Falling For The Single Dad. Lisa Carter

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      She was startled to find her sisters waiting for her in the institute parking lot.

      Amelia gazed at her across the roof of the RAV4. “We need to talk, Caroline.”

      Caroline’s bracelets jangled as her fist tightened around the key. “I think Daddy pretty much said everything there was to say.”

      Honey came around the car. “Daddy is like an old sea dog. His bark is worse than his bite.”

      “She’s right.” Amelia nodded. “Anger is easier for him to acknowledge than the hurt.”

      “Hurt I caused.” Caroline gulped. “Anger I deserve.”

      “Daddy will move beyond both if you give him time.” Honey touched her arm. “I’m sure of it.”

      Caroline shuffled her flip-flops in the gravel. “You’re more confident of that than I am.”

      “I’m sure enough for both of us.” Honey gave Caroline a small smile. “It’s good to see you. I’ve missed you.”

      A lump the size of a boulder lodged in Caroline’s throat. “I missed you, too, baby sis.” She turned her face into the wind blowing off the water. “More than you’ll ever know.”

      “We all missed you, Caroline.”

      Caroline angled at the pensive note in Amelia’s voice.

      “I hope you’ll stick around long enough to work through this thing with Daddy. He’s not been the same since you left.”

      Caroline chewed the inside of her mouth. “I’m sorry for hurting all of you. But when Mom died, I had to leave. I can’t explain why—I don’t expect you to understand—but I just had to go.”

      “I heard this afternoon about the pilot program. Everyone in Kiptohanock is speculating on where the permanent marine center will be located.” Amelia joined them on the other side of the car. “It’s a good thing you’re doing. And if anybody can make it happen, it will be you.”

      Caroline sighed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. Something else I don’t deserve after abandoning the family.”

      Amelia caught hold of her hand. “Some of us know what you did, Caroline.”

      She stiffened. “You do?” A throbbing low in her skull began to ache.

      Honey tilted her head. “When the hurricane last September nearly destroyed the inn and the loan to rebuild came through so quickly, Amelia, Braeden and I made inquiries at the bank.”

      Oh, that. Caroline willed her heart to settle.

      “While others had to wait much longer for federal funds, we were able to begin rebuilding immediately.” Amelia squeezed her hand. “It was you who put up the money. I don’t know how you did it, but it was you who saved the house and put us back in business.”

      Honey’s mouth quivered. “You saved my dream and something far more precious, time to rebuild my relationship with Sawyer so we could have our happily-ever-after.”

      Tears stung Caroline’s eyes, but she shook her head. “You’re making it more than it was. Money was the least—”

      “Not the least,” Amelia insisted. “Exactly what we needed when we needed it the most.”

      Caroline shrugged. “Everything except myself.”

      “You gave us what you could, which is why Amelia and I added your name to the title to the house.”

      Caroline shook her head. “I never meant for you to do that. I lost my right to call the house my home a long time ago. I only wanted to help, not lay claim to anything.”

      Honey’s arm went around Caroline, fixing Caroline in place between her sisters. As if they were both determined she wouldn’t run away again. Little did they realize, she was done running. Staying and facing the fallout of her actions was part of her healing. Essential to becoming whole once more.

      “It’s a done deal. The Duer Fisherman’s Lodge is as it should have always been—owned and operated by the family. Braeden, Amelia, Patrick and Max Scott. Sawyer, me...” Honey patted her rounded belly. “And Baby Kole. Seth and Caroline Duer.”

      Amelia jutted her jaw. “We’re laying claim to you. The house belongs to you as much as any of us. And we insist you stay in the unoccupied cabin during your summer program.”

      “I already have a reservation at the motel in Onley.”

      Honey brushed her hair off her shoulder. “Dexter Willett and I go back to high school. We trade clients when one or the other’s accommodations are full. So I called him and canceled your reservation.”

      Caroline crossed her arms. “You did what, Beatrice Elizabeth Duer?”

      Honey laughed. “Not even Sawyer gets to call me that. And it’s Kole now, Caroline Victoria Duer. Thanks in large part to you.”

      A smile tugged at the corner of Amelia’s lips. “We’re not taking no for an answer.”

      Caroline blew out a breath. “Daddy is not going to like it.”

      Honey wound a strand of hair around her index finger. “You let me handle Daddy. He’ll come around.” She fluttered her lashes. “I’ve had time in the years since we last met to work on that whole steel gardenia thing.”

      Caroline’s lips twitched. “I’ll just bet you have.”

      Back in the day, Lindi, Caroline and Amelia had often moaned about how Honey could wind their father around her infant pinkie. Not to mention the Honey Effect, as Mom once called it, upon the entire male population of baby sister’s kindergarten class.

      Caroline and Amelia exchanged amused looks. And for the first time, she felt a stirring of hope and the small beginnings of the sisterly camaraderie they’d shared. Until she threw everything away.

      But enough with the regrets. The past was the past. Her sisters were offering her forgiveness and a way to move beyond the hurt.

      “I’m sorry I missed your prom and graduations.” Caroline rubbed one hand against the bracelets. “Your weddings and the babies, too.”

      “You’re here now.” Amelia grasped Caroline’s chin between her thumb and forefinger. “You and Daddy need to make amends for both your sakes.”

      Her blue-green eyes, so like their father’s, bored into Caroline. “And perhaps one day, when you’ve had time to get to know us again, you’ll feel safe enough to trust us with the why of your leaving.”

      “I know I have a funny way of showing it, but I love you two,” Caroline whispered. “My leaving was meant to save you from worse pain.”

      Honey wrapped her arms around Caroline. “That’s almost exactly what Sawyer said to me once when I told him how you left without an explanation.”

      Amelia draped her arm across Caroline’s shoulder. СКАЧАТЬ