Divine Charity(Divine Creek Ranch 18)(82)
Presley Ann smiled thinking about that handsome cowboy, his brown eyes so dark they were almost black, his short spiky black hair, and features that were somehow masculine and beautiful all at the same time. “He was really sweet to me, Daddy. He made me laugh so much. If he knew, I’d like to think he’d care. He wasn’t from this area and I doubt our paths will cross again. But if they did, I would welcome his involvement…as long as he doesn’t try to take my baby from me,” she added, marveling at the fledgling sense of protectiveness that curled tight inside of her.
“Well, I can’t promise that I won’t have a few words for a guy that would have sex with a beautiful young girl and then leave her stranded, if he ever did show up.”
Presley Ann snorted. “Daddy, I’m too old for you to be referring to me as a young girl and I was on the pill. Neither of us anticipated this.”
“I know you want to make a go of it on your own, honey, and I want you to be successful. But if you ever need to say ‘uncle’ I’ll understand. You can always come—”
“Don’t say it,” she said, putting a finger to her lips. “I’m not moving back home.”
“Then I’ll leave it unsaid as long as it’s understood.” He helped her rise from her kneeling position. “You shouldn’t squat like that. It’s bad for your blood pressure when you’re pregnant.”
She giggled for the first time in what felt like a long time. “Hey, I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”
“And you’re my little girl. So, what now?”
“Right now I go to work. I have prom dresses to sell and commissions to make. That rent and grocery bill won’t pay itself.”
He chuckled and said, “Now you sound like me.”
She hugged his neck and said, “There’s more of you in me than you realize, Daddy.”
She had no illusions about the future being easy or carefree. Those days were over. But knowing that her father still loved her and hadn’t cut her out of his life made everything seem possible.
Chapter Fourteen
“Oh, thank the Lord,” Grace said when Charity and Justine snuck into her room after taking Justine for a follow-up appointment with her doctor. Grace sounded relieved and Charity felt for her. She’d been cooped up for four days with nothing to do but have her brain cells sucked out by daytime television. She’d tried reading when Charity had brought her iPad to the hospital but holding it up to read made her shoulder ache.
“Hey, how’s your headache?” Charity asked when she noticed that the light was out and the blinds were drawn.
“Hurts. It’s from sitting still too much. I’m booooooored.”
“You want some cheese with that whine? Has Emma said when we can spring you from here, sis?”
Grace stuck her tongue out at her sister and then said, “She hasn’t said anything yet. I’m bored stiff. Any chance you might bring my—”
Charity raised an eyebrow and gave her sister the look. “No computer, sis. What did your publisher say?”
Grace made a face and then said, “She said to follow my doctors’ orders and that the work on the edits can wait until my doctor releases me. But I can move my hands. I’ll rest my elbows on pillows. I can do those edits.”
“Yeah,” Justine said. “And put a lot of strain on your shoulders and your back while you’re sitting up in bed. Aunt Grace, you can’t do it.”
“Hey, you’re supposed to take up for your sweet auntie,” Grace pouted.
“I am. I know how you lose track of time while you’re working on that stuff. Dr. Emma will be pissed and in the end you’ll just take longer to heal. Relax, okay? And lookie what I brought you!” Justine said as she put the big fluffy teddy bear in Grace’s arms and hugged her gently. “It’s for the nursery.”
“Speaking of nurseries, how goes that operation?” Charity asked as she sat down in the chair next to the one Justine sat in so Grace wouldn’t have to swivel her neck back and forth, which hurt her still.
“Well, it’s no longer a clandestine op, according to Adam when he called me a little while ago. Rose Marie figured out what they were doing in Adam’s bedroom. At first she thought she was moving into her daddy’s room and thought that was cool, until she realized he was moving the rest of his stuff out of it. She actually threw a tantrum.”
Charity snorted with laughter. “Poor baby. I’ll bet now you wish you’d added on.”
Grace shook her head. “I’m going to need their help when the baby comes and I don’t want the guys embroiled in a house expansion when one isn’t necessary. It’s time they moved their stuff upstairs, since they sleep there with me every night anyway. Having two bedrooms downstairs that go unused most of the time and adding on makes no sense whatsoever, especially if the justification for the expansion is satisfying the whims of Princess Sassypants.”