Читать книгу Playing the Part - Kimberly Meter Van - Страница 12

CHAPTER FOUR

GABE’S HEART WAS racing and his stomach had turned queasy. He’d pushed Carys too hard; he should’ve backed off. But he was at a loss as to what to do with her. He knew deep in his bones that Carys was guilty of all the things she’d been accused of and probably even a few things that hadn’t been caught yet but he just couldn’t understand why she was being such a terror. He’d tried about everything under the sun to help her heal—

Disneyland, a new pony, the best birthday party money could buy—and it seemed her attitude only worsened.

And now this? If something happened to her he’d never forgive himself. He never should’ve listened to that woman when she talked him out of going straight to the police. They needed a search party right now. Changing direction, his thoughts almost manic, he startled when he heard Carys’s voice behind him.

“Hi, Daddy,” his daughter said, smiling as if she hadn’t scared the living daylights out of him. She walked beside Lindy as if they were old friends, which made him do a double take. An hour ago Carys had been hollering for the woman’s head. Now they were buds? Lindy’s brow went up ever so slightly, as if encouraging Carys. His daughter drew a deep breath and—Lord help him, he was going to have a heart attack—apologized. “I was real upset but I shouldn’t have run off like that. I’m sorry, Daddy.”

With his daughter looking up at him with those gorgeous baby blues, appearing more sincere than she had in months, Gabe found himself floundering with the wind sucked from his sails. He’d been prepared to yell, cry, kiss and chastise but instead he simply nodded, unsure of what to do. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he said, shooting an uncertain look Lindy’s way. He was willing to bet she had something to do with this remarkable transformation.

If he wanted answers, he would find them with the woman he really wanted to avoid. When Charlotte had been alive, he’d been a faithful man and even after her death that hadn’t changed. He knew he wouldn’t be much of a partner to anyone new after Charlotte died and he’d wanted to make sure he was making good choices, particularly now that the parenting burden fell squarely on his shoulders. So that meant smothering the inevitable awakening of his libido, which chose to flare to life at inopportune moments. And up until that moment, he’d been successful. But there was something about this woman that made his decision to remain single and celibate very difficult.

“I’m hungry,” Carys announced, grabbing her dad’s hand. “Let’s go to that hamburger place we went to the other day...Sailor’s, I think?” She looked to Lindy for confirmation and Lindy nodded.

“Best burgers on the island, maybe even all the islands, but then I’m partial. I’ve been eating there since I was a kid.”

“You grew up here.” Gabe suddenly remembered, wondering if her unique, exotic environment had created the slightly wild persona he saw now, or if it’d been her nature to begin with. A shudder threatened to shake his spine as his thoughts touched on an off-limits area. Of course, she had a body men dreamed about, but there was more to Lindy Bell than her body. He had to admit, he was curious. Which was exactly why he needed to steer clear. Curiosity led to seeking answers and sometimes the answers only spurred a deeper hunger for information. There was no way he was going to get mixed up with this wild woman. If he were truly ready to start dating, he’d start looking in more traditional pools, such as the country club, or the endless stream of fundraiser dinners that he was invited to because he owned his own Fortune 500 company. Realizing late that Lindy and Carys were already engaged in a conversation that didn’t include him, he interjected himself with a firm smile. “Thank you, Ms. Bell. I think we can take it from here.”

“I drove you here, remember?”

“We can take a taxi back to the resort.”

Carys’s expression fell, clearly displeased, but he needed to have a conversation with his daughter that didn’t include strangers. Lindy seemed to understand his need for some privacy and smiled. “Well, sounds like you have everything under control here. Glad the rug rat is safe and sound.” To Carys she said, “And remember what I said...” She held up her hand and pointed at the center of her palm, which appeared empty to his eyes but to Carys there seemed to be something of value there. “Catch you later, kiddos.”

Once Lindy was out of earshot, he turned to Carys and asked, “What was that all about?”

“We made a deal,” Carys answered without hesitation but failed to elaborate. “I’m starving, Daddy. Let’s go. Can we walk to Sailor’s from here?”

Distracted, he glanced around, not quite sure how to find Sailor’s from the plaza. He hadn’t been paying enough attention, and even though the island wasn’t overly large, one could still get turned around. “We’ll find a taxi, sweetheart. Now tell me more about this deal you made with a stranger?” he prompted, trying to keep his voice light and amused, but really he was uncomfortable with the idea that Carys had made some sort of deal with a woman she barely knew.

Carys turned and seemed to evaluate him, as if testing whether or not he could be trusted with the information and then when she simply shrugged, he realized he must’ve failed the test. Pressing his lips together, he made a mental note to talk with Lindy herself about what was going on, then switched gears and hailed a cab for them.

Once they had their burgers and were eating their weight in perfectly cooked beef—Lindy might be right, the burgers at Sailor’s were pretty damn good—he tried to strike up a conversation with his daughter. Once they used to talk about everything under the sun; now they barely managed two words without it turning into a fight. “I was thinking we could take a drive to see the sights tomorrow. Maybe go parasailing or something?”

Carys shrugged without answering and continued eating her thick-cut fries. “Lindy is pretty cool,” she announced, clearly demonstrating her attention was nowhere near the conversation Gabe had been having. He withheld an aggravated sigh and shrugged, not quite sure how to answer. What did he know about Lindy Bell aside from the superficial? She was hot-tempered, but beautiful in a way that made his teeth ache, and he had to focus really hard not to allow his imagination to run wild with all the pent-up desires he’d been trying his best to smother for over a year.

Carys continued, thankfully oblivious to Gabe’s struggle. “I didn’t like her at first but she’s better than I thought. She’s just got this way about her that’s, I don’t know, really cool. Like when I talk to her I feel like she’s really listening.”

“I listen,” he countered, mildly offended. He felt as if he’d been bending over backward to get Carys to open up to him but she’d rebuffed his every attempt. “You know if you ever want to talk—”

“What if I want to talk about Mom?” she queried sharply and he shifted in discomfort.

He knew he needed to tread carefully but talking about Charlotte... It was so painful for them both so why would he want to encourage that? “Your mom would’ve wanted us to go on with our lives, not wallow in sadness. You know that, right?”

“When people die it’s sad,” Carys countered bluntly. “Lindy said it’s good to talk about it. Somehow it makes you less sad.”

He drew back, freshly irritated. “Talking isn’t going to bring Mom back,” he told Carys firmly. “Of course we miss her. But the best way to honor her spirit is to move on with our lives in a positive manner.” At that Carys’s eyes flashed and she shoved a fry in her mouth. He was losing her again. Damn it. “Carys, you know I loved Mom more than anything, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” she answered, shrugging.

“What do you mean, you guess?”

Carys glared. “If you loved her like you say you did I don’t understand why you won’t ever let me talk about her. You never even mention her name. It’s like you’re trying to erase that she ever existed.”

“That’s not true,” he said, stung. “I just don’t want to get stuck in an unhealthy pattern of emotional pain. And I don’t want that for you, either.”

“What are you talking about?” Carys asked, confused and annoyed. “I don’t even know what that means. Emotional pain? What else are you supposed to feel when someone you love dies? I guess I didn’t get that memo on what’s supposed to be healthy and whatever.”

Somehow, once again, their conversation had eroded into an angry standoff and he was bewildered how they got there. He sighed and gestured at her cooling food. “Eat your burger.”

“I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Fine. Then we’ll take it with us. You can eat it later.”

“Whatever.”

“Can we not do this?” he asked, hating that he was pleading with his daughter.

“Do what?”

“Fight.”

“I want to talk to Lindy,” she said, folding her arms across her small chest.

“What?”

“I want to talk to her.”

“About what?” he asked, incredulous. Carys’s mouth tightened, telling him he wasn’t going to get an answer. He signaled for the check with a brusque motion. “This is getting ridiculous, Carys. I’ve tried to be understanding. I’ve tried to be accommodating but you’ve stonewalled me at every turn. What does Lindy Bell—a stranger, I might add—offer you that I haven’t?”

“You wouldn’t understand because you don’t listen,” she muttered, glancing away. “She understands because she lost her mom, too. And she says it’s good to talk about it.”

Gabe stared, hit by the knowledge that in one conversation Lindy had managed to reach his daughter when he had failed repeatedly. He also realized that Lindy had forged a tenuous bond with Carys through a similar experience. But Lindy wasn’t the kind of person Gabe would like his daughter hanging out with on a regular basis. From what he could tell, it was likely Lindy didn’t care about the things he felt were important and hoped to instill in his daughter. Maybe it was unfair to judge a book by its cover but he didn’t have the luxury of getting past the surface when his daughter was involved. “I’m sorry, Carys. I don’t think that’s a good idea. We don’t know Lindy very well and she might seem like a very nice person but I’d rather not invite strangers into our business.”

Once again he was the bad guy, he thought with an unhappy sigh. But he had broad shoulders. He could take it. Carys would realize someday that he was only doing what was best for her.

He just hoped their relationship didn’t sustain irreparable damage between now and then.