Open Wounds (Harbour Bay #2)(43)
“Colin? You’re still hanging around that lowlife, Soph? I thought you were smarter than that. That guy spells nothing but trouble and he’s far too old for you,” he lectured, knowing it would do no good and more than likely add to the damage.
“He’s not too old for me. He’s only twenty-four.”
“That’s too old,” Alec thundered and moved towards her with intent. “He hasn’t touched you has he? If he has—”
“You’ll what? Put him up on statutory rape charges?”
“Don’t test me, girl,” he snarled. Where she’d gotten her two-pronged tongue, he didn’t know. Not from him and certainly not from her mother.
Tears burned in her eyes and Alec wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hug her like he had when she was a little girl. They had been so happy then. But she wasn’t a little girl anymore and that was the problem.
“God, I hate you. You’re such a—”
“A bastard, I know, but I’m a bastard who loves you,” he said simply, and watched as the fight went out of her, leaving her limp.
It was hard to fight someone who told you that they loved you. Tears leaked over onto her cheeks and she refused to look at him.
“I love him, Daddy, and nothing you say will stop me. You can’t control me forever.”
Alec shook his head, suddenly very weary. Discussions with Sophie always sapped his strength. “I don’t want to control you, sweetie, I just want to protect you.”
She gave him a glare. “Well, I can’t tell the difference with you. I’m not a little girl. I’m almost an adult and you should trust me.”
“You’re my daughter. I can’t help but worry about you. It’s part of my job, and I’m sorry, but I just don’t like Colin. There’s a quality about him that tells me he’s no good.”
“You’ve only met him once.”
“Once was enough, believe me. I have a sixth sense about men like that. He’s going to break your heart, sweetie, I just know it. What’s wrong with the guys I’ve introduced you to?”
“What, those boys?” Sophie sneered. “The ones like Cade Watson who are too afraid to anger you by doing something you might not approve of? I don’t want boys, Daddy, I want a man who isn’t afraid of showing me a good time.”
“They’re good kids. Kids I can trust my daughter with.”
“Kids you can intimidate.” She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Daddy, but I’m not sorry for staying out so late. I hate your restrictions and some days I really hate you. Some days I wish you weren’t my father.” She stormed up the stairs of their old Victorian home, leaving the knife twisting in his heart. A moment later, he heard her bedroom door slam shut.
Alec sank down into his chair, feeling the fine trembling of his hands. It wasn’t anger that had elicited this response but a dead sense of grief. He had lost his daughter, had pushed her over the edge one too many times.
“Alec?” Caitlyn’s sweet voice came to him in the darkness. He watched as her silhouette approached and he held out his hand. Caitlyn took it and allowed him to pull her into his lap.
Alec hugged his wife tightly, pressing his face into her soft hair.
“Is everything all right?” she asked softly, as she gently stroked his face.
“No,” he replied, swallowing at the large lump in his throat. “I’ve messed up, Cait. She’s really lost to us. I tried to keep her safe but all I did was push her away.”
Caitlyn’s arm wound around his neck and she planted a kiss on his forehead. “You did what you had to, Alec. No parent has this easy, and one day Sophie will realise we did what was best for her. We’re all too aware of what goes on after dark.”
“I miss our little girl, Cait. The one who met me at the door with a smile on her face and her newest artwork creation. Now she can barely look at me and when she does it’s full of resentment and hate.”
“She doesn’t hate you,” Caitlyn told him soothingly.
“Yes, she does. She told me so tonight.”
“She didn’t mean it. You remember when I was a teenager, I said all kinds of things.”
He suddenly smiled at the memory. “You were a handful. But at least your sassiness was cute,” he agreed, falling silent for a minute. “How is it that we gave her the worst of both of us?”
“I don’t really see my sassiness as being bad. It’s served me well from time to time.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “It got you into trouble more often than not, if I remember correctly.”
“Yes, but it was also the very trait that made you look at me—really look at me. I can’t imagine my life without you and Sophie in it. I’m glad you were hard on me in the beginning. I can tell you I didn’t appreciate it at the time but I do now.” She stared him in the eye. “And mark my words, one day Sophie will too.”
Alec didn’t dare to hope. His daughter was more like him than her mother, and he knew exactly how he’d feel if someone tried to rule his life, make his decisions for him. There was no way in hell he would ever forgive them.
Maybe Sophie would be different. He sent up a silent prayer. It couldn’t hurt. He would need all the help he could get. He loved his daughter more than life itself, and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy.