The instincts to parent were there. He’d just been too scared to listen because messing this up came with stakes higher than any out in the field.
Finally, her tears slowed, but he sensed the need to talk more. Inspiration struck. “How about we step over here.”
He gestured to the tire swing. Her eyebrows knit together, but she shuffled over to sit. Rick planted a hand between her shoulder blades and gave a gentle shove to launch her just as he’d done hundreds of times when she’d been a toddler.
“I’ve been thinking, kiddo.”
She swished back, her face wary. “And?”
“Good thoughts. No worries.” He gave the swing another nudge, higher. He remembered she enjoyed higher, like him. The rope creaked on the branch. “How about you come see me for Christmas break? Two full weeks of no pressure, no stalkers and we see how it goes. If everything works out, we can talk to your mother about your staying with me for a semester.”
She swung back toward him. Her feet dragging to slow the momentum. “Do you mean it? Really?”
He grabbed the rope to bring the swing to a complete stop. “I may not have always been there for you, but I kept my promises when I made them.”
She rested her head on the rope and grinned. “Cool.”
A resounding endorsement from a teen. He didn’t delude himself that it would be all smooth sailing, but he was learning. Lauren was trying.
He was scared as hell—and so damn excited to have more time with his child.
She leaped from the swing and gave him a quick, almost bashful kiss on his cheek so quickly he nearly missed it.
“Night, Daddy.”
Lauren bolted across the yard and up the steps and into the house. Rick dropped into the swing, the tire laying flat, tied in three places.
Damn. This parenting gig was more exhausting than battling a South American drug lord.
And the strangest thing of all, he wanted to share this moment with Nola. He needed to hear her feedback on what he’d said to his daughter. How amazing that the woman could have become such an integral part of his life in such a short time.
Still he could hear the words they’d exchanged in the heat of battle.
I love you.
He’d meant it.
Then there she was, framed in her doorway with her hair damp, curls clinging to her face in swirls. Lord, she did things to jeans with those long legs of hers that should be illegal out in public.
“Wanna hitch a ride, lady?” He patted his lap.
“That ride looks far better than that bullet thing you lured me into trying.”
Grinning, she hobbled across the porch, one foot bandaged from the sting and in a flip-flop. She limped across the sparse lawn, her foot apparently still throbbing from the scorpion sting. Residual anger stirred in him that wouldn’t go away anytime soon, probably not until the trial ended with Chavez locked up for life. But Rick refused to let it spoil his plans for tonight.
She settled across his lap, looping her arms around his neck. Her head fell to rest on his shoulders. “Hmm… Yes, this ride I like. How bizarre to feel so content and exhausted at the same time.”
“I hear you.” He rested his chin on her head, the sweet smell of flowery shampoo teasing his nose. He scuffed his boot against the dusty ground and set the swing into motion.
“You were something, the way you brought him down in the water.” She wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I figured the water was my best bet at leveling the playing field.”
“I know. I saw that in your eyes.”
He’d thought they communicated there in that moment, but he hadn’t been sure. Now he knew she felt the same connection. They had something special and he intended to hold it fast.
She hugged his waist tighter and pressed a kiss to his neck, snuggling closer. They stayed linked like that for…he wasn’t sure how long but the familiarity felt so good he went with it until the moment seemed right to continue.