Delinquent Daddy (Banks / Kincaid Family #2)(38)

"Oh my God, that man can kiss," she said. "He has, like, the softest mouth ever." Then she giggled and added, "I can't wait to see him again."

Sick to her stomach, Ellie jerked to her feet and raced from the classroom before the professor even entered to start his lecture.

Moisture running in droplets down her face, Ellie realized she'd unknowingly started to cry as she'd drifted off into sleep. Sucking in a tear, she wiped it away with the back of her hand and then reached out to stroke the still slumbering child's hair next to her. Her beloved Cassie, who'd been conceived in the rain, lay peacefully asleep. Focusing on that, Ellie reminded herself she had someone to truly love now. Life was still good, and she was still happy. The simple reappearance of Boston into her world wasn't going to ruin that. She wouldn't let it.

Hoping a good night's sleep would fix the little pity party she'd had when she'd crawled into bed with Cassie, Ellie woke the next morning with a headache. Sleep had fixed nothing.

144

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

In fact, sleep hadn't even come. She'd just lain there, awake and miserable, listening to Cassidy snore.

Groggy and sore, she rolled off the small mattress and took her shower. She was cooking sausage links and toasting bread when her daughter stumbled into the kitchen.

"Morning, sweetheart," she greeted her, her back to Cassie because she was busy flipping the links and trying to press all the grease out of them with her spatula.

Cassie didn't answer, but she'd never been a bright and shining morning person, so Ellie wasn't concerned about it—

until she turned around to butter the toast. She slid a smile her daughter's way only to pause when she found the girl scowling.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Cassie kept glaring. "You yelled at him again after he tucked me in last night, didn't you?"

Ellie's mouth fell open, speechless. "Yell" wasn't exactly the word she'd use for what they'd done.

"Why do you hate him?" Cassie said. "He just wants to be with me, and you keep pushing him away. Why do you want to keep my dad from me?"

Her daughter looked so tormented, Ellie's heart crumbled.

"Oh, baby," she said, dropping the butter knife and kneeling in front of the chair where Cassie sat. "No. I never wanted to keep him from you."

"Yes, you did too! You told him I was dead. You—"

"That wasn't because I wanted to keep him from you, Cassie. I..." She what? Suddenly at a loss for words, she stared at her daughter blankly.

145

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Had she wanted to keep the two of them apart? From the very moment Cassidy had been born, she'd been Ellie's.

Cassie was Ellie's one great accomplishment. Her daughter was her life and her world. Had she subconsciously been hogging that wonder all to herself? Had she purposely driven Boston away so she didn't have to share with him?

Cassidy was still staring up at her, waiting for an answer that Ellie couldn't give.

"Eat your toast," she mumbled and plopped the hard bread on her daughter's plate.

Cassie stared down and glared at her food, refusing to touch it.

And thus progressed their relationship. Three days later, Ellie felt like a damn recorder. Once again in the kitchen, mother and daughter filled the room with a hostile silence.

Ellie stuffed her mouth with a forkful of Hamburger Helper and chewed relentlessly, though it tasted like cardboard to her.

She scowled at Cassie, who sat slumped in her chair, arms crossed over her chest, refusing to eat. This argument they had going was proving to be their longest yet. When Ellie tried to corner Cassie and get her to talk, Cassie would turn around and ask Ellie questions about Boston that shut her mother up in seconds.

But Ellie wasn't sure how to tell her little girl she'd never meant to hurt her by pushing her father out of their lives.

She'd thought she'd been protecting her child, shielding Cassie from possibly having a dad who only regretted her existence.

146

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

It became a battle to even get Cassie ready for school in the mornings. The child rebelled against everything Ellie told her to do. And so, the silence had started.

Worried about her daughter trying to starve herself, however, Ellie pointed her fork at Cassie's plate and growled,

"Eat your green beans."

Cassie glared at the plateful of food. "I hate green beans."

"That's why there're only three on your plate," Ellie reasoned calmly. "But they're good for you, so...eat."

"No."

"Cassidy."

"Why do you always tell me what to do?" Cassie snapped, jumping out of her chair and glaring across the table, her small hands fisted down at her sides.

"Hmm," Ellie answered with a thoughtful look. Pressing the handle end of the fork against her chin, she answered,

"Maybe it's because I'm your mother."

Okay, so this probably wasn't the best time for sarcasm, but she was sick and tired of all the antagonism already. She and Cassie had never quarreled this long before.

Cassie's chin quivered, she looked so mad. "Andy in my class," she said, staring straight into Ellie's eyes, "he lives with his dad. His mom was really mean, and he told a judge he wanted to live with his dad, so—"