Lilac Lane (Chesapeake Shores #14)(100)

“To make sure I didn’t intend to treat Deanna like some shiny new toy, then abandon her when I grew bored with parenthood.”

Kiera regarded him with indignation on his behalf. “You would never do that!”

“Of course not, but I can’t really blame him for needing to be reassured, especially since she’s leaving the University of Virginia to be closer to me. Haven’t I worried about the same thing?”

Though she hesitated to insert herself into the already complicated situation, she knew that she had a rapport with Deanna that Bryan hadn’t yet achieved. She was the objective outsider whom the girl had chosen to trust with her own concerns and fears, perhaps in a very small way a substitute for the mother she’d lost.

“Would you like me to talk to her about all this the next time she comes for a visit?” she asked carefully. “Or do you want to do it yourself?”

“As much as I hate admitting it, I think she does trust you to be honest with her.”

“She wants to trust you,” Kiera said as another driver tooted his horn to encourage them to move on. “It’s just harder because for years she’s perceived what happened years ago as all your fault. Her mother did nothing to change her view of that.”

“Why would she? She blamed me for putting my work over our family, and she was right. I did do that.”

“You’re not the first man to make that choice.” When he would have spoken, she held up her hand. “That’s not a defense of your actions. It’s just that her actions are the ones that stripped you and your daughter of a relationship. Leaving, if that’s what she needed for herself, is understandable. Deliberately keeping your daughter from you is less forgivable. As deeply hurt as I was by Sean’s betrayal, I left the door open for him to see his children. It was his own choice not to walk through it until it became convenient for him because his sons had a little money to spare to feed his need for his evening pints of ale.”

Bryan sighed. “In my case, I know we’re way beyond the point of laying blame at anyone’s doorstep. We need to deal with where we are now, to find a way to relate as father and daughter, when neither of us has any experience at it.”

“She does,” Kiera suggested mildly. “Not with you, but with Ashton Lane. Perhaps she can show you the way, show you what she needs, if you’re patient and follow her lead.”

She caught the smile tugging at the corners of Bryan’s mouth. “What?” she demanded.

“You, of all people, suggesting patience.”

Kiera laughed. “It hardly matters if I’m incapable of following my own advice,” she told him. “This is about you.”

“And I’m in unexplored territory,” he said.

“You’re not there alone,” she reminded him.

He pulled into his usual parking spot behind the pub and turned to her then, his gaze on hers steady. “And you have no idea how much that means to me. Kiera—”

Her breath caught at the intensity of his gaze, but before he could complete his thought or reach for her as she thought he might, hoped he might, there was a tap on the driver’s side window. Startled, they both turned to see Deanna standing beside the car, a beaming smile on her face.

“Surprise!”

To Kiera’s regret, whatever Bryan had intended to say or do was lost, but she couldn’t be too dismayed when she saw the genuine pleasure that spread across his face at the sight of his daughter. He was out of the car in an instant.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” he said.

“I know,” Deanna said, laughing. “That’s what makes it a surprise.” Her expression faltered. “Is it okay? I know I should have called ahead. Kiera, do you mind if I stay for a few days? The summer program is over and I thought I’d spend some time here, but only if I’m not in the way.”

Kiera climbed out of the car. “You couldn’t possibly be in the way. You’re always welcome.”

“Was there anything in particular you’d like to do on this visit?” Bryan asked.

Though she wasn’t sure Bryan saw it, Kiera caught the mischievous gleam in Deanna’s eyes when she responded. “I was thinking I’d like to meet this Nell I’ve been hearing so much about. Do you think that would be possible?”

“Of course,” Bryan said, clearly eager, especially this morning, to agree to any request Deanna made. “She’ll be in today to see how my Irish stew is coming along for the competition.”

“Won’t the two of you be far too busy then?” Kiera asked, giving him a pointed look that obviously had no effect.

“Of course not,” he said, frowning at her. “Dee, why don’t you go on into the kitchen while I finish up a conversation I was having with Kiera just now.”

When she’d gone, he turned to Kiera. “I thought you wanted me to follow her lead.”

“I do,” Kiera said. “But you just played conveniently right into her hand in a way I don’t think you intended.”

Bryan looked bewildered.

“Your daughter is looking for an ally in her meddling,” Kiera reminded him patiently. “She’s hoping to find one in Nell.”

To her surprise he didn’t look nearly as dismayed as she’d expected. “And that’s suddenly okay with you?” she asked.