Page 15 of Enchant Me

“I think I have. Almost. Because it’s important to you. And because I need to accept the mistakes in my past so I can move past them.”

“Exactly.” I know he’s gotten some counseling about his issues, and he’s told me that it’s helped. But when I look at him now, I see shadows, and they scare me. “Daddy? What’s wrong?”

On my hip, Bradley squirms, and I put him down. The floor is pristine, thanks to Gregory overseeing the housework, so I know he won’t get his cute little suit too dusty.

“I’m fine. Fine.” Frank shakes his head, but his expression is haunted.

“Okay, now you’re scaring me. Seriously. What’s going on? You’re not having cold feet are you?”

His eyes widen. “Oh, no. No. About marrying Evelyn? Never. Except, okay, yes.”

I feel an icy chill. “What do you mean?”

He starts pacing again, and I realize we’re back to whatever was bothering him before Bradley and I interrupted. “I don’t know how to do this.” His voice is so soft I can barely hear him. “I was a terrible father to you. I was a terrible husband to Elizabeth. What if I’m a terrible husband to Evelyn?”

“You won’t be.” I tell him. “And you were not a terrible husband to Elizabeth. She was a terrible wife.”

“Sweetheart, I appreciate the loyalty. But I left when you were barely walking. You don’t know what I was like.”

“But I know her. And I know you now. And there is no doubt in my mind that Elizabeth Fairchild destroyed both of us. But it’s not going to be that way with Evelyn.”

I move closer to him and take his hands. “You love her, Daddy, and she loves you back. My mother didn’t know how to love. She still doesn’t. She’s like a horrible monster that takes your emotions and turns them into something ugly and hard. That’s not Evelyn. And it’s not you.” I squeeze his hands. “You’ve got this, Dad.”

“Do I?”

I hear contempt in his voice and frown, unsure where this is going.

“I thought I had this fatherhood thing down, and then Anne went missing. And what did I do? Did I come to you? Did I offer my support? No. I bolted. I left you, and I left Evelyn. I was so scared I wouldn’t know what to do. And you know what? I didn’t know. I didn’t have a single clue.”

My mouth has gone completely dry. Everything he’s said is true, but that doesn’t make it right. “None of us knew what to do.”

“But the rest of you stayed. You dealt with it. You offered each other comfort. But me? I ran.”

“And then you came back.”

He scoffs. “Well, guess I win a cookie. But here’s my fear—what if it gets hard again? What if I run and just keep going?”

“Then we’ll all be incredibly pissed at and disappointed in you. But not any more than you’ll be pissed and disappointed in yourself.”

I take a breath and take a step back so that I can look him up and down. “But the fact that you’re even suggesting this means that you’re not going to do it. You know the cost. You know what you would be giving up. And who you’d hurt.”

“You don’t think I knew it would hurt you when I ran like a scared rabbit after my granddaughter was kidnapped?”

“Of course, you knew. But you hadn’t figured out the whole dad thing, and I get that. Do I wish you’d done it better? Sure. Was I hurt and angry? Hell, yes. But you got there, Daddy. You came back and you explained. It’s fine now.”

“It isn’t fine. I hurt you. I’m going to spend the rest of my life regretting hurting you.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” I say, deliberately keeping my voice level. “How about you spend the rest of your life loving your wife and your daughter and your grandchildren and your son-in-law and your friends instead? Do that, and we’ll call it even.”

He chuckles. “Well, I guess that’s fair. I think that I can handle that. God knows I want to.”

I pull him into a hug, then kiss his cheek. “I’ve got faith in you, Dad. When we started this journey, we didn’t know how to be a family. Hell, when I got together with Damien, I had no idea what a family was. The idea of what we have now? A home? Kids? A cat? It terrified me. But now here we are, and I can’t imagine anything different. And now that you’re in my life again, I can’t imagine not having you here.”

“Oh, sweetheart, neither can I.”

“I’m so happy you’re marrying Evelyn. She’s one of my favorite people. And believe me, I wouldn’t be happy about her marrying anyone I didn’t think deserved her. But you do. Just don’t let your ego get too big, okay, Daddy?” I add the last with a grin, and as I hoped, he laughs.

“Fair enough. Thank you for the pep-talk. How did I get so lucky to have such an incredible daughter?”