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Oh. My God. “Dad.”
“Your boyfriend,” he said. “He didn’t come back to Kitchi Falls voluntarily. He was discharged from the Army.”
“How dare you—”
“Charlee,” he said, firmly. “You are my daughter. I will dare anything to keep you safe.”
“Safe? From Lucas? Seriously?”
“Yes, from Lucas. He’s always had an edge—”
No shit, and still did, now more than ever. But I kept that thought to myself. “You mean he’s never had money. Comes from a different part of town, maybe one you don’t like as much as ours.”
“That your future father-in-law, if you were to marry, is a drunk? Sure, it plays a part. I want you to have a good life. To be happy.”
“An alcoholic,” I clarified. “And so, to you, being happy means having money. Living here.” I waved an arm around his office. “Instead of the beautiful home you built with the money from your business.”
That one stung I could tell.
“Are we talking about Lucas or your job now?”
I tried not to squirm in my seat. “Both, I guess. You are aware I didn’t want to go into this business. That I really wanted to be a design major and draw and create instead.”
“Create what? You could never explain that part of it. In the meantime, you have a great job—”
“Ugh.” He was so maddening.
“Charlee,” he said, more calmly. “You’re angry with me for not knowing what you want, but you don’t know either. Do you?” I couldn’t deny it. “As for Lucas—”
Time to put that to bed. “As for Lucas, do you know why he was discharged, Dad? Or did your buddies not mention the specifics?”
By his expression, it was clear they hadn’t.
“He was discharged,” I said, my voice rising, “because a superior of his got handsy with a new private. Lucas asked him to stop, so the guy pulled rank. Eventually Lucas cocked the guy and boom. Ten years of loyal service at an end. For doing the right thing. The honorable thing. The thing that, if it were me, you’d want done. You’d want someone like Lucas to come along and risk himself to defend me. Right? Or wrong?”
It was rare, but I’d just gained the upper hand with one of the smartest and savviest men I knew. Time to put the nail in the proverbial coffin. “That is the Lucas I know. I don’t give a damn about where he's from or what kind of struggles his father has, which, by the way, have absolutely zero bearing on Lucas. I love him. In fact, I loved him the first time we dated, and you forced us apart. That is not gonna happen again, Dad, and I’d really, really like for you to realize that. One better, to accept him as the kind of man worthy of me. Because I have, and you raised me to be the kind of woman who can make decisions. One you trust enough to be vice president of a company you lovingly expanded.”
Whew.
And that, folks, was all I had to say. Now it was his turn.
The fact that he said nothing for so long should have been a clue. But I was still shocked as hell when the words, “Maybe you’re right,” came out of his mouth.
I leaned forward, my hand to my ear. “I’m sorry. Can you please repeat that? I thought for a second you said I was right.”
“I didn’t know,” he said. “Assumptions can be. . . dangerous.”
Like me assuming Lucas would be upset about the VP job. He hadn’t said much about it, and seemed more bothered by the fact that I hadn’t mentioned it to him.
“They can,” I agreed. And because he’d conceded a point, I would too. “And you’re right. About not knowing what I want. Job wise,” I added quickly. “Relationship-wise, I want Lucas.”
“I won’t pretend to like hearing that. The idea of having built Lakeside Properties for nothing. To leave it to no one since your sister is not interested. . . ”
So, that’s what this was about.
“You’re not going anywhere, Dad. You don’t need to leave it to me to keep it alive. We could form a board. I could serve in so many different capacities even if I don’t take it over as president.”
That didn’t seem to be the answer he was going for. Maybe it was too much to ask that he accept Lucas and my life and job choices all in one night. Besides, I didn’t know one hundred percent what I wanted yet.
