Lilac Lane (Chesapeake Shores #14)(87)

He was vaguely startled by the question. Wasn’t it something daughters asked their mothers all the time? “She never told you any of this?”

“Not a word.”

He wondered if that was deliberate, a way to keep Deanna separated from him in yet another way. The reason, though, didn’t really matter. He had an opportunity at long last to fill in the blanks.

He thought back to the exact night he’d set eyes on Melody for the first time. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and yet it still brought a smile to his lips. “I was training in a restaurant in New York. I was on the lowliest rung of the kitchen hierarchy, which meant I mostly cleaned up and did whatever the chef yelled at me to do. It wasn’t a very fancy place, though the chef had aspirations and acted as if it were.”

“Pretentious,” Deanna guessed.

“Exactly. One night your mother came in with some friends. I think they were all a little tipsy. One of them kept sending his dinner back for one ridiculous reason after another. The chef finally tired of it and sent me out to ask whoever was complaining if they’d like to come in the kitchen and cook it themselves.”

“And it was Mom?”

“Oh, no, she looked thoroughly embarrassed. When I walked away from the table, she followed me and apologized. She said her friend fancied himself some sort of gourmet cook, even though he’d never once prepared a meal for any of them. She said they didn’t take him seriously, and we shouldn’t either. She said she’d just had the best meal she’d ever eaten.” Bryan shrugged. “What could I do? I asked her if I could cook for her sometime. I told her it would be even better.”

“And she said yes,” Deanna guessed.

“Actually, she said no.” He grinned at the memory. “But she was back again the next night and the next, by herself. On her fourth visit, she finally said yes.”

“Fascinating,” Deanna said, her expression thoughtful. “She was a challenge. Something tells me Kiera is, too.”

Startled by her insight, he felt his cheeks heating. “What made you draw that comparison?”

She gave him the sort of impatient look he knew that teenagers everywhere had perfected. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, anyone can see the attraction when the two of you are in the same room. I just hope I’m not standing in your way, since I’m staying with her.”

“Deanna, this entire town is busy sticking its collective nose into my personal life these days. I do not need you jumping onto that particular bandwagon.”

“Interesting,” she said, laughter dancing in her eyes. “That’s pretty much what Kiera said, too. Since I’m not around all the time, I think I need to go looking for an ally who’ll nudge things along.”

“No, you do not,” he said emphatically. “Kiera and I are moving at our own pace.”

“Based on my admittedly limited observation, snails move faster than the two of you.”

“You’ve been around how long? About two minutes? You know nothing about it.”

She laughed then. “I’ll bet you thought it was going to be fun to have your daughter back in your life, didn’t you? Are you having second thoughts?”

“Second and third,” he said, but he couldn’t help going around to where she was seated and planting a quick kiss on her forehead. “But having you here is still the best thing to happen to me in years.”

Afraid he’d overstepped when he’d been trying so hard not to push, he backed away, but then he saw the tears in her eyes and knew that kiss had been exactly the right thing to do. If only all of his instincts were that solid. And perhaps if this dream to have his daughter in his life again could come true, then other dreams he’d put on hold years ago might be in the cards, too. A wife, perhaps? Even a restaurant of his own? Who knew where the future might lead, but it was suddenly filled with hope.

*

Late that night, Deanna thought she heard a low murmur of voices coming through the guest room window at Kiera’s cottage. She’d left it open to the faint breeze that was already hinting at fall. She crept over to the window and peered through the shadows until she caught a glimpse of Kiera and her father on his deck. They were seated in chairs side by side, but far enough apart to make any contact awkward. A snail’s pace, she thought again with amusement.

Since there clearly wasn’t anything romantic to be interrupted, she pulled on a robe, grabbed a glass of water in the kitchen and crossed the lawn to join them. She’d missed these sort of late-night talks with her mom and Ash. It was nice to have a new opportunity for that sort of connection.

“I thought you were sound asleep when I came in from the pub,” Kiera said, clearly startled.

“I was, but I heard the sound of voices and decided to join you. Is it okay?”

“Of course,” her father said.

“I’m not interrupting?” she asked pointedly.

He gave her a sharp look. “Deanna!”

She laughed at the warning note in his voice and turned to Kiera. “He thinks I’m going to start meddling in your relationship,” she told her.

Kiera choked on her sip of wine. “I beg your pardon?”

Bryan frowned at her, but she could tell he wasn’t really angry. “It seems my daughter fancies herself a matchmaker, and we’re not moving at a pace that suits her.”