by Debbie Mason
He scratched his neck. “A birthday, I’m thinking. Just can’t remember which one.” He smiled and held up a finger. “I remember now. I surprised each of them on their sixteenth birthdays. It’s the most important birthday in a young woman’s life. A good time for a father to share some advice. About the birds and the bees, you know.”
“And how did that go?” she asked, trying to keep the Are you freaking kidding me? out of her voice.
“Not all that well, if you must know. But now that I’m thinking about it, I also made it to both their graduations for high school and college. And up until we lost touch, I always sent a Christmas present and birthday card with a bit of green.”
“So you haven’t seen or spoken to either of them since Penelope moved to California and Daphne to New York?”
“That’s where they’re living now, is it?” At her nod, he sighed and looked over his shoulder at the dining room. “I’m not sure this is a good idea, lass.”
“It’ll be fine. It’s just the first step on a long road. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself or Penelope and Daphne to fix everything today. They’re here for a month. You have lots of time.” She thought it wise to take her own advice. Daniel needed a day or two to get to know her better and see he could trust her before she questioned him about Emily’s right-hand man in Harmony Harbor.
“All right, that takes off a bit of the pressure. I’ll just be my charming self. Regale them with stories of my adventures. The women always like that.”
So he was one of those. You give him an inch, and he takes it to the next county. “You can do that. But if you do, don’t be surprised when they dump their water glasses on your head and storm out.”
“What would you have me do, then?”
“Tell them that you know your lack of involvement in their lives has hurt them deeply.”
“But it wasn’t all my fault. Their mothers—”
“It doesn’t matter. This is about your relationship with them. Take the blame. Take full responsibility. Tell them how sorry you are. You are sorry, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. I know it doesn’t look like it from where you’re standing, but I love my girls. I always have.”
“Tell them that. It’s a great place to start.” She smiled. “Let’s go have lunch with your daughters.”
He grabbed her hand. “You’ll stay with me, won’t you? My mother’s looking after the twins and can’t join us. I thought about asking Jasper, but he’s not particularly pleased with me at the moment.”
“Sure.” She knew Penelope and Daphne wouldn’t mind. They’d both asked that she stay when she set up the lunch date. Although since he’d skipped his previous lunch and dinner dates with them, neither seemed to have great expectations that this one would take place, as evidenced by their wide eyes when Daniel and Theia met them at the stairs to the dining room.
Daniel gave them a weak smile, the emotion in his voice causing it to tremble as he reached for the girls. “Penelope, Daphne.” Noting their closed-off expressions, he lowered his hands and stepped back. “I know you don’t have much use for me, and I canna say I blame you. I’ve not been the father either of you deserved. For most of my life, I went about things the wrong way. Putting the most important things on the back burner while I chased my dreams. You girls were the most important things, and I made a hash of it. I’m sorry for the hurt I caused. If you can find it in your hearts to give me a second chance, I’ll do better this time. I can promise you that.”
“You’ve always been good at pretty speeches, Daniel. But you suck at the follow-through,” Daphne said.
Penelope glanced at her sister, then offered Daniel a small smile. She went up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you. I know that wasn’t easy.”
“Let’s grab a table on the patio, and the three of you can catch up,” Theia said, ushering an emotional Daniel down the stairs. “Just let me clear it of sharp objects and grab us a couple bottles of wine and a keg of beer first.”
Daniel and Daphne snorted an identical laugh while Penelope looked relieved. She reached over and gave Theia’s hand a grateful squeeze.
Two hours later, they were still sitting at the table. Theia was pumped with how well the father and daughters’ lunch had gone. She was much better at this Daddy Do-Over stuff than she’d expected to be. Of course, it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns. But no one was left battered and bruised on the inside or outside. And they were still speaking.
Even better, the two women were beginning to act like sisters instead of mere strangers. In Daphne’s case, strangers who didn’t like each other. With a little time and some subtle nudging in the right direction, Theia thought the family had a good chance of reconciling. It made her happy to think she’d have a hand in bringing them back together. Even if her motivation was on the shady side.
She felt someone looking at her and glanced over to see Jasper standing by the patio doors. Well done, he mouthed with a smile.
His praise warmed her. She had a feeling he didn’t offer it easily. She went to smile back, but he’d moved aside to let someone pass. Someone who had both Gallagher girls lifting their cutlery to check their teeth. Theia barely managed to stifle an aggravated groan at the sight of Tall, Dark, and Irresistible.
Marco DiRossi was responsible for practically every bad thing that had happened to her since she’d landed in Harmony Harbor four days before, and there was every indication from the way the Gallagher girls had just turned to frown at each other that he’d ruined the progress Penelope and Daphne had made.
Chapter Ten
Forty-five minutes after Marco broke up the Gallagher-family reunion with the news he was there for the twins’ swimming lesson, Theia shuffled behind them on the boardwalk. A couple yards ahead of her, Marco, wearing navy board shorts and a white T-shirt, walked between Penelope and Daphne, who wore cover-ups over their swimsuits and carried floats under their arms.
His head moving from right to left like a Ping-Pong ball being batted around by a couple of seasoned pros, Marco tried to keep up with their conversation. He was as oblivious to their flirtatious attempts as he was to Theia shooting mental darts at his back. The fast-paced walk was murder on her muscles, but she’d rather drop dead in the middle of the boardwalk than admit she was in pain.
The twins, who were walking with their grandfather, weren’t helping matters. They jumped on every single board as they bounded along the boardwalk to the beach for their first swimming lesson with Marco the Magnificent. Each bounce vibrated through the soles of Theia’s flip-flops to the top of her head, causing eight hundred and forty muscles to contract in response.
She dragged herself to the rail and leaned against it while her party continued on without her. Evidently, they’d forgotten about her. Not surprising since she’d tagged along uninvited. But she didn’t have a choice. She was their self-appointed chaperone. The primary focus of today’s op was to keep the sisters’ recently established relationship from blowing up due to their mutual fascination with Tall, Dark, and Irresistible.
She hung her head, holding back a whimper as her neck and shoulder muscles stretched, her arms hanging loosely over the rails. Two mosquitoes dive-bombed her, and she didn’t have the energy to wave them off.
“You okay?” asked an irritatingly familiar voice.
In her opinion, God had unfairly blessed Marco DiRossi. No one who looked that good should also be kind and caring…and willing to run into danger when everyone else was running out.
It was his heroic characteristics that got to her. That was why she stayed away from men like him. The possibility she’d fall head over heels was too great. She knew only too well that relationships based on passion led to pain and heartache. When she finally settled into a relationship, it would be quiet and companionable, no crazy highs and lows.
“You want some help getting back to the manor?”
He didn’t just say that! Did he forget who he was talking to? She slowly turned her he
ad. “I’m good, thanks. I just stopped to look at the flowers.” She returned her head to its previous position. There were no wildflowers. “Over there,” she muttered, turning her head to the right, to where a clump of white flowers was barely visible in the trees’ shadows.
He had the nerve to laugh. “Just admit it. You’re in pain. I promise, no one is going to laugh or think any less of you because you’re a little sore.”
“You just did.”
“No, I’m laughing at your excuse. It was cute, and pathetic. Here. You need to drink.” He handed her a black stainless-steel water bottle.
“Thanks. And just FYI, if I were a little sore, I wouldn’t be walking like I’m ninety. I think I might have torn my ACL. Maybe pulled a couple of tendons.” She flattened her lips at the amusement in his eyes. “What’s so funny?”
“You are. I bet you’re an annoying patient.” He crouched beside her and gently rotated her foot and then moved his strong fingers over her calf. It felt too good to protest, and then it didn’t. She pulled her leg away when he began to dig those incredibly strong fingers into her muscles. “What did I ever do to you? That hurt.”
“No pain, no gain. It’d be better if I had some warm oil. Come on, I’m sure we can snag a bottle at the beach. I’ll have your muscles loosened up in no time.”
She stared at him. “You want to rub oil over my body on a crowded beach?” Warmth gathered low in her belly, the muscles in her legs loosening while other muscles tightened with desire. She hadn’t thought about or used those neglected muscles in a couple of years. And if that wasn’t proof Marco was dangerous, a head-over-heels kind of guy, she didn’t know what was.
“Uh, that’s not exactly what I was suggesting, but—”
Of course it wasn’t. He’d been offering to give her an impersonal deep-tissue massage, and the simple touch of his hands on her leg muddled her brain and tangled up her tongue.
At least she hadn’t sounded flirty or hopeful or like she was begging him to have sex on the beach. She hadn’t, had she? No, she answered her own ridiculous question firmly in her head. If anything, she sounded shocked. Because as much as he wasn’t her type, she definitely wasn’t his.
“I knew that,” she said, her flight response kicking in. She pushed off the rail and began walking (hobbling) toward the stairs to the beach.
“Yeah? So if I said we’ll find a less crowded beach after the twins’ swimming lesson, you wouldn’t be interested?”
“I…” She narrowed her eyes on his ridiculously handsome face. A face that had no doubt launched a thousand women’s fantasies, including beautiful women like Penelope and Daphne. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”
“Yeah…” His gaze roamed her face, and then he frowned. “No, I don’t think I am.”
“Of course you are.” She punched him in the arm. She’d meant to give him a playful punch but ended up giving him a real one instead. At least as real as her aching muscles permitted.
“Ow.” He rubbed his arm. “What was that for? A simple ‘I’m not interested’ would have sufficed.”
She didn’t know why she’d punched him. She was angry at him for teasing her and terrified that he might not be. Possibly a little hopeful too.
She shrugged in response to his question. “I grew up with three male cousins who lived to tease me. Or at least that’s how it seemed. They didn’t respond to tears or pleas, so I learned to punch. Sometimes it worked. Did I hurt you?” She kind of hoped she did. She didn’t want him to think she had a girlie punch.
“Of course you didn’t hurt me. You’re…” He trailed off.
She stopped hobbling to look at him. “You were going to say a girl, weren’t you?”
“Actually, I was going to say ‘woman.’” He laughed and held up his hands. “I’m joking.”
“You must have been an annoying brother.”
“Probably. You’d have to ask Sophie. But I guarantee I was a lot nicer than your cousins.”
“You’re setting the bar low.”
“That bad?”
“It wasn’t fun. But in fairness to them, they were in their early teens when I moved in. The youngest had to give up his room for me and move in with his brother. My aunt was my mother’s only sister. She kind of doted on me. She always wanted a daughter, and the boys grew to resent me.”
“At least you had your aunt. Your cousins sound like little shits.”
“They grew into even bigger ones. Funny thing though, as much as I loved my aunt and appreciated how good she was to me, it was my uncle’s attention I craved.” Whoa, where had that come from? Obviously, she’d been reading too many advice blogs about absentee fathers and the effect it had on their daughters. Whatever the reason, she’d just totally overshared with a man who had no interest in her life story.
“So I’m taking it he didn’t make your life easy. Did it get any better when you got older? He must have been proud of you. I don’t imagine there are a lot of female fighter pilots.”
Her aunt always told her he was. The colonel wasn’t the talkative sort. Although he had lots to say after the accident. None of it good. Her aunt didn’t even try to smooth it over. She knew Theia was too old to fool. She rarely spoke to them anymore.
“I guess,” she said in response to Marco’s question, adding a shrug so he’d know she didn’t care. She wasn’t sure she fooled either of them. “You don’t have to wait for me, you know. I’ll get there eventually. Penelope and Daphne are probably wondering where you are.”
Speak of the devil, she thought, when Daphne, red-faced and sweaty, arrived at the top of the stairs that led to the beach. Her out-of-breath sister arrived seconds later. From where they leaned on opposite rails, they shot each other peeved looks. Then they glanced Theia’s way, and she became the recipient of their combined enmity.
Faced with the evidence that she was back at square one with the sisters, thanks to Marco, she pushed him in their direction. It was a light push because sore arms, you know. But he stumbled so she must have caught him off guard.
“Theia!” both women cried, rushing to his aid.
“What? The way you two raced up here I figured it was an emergency. I wasn’t going to be much help with my torn ACL, so I gave you the next best thing, Marco.” Hooyah. She was getting better at the spur-of-the-moment comebacks. There wasn’t much they could say to that, now, was there? Better yet, she wouldn’t be caught in the middle of the jealous sisters’ act.
“You guys get going and deal with whatever it is you have to deal with. Don’t worry about me.” She inched forward with an exaggerated limp. “I should make it down there in half an hour.”
“No way. We can’t leave you alone, not with a torn ACL,” Marco said as he crouched in front of her. “Hop on. You shouldn’t be walking.”
“I’m not getting on your back.” She glanced at Penelope and Daphne, who were watching their exchange through narrowed eyes. They’d probably accept his offer in a nanosecond. “I mean, I appreciate the offer, but my legs can’t stretch that wide.”
Marco made a strangled sound, and Penelope’s and Daphne’s eyebrows shot skyward.
“Of course my legs can normally spread that wide, but along with the torn ACL, I’ve pulled a few other muscles—oomph.” Marco put her in a fireman’s carry. “I can’t believe you just did that! Put me down.”
“It’s your own fault. Torn ACL,” he scoffed, taking the stairs to the beach two at a time, with her bouncing along on his back. “And don’t think I didn’t catch the next best thing line.”
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were so sensitive.” She would never admit it to him, but it felt so good not to have to walk that she could have kissed him. She lifted her head to see Penelope and Daphne exchanging words as they made their way down the stairs. It hit her then that the twins weren’t with them.
“I’m not sensitive. I just…Ow, why did you slap my ass? If that’s your way of proving I’m sensitive, you—”
“I slappe
d your butt because I can’t slap Penelope.” She lifted her head to look for the twins.
“You do know it’s not politically correct to go around slapping men on the ass, right?”
“Says the man who threw me over his shoulder. Twice. Now stop talking and start looking for the twins. What was Penelope thinking, leaving Daniel alone with them?”
“That he’s their grandfather,” he said sardonically.
She snorted. “He met the boys for the first time an hour ago, Marco. He doesn’t have a clue what they could get up to.”
“Right. I forgot. Liam told me he was estranged from his daughters. Found them. They’re to the left of the lifeguard stand, playing in the sand.”
“Great. As much as I appreciate the ride, you can put me down.”
“Don’t worry. I plan to. I’ve got just the cure for your sore muscles.” She bounced harder on his back as he began to jog.
“Trust me, it’s not working, so you can stop jogging,” she said, her voice vibrating in and out. Beneath brightly colored beach umbrellas, children stopped playing in the sand to look at her. She gave them a weak wave. “Marco, I look like an idiot and so do you, running around with me on your back. So put me down. Now.” He ignored her. “Look, if this is your way of proving you’re the best thing, you can stop. There’s not a chance I could carry you around on my back, let alone run with you…Hey, we’re in the water. What…Marco, don’t you dare! Don’t you dare…”
He dumped her in the ocean. The very cold ocean.
* * *
Theia sat beside Daniel on a beach towel, her hair drying in the midafternoon sun. Her waterlogged denim shorts were drying nearby. She’d been wearing them over her black racer-back one-piece when Marco dunked her in the water. He wouldn’t let her out until she swam for twenty minutes. She’d joined the twins for the first half of their lesson, along with their mother and aunt. Which, though she was loath to admit it, had done a world of good for her muscles. The cold water and light swimming, not Penelope and Daphne. They were just annoying.