Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

The door chimed, and I turned to see my father. “Daddy, what brings you here?”

He made his way over to me, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

“I ran into Linda May Hacker.”

With a roll of my eyes, I replied, “Oh Lord, what did she have to say?”

“Nothing worth repeating. The woman is vile. No wonder your momma couldn’t stand her.”

“Daddy, be nice.” I warned, pointing the paintbrush at him. “Even momma didn’t talk ill of her.”

“Ha. You just never heard it. And besides, I’m only speaking the truth.”

With a smile, I dipped the brush into the can and then started to paint. “Have you talked to Lucas?”

He let out a grunt and picked up a brush, joining in. My father hadn’t been all that pleased to find out Lucas and I were engaged. He was still harboring bad feelings about how we had broken up. We’d told him, Tom, Kate, Carl, and Lynn about a month ago at dinner. Lynn, of course, already knew. Carl was happy. My father, yeah, he was still having a hard time with it. Tom and Kate weren’t the least bit surprised. Callie and Tom Jr hadn’t been there, so we had told them a few days later. The only thing they cared about was being a part of the wedding, which we promised them.

I stopped painting and looked at him. “Daddy, I love him.”

“He hurt you. Broke up with you for a stupid-ass reason and then never came back to Johnson City. Took up with some model and traveled all over with her. Why couldn’t he have done that with you?”

“It’s in the past. I’ve left it there, why can’t you?”

Giving me a hard stare, he shook his head. “Because I’m your father, Paige. I swore on the day you were born I would never let anyone hurt you. And he hurt you, deeply. I hate that he just walked back into your life and you let him without a fuss.”

I was positive my jaw dropped to the floor. “Without a fuss? Dad, you don’t know what happened between me and Lucas. And I won’t apologize for loving him. Yes, he hurt me, but I never stopped loving him. I’m almost positive that if I settled down with someone else, a good portion of my heart would still belong to Lucas until the day I died. A love like that doesn’t come along often.”

He scoffed. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

With a sigh, I closed my eyes. I could feel my heartbeat pick up. I hated that I had to defend Lucas. I knew I couldn’t have my father hating Lucas for the rest of our lives. It would make everything more difficult. I drew in a few deep breaths and was ready to tell him he had to talk to Lucas and come to some sort of truce. When I opened my eyes again, my father was staring at me. The corner of his mouth rose the slightest bit, and he nodded.

“I’m sorry. I’ll talk to him, sweetheart,” he said softly, then gave me a slight smile.

“Thank you, Daddy. It would mean a lot to me if you forgave him.”

“I know. But if he ever hurts you again, I’m having his legs broken. Slowly.”

I tried not to smile, but I lost. “Deal.”

“Did you ever find what William wanted the two of you to find?” he asked after a few minutes of us painting in silence. I froze, and he noticed.

“I’ll take that as a yes. What was it?”

“Well, it was… um…”

I cursed inwardly. Lucas and I had never come up with a plan on how or what to tell people that we’d found. Lou already knew the truth. So did Carl and Lynn. But my father, as far as I could tell, didn’t know.

He frowned as he looked at me. A heavy feeling settled over my chest, and I my hand trembled slightly. Why had I not been prepared for this?

“We…did…find something. He pretty much just wanted us to get our heads out of our asses and get back together.”

Daddy narrowed his eyes at me. “Okay. That’s what you’re going with?”

“It’s the truth,” I said in a defensive tone.

“Right. You’re about as naïve as William, Paige, if you really think I don’t know the truth.”

I swallowed hard. Good Lord. Does everyone in this town know?

Clearing my throat, I said, “I don’t know what you mean.”

He laughed, then went back to painting. He remained silent for the longest time until I finally couldn’t take it.

“Did everyone in this town know William was my grandfather?”

His head snapped up, and he stared at me, in complete shock.

Oh. Shit.

My father stood there with a paintbrush full of white paint now dripping down his hand, staring at me like I’d lost my damn mind.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing,” I quickly replied.