him and Ellie. They’d never approve of me dating Blake if they knew how my family had behaved toward him.

  On the way home, I turned to Blake and said, “You know, Valentine’s Day is Tuesday.”

  “Uh-huh,” he nodded, without taking his eyes off the road. “What’s your point?”

  “Dad!” Nina yelled from the backseat. “Don’t be a total douche!”

  “Hey, watch your language, young lady,” Blake warned.

  “Douche is not a bad word, Dad,” Nina sighed, as she fell back against the seat.

  “It’s really not,” I whispered loud enough for Nina to hear. “It’s just teenage slang.”

  “Well, I don’t like it,” Blake said.

  “Okay, well, how about you accompany me to the Celtics game on Tuesday, and we’ll discuss flexible semiotics on the drive into Boston,” I said dryly. Nina giggled loudly in the back seat.

  “I don’t know who this semiotics team is, but I’d be happy to watch the game with you,” Blake replied with a grin.

  “Dad! Don’t be so clueless!” Nina groaned. “You’re embarrassing me!”

  “Then we’re even, kiddo,” he grinned, as he looked at her in the rearview mirror. “You’ve embarrassed me more times than I can count.”

  “Sure, like when I was two!” she protested.

  “Oh no, you’ve done a bang-up job over the past year, my beautiful daughter,” he laughed. Nina dissolved into a fit of laughter, and I found myself trying to hide a grin as I listened to the two of them detail the instances of embarrassment with mock outrage.

  “So, will you go to the game with me?” I said, breaking in before Nina could begin another tale of her father’s cluelessness. “Will you be my Valentine’s Day date?”

  “I’d love to,” Blake said, as he pulled up into my driveway and parked the truck. He walked me to my door, where we exchanged a very chaste kiss before he whispered, “I’ll ditch the kid, and after the game, we can indulge in some adult activities.”

  “We shall see, Mr. Gaston,” I said with a flirty grin. “We shall see.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Blake

  Sunday morning, I woke Nina up early so she could get ready for Remy to pick her up. She said Remy was planning to take her to her church and then to Boston for lunch and shopping. Nina rolled her eyes at having to go to church until I reminded her that when she stayed with her grandparents, they, too, took her to church.

  Nina bounced around the house, grabbing things that she would need for the week at her mother’s house, and seemed genuinely excited to be seeing Remy return after her two-week trip. I made a quick breakfast, and we sat down to eat while we waited for Remy to arrive.

  “Do you think Mom’ll take me to Newbury Street, Dad?” she asked, as she scooped up a forkful of eggs and stuffed them in her mouth.

  “I don’t know, do you think she will?” I parroted back, earning a dramatic eye roll and an exasperated sigh.

  “I love to look at the designer shops, but there’s an H&M store there that has a jacket I want,” she said, as she spread jam on a second piece of toast. “Do you think Mom’ll buy it for me?”

  “Nina, I have no idea what your mother will or won’t do,” I said, trying not to get drawn into a mom versus dad discussion before Remy arrived. “I’ll bet if you’re on your best behavior she’ll be far more likely to reward you.”

  “Fine, I’ll be good,” she sighed and then continued, “I missed her. I wonder if she had a good trip. She’ll be really happy to hear about my A on the History exam, won’t she?”

  “Over the moon,” I said, nodding in agreement. Nina quickly finished her breakfast and carried her dishes to the sink. I called over my shoulder, “Hey, don’t forget your winter boots. They’re in the front hall closet, Punkin.”

  “Oh yeah, I’ll get ‘em,” she said, running into the front room and digging through the closet before yelling, “Got ‘em!”

  Nina had gone back to her room to double check her packing when my phone rang. It was Remy.

  “Hey, Remy, she’s almost ready,” I said, as I carried my plate to the sink and started the water so I could do the dishes.

  “Yeah, about that,” Remy said uncomfortably. “Something’s come up at work, and I’m going to have head out of town again this week. Do you mind keeping Nina while I iron this out?”

  “She was looking forward to seeing you today,” I said in a flat voice.

  “Blake, don’t start with me this morning,” Remy warned. “I’ve had a rough week, and I don’t need another person on my case right now.”

  “It’s not me that you should be worried about,” I said dryly. “Your daughter misses you, and she was looking forward to spending the day with you.”

  “What am I supposed to do, Blake?” Remy snapped. “I can’t just drop everything and leave this job half done so that I can spend the day shopping! I’m trying to earn a living here!”

  “Hey, I’m not judging you for whatever it is that you’re doing, Remy,” I said defensively. “I’m just saying that your daughter has been bouncing around the house all morning excited about spending time with you, and this is going to disappoint her.”

  “She’ll live,” Remy said coolly.

  “You’re such a cold bitch sometimes; you know that?” I shot back angrily. During our entire marriage, Remy had always been interested in one thing above all else: Remy. I had hoped that she might place Nina a little bit above herself, but this just proved that a leopard never changed its spots.

  “I may be cold, but I’m the one who will be putting our daughter through college, so you should probably be a little nicer to me about the choices I have to make when it comes to building her college fund,” Remy hissed. “I don’t have the luxury of an enormous pension. I stayed at home with our daughter for the first 10 years of her life, remember?”

  “Don’t blame me for the choices you made, Remy,” I warned.

  “We made them, Blake. We agreed that I’d stay home and raise our children,” she said angrily.

  “Children. Plural. We had one child, and you decided we shouldn’t have any more, remember?” I shot back.

  “Do not blame me for the fact that I didn’t want to have any more children, Blake Gaston!” Remy raged. “You swore you wouldn’t ever use that as ammunition!”

  “You’re right; I was wrong. I’m sorry,” I sighed. “Remy, she’s just going to be really disappointed. She wanted to see you.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” Re
my said, in a voice that wavered on the edge of tears. I knew she was trying as hard as she could to do what she needed to do, and I kicked myself for making it more difficult.

  “Do you want to talk to her or am I the one who has to break the news?” I asked.

  “Can you tell her?” she asked. “I’m on my way to a meeting with a client, and if I talk to her right now, I’m going to end up ruining my makeup.”

  “Jesus, Remy…” I said, trailing off before I launched into a lecture on how keeping up appearances wasn’t nearly as important as reassuring her daughter that she loved her and was sorry for disappointing her.

  “Don’t start, Blake,” Remy warned.

  “Fine, I’ll handle it,” I said. “When are you coming back?”

  “Friday at the latest, but I’m really hoping that I can wrap this up and be back by Wednesday,” she said, as I heard her flick the turn signal in the car. “Yikes, I’m here. I have to go! I’ll call Nina tonight and explain! Thanks, Blake!”

  She disconnected, and I stood staring at the screen of my phone for a full minute as I tried to get my thoughts together. I tucked the phone in my pocket, shut off the water, and headed toward Nina’s room. I stood outside her door and took a deep breath before I tapped on it.

  “Punkin, Mom just called,” I said, as I pushed the door open. Nina was sitting on the edge of her bed furiously tapping on her phone. She looked up at me like a deer caught in the headlights and quickly dimmed the screen.

  “What?” she said, tucking the phone under her leg.

  “Mom just called and said she’s going to have to head out of town again, so she can’t make it today,” I said, bracing myself for the dramatic reaction I was about to have to deal with.

  “Are you kidding me?” Nina asked quietly. “Did she really say that?”

  “Yeah, she said she’s really sorry, and that she’ll call you tonight after she’s done with her meetings and explain,” I said, watching the emotions rapidly cross Nina’s face. I wasn’t quite sure where they would stop, but I wanted to be close in case she needed me. I added, “She was really sad that she couldn’t make it home today. She was looking forward to your day together.”