Broken(24)

“I was frightened but as I grew older, I appreciated your decision a little better.” She expelled her breath in a huff and wiped the perspiration beading her forehead with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry for waking you, Daddy. Please go back to bed.”

“I doubt I can after that.”

“I didn’t mean to wake you. Lavern probably thinks I’m some kind of nut now.”

“She doesn’t think that at all.” Her father’s warm green gaze searched her face as though looking for some kind of clue. The corner of his eyes crinkled in his apparent concern. “Care to tell what had you hollering so loud? Lavern was ready to get the shot gun out because she thought there might be an intruder in the house.”

Jocelyn clasped her cheeks in embarrassment. “Please send her my apologies. I-I’ll be fine. I promise.”

One bushy gray brow rose. “Honey, I think I’ve been pretty patient since your arrival in my hopes that you’d open up about why you stayed away.” He held his hand up when she would have protested. “No. Don’t say anything yet. Just listen. Considering how much you loved Devlin Ranch, I knew in my heart something had to be wrong in order for you not to at least visit. Those occasional calls that first year you left didn’t tell me a thing. And when they stopped after a while, I began to wonder with all of your success if you might be ashamed of your old man.”

Gasping, she shook her head vehemently, and clutched his arm in earnest. “No, Daddy. I could never be ashamed of you. I love you so much. As a matter of fact, I was actually kind of surprised at the warm welcome I received from you when I arrived.”

He frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be happy to see you? You’re my baby. Nothing will change how much I love you.”

“I-I…well, whenever I called, I thought you might be angry at me. You’d always seemed so distant whenever we spoke which was why I stopped.”

“Bewildered and maybe a little hurt, but never angry.”

“But even now, you seemed a little reserved. Something’s missing, isn’t it, Daddy?”

Jack sighed. “I guess I was a little scared.”

“Why?”

“I never knew the reason why you stayed away. I thought it was maybe because I was so overprotective of you sometimes. I know you used to get so mad at me when I wouldn’t let you do some of the things the other girls your age did. I just didn’t want you to grow up too fast.”

Jocelyn grasped his hand, ashamed that he’d felt it was her fault. “It was nothing you did, Daddy. I love you so much. I missed you so much. This is no excuse, but the more time that passed when I didn’t contact you, the harder it became to get in touch. It doesn’t make sense I know, but there’s so much that happened since I left, and it has absolutely nothing to do with you. I know I have no right to expect things to be the way they used to be, but I really am sorry for hurting you.”

Her father wrapped his arms around her. “I love you so much, baby. I never wanted to be that kind of father you couldn’t come to with your problems and I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t tell me what was going on. I was a little distant toward you in the beginning because I was scared I might say something that would make you go away again.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“I’m here for as long as I promised. Don’t worry about that.”

“Good to hear. There’s a lot to catch up on, but what about your work? It’s my understanding most designers will be showing their winter lines soon. Don’t you have that to work on?”