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“No way. I mean…please don’t. He wouldn’t tell me his new girlfriend’s name.”
Daddy didn’t answer right away. With a little luck, I’d just shifted the target of his curiosity. It would serve Dennis right.
“Would I be correct in guessing that your new man is there with you now?”
I didn’t answer.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Tell him I expect him to treat you right.”
I moved the phone away from my face. “Daddy says if you don’t treat me right, he’ll kick your ass all the way to Cleveland.”
Adam couldn’t contain a laugh. “Sugarbear, tell him that won’t be necessary.”
“I heard that,” Daddy said in my ear. “Sugarbear, huh? I like him already. And I’ll look forward to meeting him next time.”
“Maybe,” I told him before we said our goodbyes.
I’d gotten by the first hurdle without a lie, but the cat was definitely out of the bag, and I was not going to hear the end of it.
The more I thought about it, the more Daddy’s previous statements about the Cartwrights came to mind. He wasn’t going to accept this. There was no way he’d approach it rationally.
Adam finished the last of his hash brown. “That was fun.”
“Fun?” I shot back. “I’d like to watch you try to explain it to your father.”Funwas not in the same universe as where this was heading.
“Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Looks like we need a script.”
I really was not ready for this. This was going to be what my brother would call aclusterfuckus gigantus, and I would be in the center of it.
* * *
Adam
She’d gonewhite when her father called, and I’d laughed right up until she reminded me my turn in the hot seat was coming as well.
My dad might not be so easy to put off.
She nibbled at her hash brown. “I don’t know if he’s going to want to kill me or you when he finds out.”
I reached across to take her hand. “Hey, forget about it for now. Today is about decompression.”
“How? All I can think about is how Daddy’s going to react when I tell him your name.”
“Simple. Today is about us, not them.” I crumpled my empty wrapper and stood. “Let’s get going.”
She added her wrapper to the pile and followed me. Outside, her arm came around my waist and welded her hip to mine as we walked. “Us.”
“You and me, Sugarbear. That’s all that matters.”
The soft eyes of my new girlfriend looked up at me. “Us sounds good.”
The warmth in her gaze said all I needed to know about how today would go.
Putting the phone back in my pocket, I felt the pouch with the Secret Service necklace in it. For a moment I considered giving it to her. I removed my hand and refastened the Velcro on the pocket.
Today was about being carefree, and the necklace would only be a constant reminder around her neck of the danger lurking out there. The time wasn’t right, and what was the point if she wasn’t going to be out of my sight anyway?
“Are you going to tell me yet?” she asked.
