Third Time's a Charm (Holland Springs #3)(85)

He took off his glasses and tucked them into the front pocket of his shirt. “I’d like to start over with you, Rose. I’m man enough to admit I was wrong.” He sat down on the edge of his desk and looked up at her, his eyes filled with pain and regret. “It doesn’t have to be right away. You let me know when. This is on your terms.”

Rose grabbed the chair in front of her, her knees shaking. “Only in private?”

“You can tell the entire world, Rose.”

“I don’t understand. All these years you’ve insisted—”

“Wasn’t my idea.” Harrison’s jaw worked. “That was Azalea’s and it was the only way I could see you.”

“Why me and you?” She took a deep breath, then another. “Why not Skye and her dad?”

“To get back at me.”

“For what?” Rose clutched the top of the chair harder.

“Marrying Lorelei.”

“But you said she wouldn’t marry you.”

“Didn’t mean she wanted me to be with someone else.” He smiled sadly. “We’ve tried to get back at each other for years now and I’m done. I’m too old, too tired, and too damn sick of these games, because the only ones getting hurt are my girls.”

His girls? Rose wasn’t going to touch that last statement. No telling what she’d find out if she did. “Is that why you loaned me the money instead of giving it to me?”

“Would you have taken it?” A knowing look entered his eyes. “One thing you got from me and your momma is pride, honey. There’s not a damn thing wrong with wanting to do it your own way.”

“That’s why I’m paying it off.” She glanced around the room, noticing for the first time pictures of her and her sisters tucked into the shelves. “Those new?”

“I’m not ashamed of y’all.”

That part of her that wanted to stay forever angry at her dad twisted tight, like a wet cloth being wrung out. She didn’t know what to think. The mother who raised her, didn’t want her while the father who supposedly shunned her, wanted a relationship in public. But she didn’t quite trust him. “I don’t want you pushing Jason Everett on me again.”

“Insulting him in front of hundreds of people made your point.” Harrison frowned. “Did he do something to you?”

She had the absurd notion to tell him exactly what the asshole had done, so that he could wreak some kind of fatherly vengeance on Jason. “He’s not someone I would choose.”

“But Romanov is?”

She shrugged and moved to the door again.

“To think I believed Jason when he said the man was gay,” Harrison muttered to himself.

“Jason says lots of things.” Rose turned the knob. “I’ll need a receipt to show that I’ve paid off my loan.”

“How about you come by tomorrow? I’ll take you to lunch, and give it to you then.”

“No.” She pulled open the door, then looked over her shoulder. Her father’s face had fallen, but her next words transformed it. “You can drop it off at Carolina Dreams.” Then she walked slowly out of the bank, her head held high.





Chapter Twenty-Six





Sleep hadn’t come easy to Rose for the past week. Her dreams had been filled with images of the crow that had invaded her room… and Sasha, with him needing her and she couldn’t shake them. For one horrible moment last night, she’d reached for her cell, then stopped in the nick of time. No good would come of it anyway.

She rolled over in bed and sighed, refusing to acknowledge that a new day had dawned. Yet another one without Sasha and without Ivy.

Heavy breathing and slobbery kisses made Rose’s eyes pop open. Warm brown eyes crinkled and a toothless mouth covered her nose.

“Ivy?”

Ivy babbled and grabbed Rose’s braid, jerking it around.

She caught the baby up in a hug. “How in the world did you get here?”

“She flew in on a magical carpet.”

Rose jumped. “How did you know I was here?” She untangled her hair from Ivy’s hand.

“Where else would you be?” Summer sat on the corner of the bed, eyes bloodshot while her make-up was flawless. She swung her tall black boots as she continued, ignoring Rose’s question. “She wouldn’t quit crying. She wouldn’t let me hold her, console her. I tried feeding her, but she refused to take the bottle until she was beyond hungry.”

“Ivy likes it a little hotter than lukewarm, but make sure you test it first,” Rose said, then looked down at the baby in her arms, feeling guilty and happy when Ivy’s eyes crinkled at her like they always did when she was happy.

“See, that’s something a mother should know, and I’m not cut out to be one—just like mine.”

Rose leaned forward, wanting to take Summer’s hand, but something in her sister’s face stopped her. “Yes, you are. It takes time to learn what to do.”

“No.” Summer stood and moved to the fireplace. “Gabriel told me that if I really wanted what was best for Ivy that I should let you adopt her.”

“He said that?” Stunned, Rose stared at her sister. Summer was going to let her adopt Ivy? She forced down the hope that dared to take flight in her body. This had to be a dream.