Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 26164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Her mouth dropped open. “I don’t think that’s fair. You can’t spank me for stuff I’ve done in the past.”
“It was just a few hours ago. And it wasn’t something small. You endangered yourself. That is never going to be allowed. Ever. You cannot do that ever again.”
That fear was back in his face. And she swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I won’t, Daddy. I promise. I won’t drive in a snowstorm again.”
“Damn straight,” he muttered. “You’ll be lucky if you’re ever allowed to drive anywhere alone again.”
She went to protest, then remembered what he said about Gemma. He lifted her back onto the sofa and tucked the blankets around her.
“I’m all right, Daddy,” she told him softly.
“You nearly died. You could have frozen to death. Your head injury might have been worse than you expected. You could have gotten disorientated and wandered off into the woods. Anything could have happened to you.”
She put her hand over his. “But it didn’t. You saved me.”
“Sometimes, you can’t always save the person you love. Sometimes you’re too late.”
“Is that what happened with Gemma?” she whispered.
He grabbed her hot chocolate and handed it to her. “Drink.”
She took a sip, watching him carefully as he rose to put another log on the fire. Then he came and sat beside her.
“Not exactly. She was a lawyer. We’d been together since college. Got married on a beach in Hawaii. Thought we’d be together forever. She had a big trial coming up, and she’d been working long hours. I didn’t like it, but I got caught up in my own work. I was a stockbroker. We hadn’t seen each other much in weeks. She . . . she fell asleep driving home and crashed. She was dead before the paramedics even arrived on the scene.”
“Oh no. Oh, Atticus, I’m so sorry,” she told him. She put the cup down again to wrap her arms around him.
“Drink your hot chocolate,” he said gruffly. “We need to get you warm.”
“You know the thing that warms me up?”
“What?”
“You.”
He stared over at her. She licked her lips, wondering if he was going to push her away. Instead, he opened his arms to her. She sighed in relief then climbed into his lap, slowly, since her body was still sore. Facing him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against him.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
Because she knew that’s what he’d been thinking. He took everything on his broad shoulders.
“I should have been keeping a closer eye on her. Should have been spending more time at home. What did it matter how much fucking money I made if I couldn’t keep my own wife safe?”
“Oh, Atticus. It was an accident. Obviously, I didn’t know her, but do you really think she’d want you blaming yourself?”
He sighed. “I know she wouldn’t. Everyone tells me that. But I haven’t been able to get rid of the guilt. I sold everything and just took off for a while, traveled around. Didn’t do much except mourn her. I was filled with regret and anger. Over how that could happen, how I could let her get that tired, that I didn’t take care of her.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. I’m certain you took really good care of her.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t think I’d find anyone else. Didn’t think I deserved to. And then Rocky finally convinced me to move to this town in Wyoming. I saw this cabin for sale and bought it. Thought I’d live out my life in peace and quiet.”
She winced. “And then I came along, ruining all that peace and quiet.”
Grasping hold of her chin, he tilted her face up. “And then you came along, bringing sunshine into my dull existence.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he replied firmly. “I’m sorry I was an asshole. Here you were, young and happy and carefree. And you were making me feel things I didn’t think I deserved to feel.”
“Did you feel like you were betraying Gemma?” she whispered.
“Yeah, I guess I did. So I kept pushing you away. That day that you left here after the photo frame broke, I should have run after you and told you how I felt. But I just needed to get my head on straight.”
“It’s all right if you need time, I can wait.” It would be hard, but she’d wait forever for him.
He shook his head. “No. Enough waiting. Besides, if I take my eyes off you for a minute then you get yourself into trouble.”
“I do not! I’m hardly ever in trouble.”
“Baby, you are trouble, but the very best kind.”
She sighed happily. “Do you still feel like you’re betraying her?”
“No. I think . . . I needed that time to come to terms with the fact that I’m not betraying her by loving you.”
She sucked in a breath. “Would she have liked me, do you think?”