The Best Goodbye (Rosemary Beach, #13)(40)

I wasn’t interested in Brad romantically, so using him to get to Captain was wrong. Luckily, Brad had taken Captain’s hint and backed off completely. Now he simply nodded when he saw me. I rarely even got a smile.

When that didn’t sting, I knew that Brad had just been filling the emptiness I’d lived with for ten years. He deserved better than to be the filler guy. He was a great guy. Just not the one I wanted.

Tonight was our dinner night with Captain. Franny had been bouncing off the walls since she’d gotten home from school. She had asked me three times if her sundress was pretty. It was her favorite sundress, and seeing her so eager to please Captain made me smile.

“Come here,” I told her, drying off my hands after washing up the rest of the dishes from this morning.

She walked over to me, looking up at me with eyes so much like my own.

“Your father thinks you’re the most beautiful, perfect little girl he’s ever seen. He’s proud of you. He’ll love this dress, but he would also love the denim shorts and T-shirt you were wearing earlier. He doesn’t care what you wear. His love is not something you have to earn. He loved you the moment he found out you were his. It’s the way a good parent is. We love unconditionally, because we can’t help it. You’re ours.”

Franny let out a sigh and smiled, looking like I had just taken a huge burden off her shoulders. “OK,” she whispered. “That’s good. Because I don’t want him to leave.”

That kind of fear was something I never wanted her to deal with. I was going to talk to Captain about it. I had been honest with her about not being able to control what happened with Captain. He could still leave Rosemary Beach, but I hoped he wouldn’t. He needed to know Franny was struggling with it. Only Captain could ease her mind about this. Not me. She knew I’d always be here. We were a team. Captain hadn’t made the team yet. She didn’t trust him in that way. He had to earn that.

“Let’s enjoy tonight. You’ll have his complete attention,” I told her, avoiding the rest of her comment.

Franny gave me a crooked grin that was her father’s. I didn’t point that out to her. “Not all of his attention,” she said, then turned and flounced into the living room.

I didn’t ask her what that meant. Her thoughts bounced all over the place.

“He’s here!” she squealed, just as the tires from his truck crunched over the shell driveway. “He’s early!” she added, running to the door.

He was ten minutes early. That would mean a lot to Franny. I waited where I was and let her open the door and greet him.

Captain’s eyes immediately dropped to her as she swung the door open when he hit the top step.

“Hey,” she said, in her bubbly tone that meant all was right with her world. Thanks to him.

Captain grinned, and the corners of his eyes crinkled, which was new for me. They were marks of a man. A man who had smiled over the years. He’d had reasons to smile. I was thankful for that. I didn’t want to think of him as unhappy.

“Aren’t you a pretty picture?” he said, and I seriously could have kissed him right then. He’d said exactly what she needed to hear. I also wanted to kiss him because, in that button-up blue shirt and faded jeans, he was a bit overwhelming. A man shouldn’t be that beautiful. It wasn’t fair.

“It’s my favorite dress,” she told him, and spun in a circle to show him how it flared a little at the bottom.

“I can see why,” he replied, and she beamed even brighter.

When he lifted his gaze, it locked on me, and I wished my heart didn’t beat a little faster. This was not what we needed. It was not what he wanted. It was a big mistake for me to be attracted to him. It was an even bigger mistake to feel things for him. He could destroy me.

“Like mother, like daughter,” he said with a slow grin. “Ain’t every day a man gets to take out two of the prettiest girls in town.”

Franny giggled and turned to look back at me. I managed to get hold of myself and smile back. I walked over to the sideboard, where I had left my purse. With my back turned, I took a deep breath and gave myself a small pep talk in my head.

“All right, lucky man, let’s go.” I tried to sound teasing, but I was afraid my voice wavered a little.

Captain held out his hand to Franny, who instantly stuck her small hand in his and led him out the door. I wanted to stop walking and just watch them go. He was so big and masculine, and at times he seemed dangerous. But seeing him with Franny’s little hand in his, her head tilted up, chatting away, was breathtaking.

I touched my stomach and ordered my ovaries to calm down before they combusted. Get over it, Addy.

Franny climbed into the front of Captain’s truck and tried to scoot over so I could fit, too. But I needed the space to get myself together again. I opted to get into the back of his extended cab. Franny buckled up happily and began to tell Captain about every moment of her day.

I listened to him respond when he needed to, and it was obvious he was enjoying himself. I couldn’t imagine him leaving Rosemary Beach. Not when he wanted this relationship. For Franny’s sake, this was another conversation I’d have to have with him.

Deep down, I knew that I didn’t want him to leave for selfish reasons as well. Although Addy came first in all things, for the first time since I’d held her in my arms, I wanted something for me, too. Something I could never have, so I had to deal with it, and fast. Franny’s happiness came first.