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“It’s all right. You don’t have to.”
Briana was being too blasé, a sure sign of something amiss. “I want to go,” he said, applying pressure with the skill of an experienced parent. “It’s a big day for you.”
“What about work?” Panic widened her eyes.
Eyes, he suddenly noticed, made to look larger by mascara, their lids faintly tinted with blue shadow. He didn’t recall giving Briana permission to wear makeup. Obviously, her mother hadn’t seen the need to consult him on the matter.
“I’ll leave early,” he answered, searching for other unwanted signs of maturity, like piercings and tattoos and hickeys on her neck. Fortunately, there were none, or else she wouldn’t be getting her learner’s permit for another ten years.
“Really, Dad. It’s okay.”
He recognized that tone. Whenever he heard it, a sour taste filled the back of his mouth. “Travis is going,” he said flatly. “Isn’t he?”
All three girls stopped eating in midbite. Briana stared at her plate, guilt written all over her face.
Jake set his paper napkin on the table although he would’ve preferred to pound his fist against the unyielding surface. His ex-wife’s fiancé was accompanying his daughter to get her learner’s permit. The son of a bitch. Where did he get off? He wasn’t Briana’s father. He wasn’t even her stepfather. Not yet.
“Please, Daddy.” Briana’s voice fell to a whisper.
Translation: Don’t ruin this for me.
“No. I’m sorry, honey.” Jake could stomach a fair amount of insult but he drew the line at this.
“You promised I could get my permit as soon as I was old enough. And I’ve been studying for the test.”
Though he recollected no such promise, he didn’t dispute his daughter. Obtaining her learner’s permit wasn’t the issue. Rather, it was who went with her to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Or, more correctly, who didn’t go with her.
“Fine, you can get it tomorrow.”
“I can?”
“As long as Travis doesn’t go with you. Your mother can take you. Alone,” he stressed. “Or I will.”
“Then you can take me.” Briana’s anxiety fled in an instant. She didn’t care who went with her, only that she got to go.
“I’ll call your mother and tell her.”
Jake knew it wasn’t fair of him to put Briana on the spot like this, yet he’d do it again in a heartbeat. Travis might be sleeping in Jake’s bed but he sure as hell wasn’t about to usurp Jake’s place at his daughter’s side during those all-important milestones.
“And I’d really prefer that only your mother or I give you driving lessons. Our insurance doesn’t cover Travis.”
“Yes, sir,” Briana answered, cheerful once more. “I really didn’t want him to go anyway.”
In another moment, all three girls were eating and chatting as if no tense words had been spoken.
“What are you doing Friday after school?”
“I’m going to Mindy’s for a sleepover,” LeAnne said after a sip of fruit punch that left a pink mustache above her upper lip.
“I have an orthodontist appointment.” Kayla peeled back her lips to show off her recently acquired braces.
Jake had foolishly hoped his daughters would be free and that he could squeeze in an extra visit this week. So much for spontaneity.
“What about you, Briana? We could have a driving lesson around the ranch. Early, before it gets dark.”
“I…um…” She snapped her mouth shut, her indecision plain as day.
“Never mind,” Jake grumbled. If she was going somewhere else with her mother and Travis, he didn’t want to hear about it.
“She’s giving riding instructions to those funny people with the mule,” LeAnne piped up.
“Don’t call them funny,” Briana retorted hotly.
“Your sister’s right, sweetie. That’s not very nice.”
LeAnne glanced around the table in a bid for support. “Well, they are.”
Jake didn’t know what baffled him more. Briana sacrificing her precious social time to work with Lilly’s clients, or her quick and emotional defense of them.
“That’s very good of you. I’m sure they appreciate it.” Of his three daughters, his oldest was the only one to take a real interest in horses and the ranch.
“She spends practically every day there,” LeAnne said with the conspiratorial demeanor of someone revealing a secret.
“Really?”
Jake hadn’t been to the stables to check on Lilly’s group in over a week. Not since last Tuesday when she’d acted so odd. He’d shown up, determined to be friendly and courteous, but drawing the line there. She’d appeared equally determined to avoid him and did everything from making flimsy excuses to turning on her heel and changing direction when she saw him coming. He eventually got the hint and made his own excuse to return to the office.
He hadn’t spoken to her since, although he knew from Gary’s reports that she’d accompanied her clients the required number of times as stipulated in their agreement.
What had brought about the sudden change in her? Had she sensed his lingering interest and decided to put a halt to it before things heated up again? If that was true, she had good reason to avoid him. He’d hurt her badly and too recently for her to have fully recovered.
Unless it was the other way around.
Could her abrupt retreat be because she had a renewed interest in him and didn’t want to risk more heartache? While that scenario was somewhat tempting, he knew better than to consider it even for a moment.
“So I like giving riding instructions,” Briana said, her tone defensive. “What’s wrong with that?”
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