Tantalizing Maria (The Temptation Saga 7)

“Not a problem.” Jeff held the door open. “This used to be your home, after all.”

“Yeah, every now and then I miss the old place.” She shook her head. “No, I’ll be honest. I really don’t miss it. I didn’t…like myself very much during the time I lived here.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Oh, you know how spoiled I was. My fa— Er, uncle. God.” She let out a sigh. “That doesn’t sound right either.”

“You were Wayne’s favorite. I know. Your mother has told me all the stories.” He attempted a smile. “I guess I should be grateful to my brother for doting on you, for giving you everything you deserved.”

A tear formed in the corner of Angie’s right eye.

“What’s wrong?” Jeff asked.

“It’s just…I loved my father…I…”

“It’s okay for you to call him your father, Angie. He was your father in every way that counted. I just wish I could have been the one to… Oh, well. That’s neither here nor there.”

“The thing is I wasn’t a very good person. Before.”

“Before what?”

“Before I met Rafe. I was spoiled rotten, and…well, according to my mother, it was my father who spoiled me. And she let him, because she felt so guilty about deceiving him that I was his. She didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop it.”

“Angie, it’s—”

“Please—” She held up a hand. “Let me finish.”

Jeff nodded.

“Harper and Catie weren’t like me. They weren’t spoiled rotten. They were good kids, hard workers. I mean, you can see that now.”

“Yes, they’re both great people.”

“And I wasn’t…not for a long time.”

“But you are now, Angie, and that’s all that matters.”

“I’ve done a lot of things in my life that I’m not very proud of.”

Jeff laughed. He couldn’t help it. “You are preaching to the choir, honey. Believe me, no matter how spoiled rotten you were, anything rotten you did fits on the head of a pin compared to what I’ve done.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t. It’s okay if you weren’t perfect. It’s even okay if you were a spoiled brat. Accept your past and move on.”

She sniffed. “Can you?”

Her question hit his gut like a bowling ball. God, he wished he could. There was so much his innocent daughter didn’t know about him.

“Are you going to answer me?”

Jeff bit his lip. “I don’t really know what to say.”

“Mama… She loves you, I think,” Angie said. “I mean, she hasn’t told me, but the way she looks at you… She never looked at Daddy… I’m sorry. I did it again.” She rubbed her forehead.

“I said it’s okay, Angie.”

“They weren’t in love. They admitted it. And I think it’s sad to go through life without love, don’t you?”