“Fine. If you are certain you’ll be okay…”
“I’m sure.”
He nodded and glanced down at his watch. “All right. I’ve got something I want to do anyway. I’ll drop you off and then come back for you in…an hour?”
“Make it half an hour. I don’t think this’ll take long and I don’t want to stick around too long once I tell him.”
He let his gaze roam over her again, surprised that she was so rattled. Any man who could make the formidable Miss McMurty squirm was someone he’d like to meet. Another day. When his daughter wasn’t about to tell him she was marrying a stranger who was a famous party animal. Best to just let her handle that part. Cowardly or not, he had no desire to be skewered by a ferocious Papa Bear.
“Half hour then.” That would give him enough time to grab a few things and be back to get her. Hopefully when he returned she’d actually be waiting for him and it wasn’t all some ploy to ask her father for asylum from her big, bad, would-be fiancé.
Constance took another sip of her water and waited for her father to say something. He seemed…stunned was probably the only word for it.
“I’m not sure I’m understanding this,” he said, folding his napkin and placing it on the table. That was never a good sign. “When we spoke last night you assured me nothing was going on, that what appeared to be happening in those pictures wasn’t the true story and that you didn’t know this man at all and it was all a strange coincidence. And now, you’re telling me that you are marrying this man?”
“Yes?”
“Is that a question?”
Constance took a deep breath. She was a strong, independent woman, raising six kids. And still her father’s disapproval made her cringe, but there was no help for it. Might as well just get it over with.
“No, it’s not a question. Yes, I am marrying him. I…haven’t been entirely truthful with you.” She’d remain vague on exactly which parts she wasn’t being honest on. His frown deepened. “That much is obvious.”
She knew he had every right to be upset, but it was beginning to wear on her, and Luca would be back any minute. She needed this uncomfortable meeting over with so she could go on to an even more uncomfortable one. She sighed. How had her life gotten so unbelievably out of control in so short a time?
“I don’t want to get into all the details. For now, all you need to know is that he’s a good man who I’ve agreed to marry and I didn’t want you to find out by reading the papers.”
“I’d say the ‘good man’ part was debatable. I’m aware of who he is, the stories about him.”
“You can’t believe everything you read,” she said. At least that part was true enough. “You don’t know him.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” He sat back and folded his hands across his still-trim stomach. “You’re supposedly marrying this man I’ve never met. Wouldn’t the respectful thing to do be to come to me and ask my permission?”
Constance’s eyebrow rose at that. “Dad, I haven’t asked your permission to do anything since I was fourteen years old and enrolled myself in boarding school.”
His mouth quirked up at the corners in a small smile. “Well, that’s true enough. You always did follow your own mind. Shipping yourself off to boarding school. Trading in that two-month cruise around the world I got you for a graduation present to go backpacking through Europe with those crazy friends of yours. Staying out here and getting involved in that program with all those kids when you’d only come out for a vacation to visit me.” He shook his head. “You are so much like your mother.”
Constance answered his fondly sad smile with one of her own. “Oh, I don’t know. The adventurous side I might get from her. The independent, stubborn side is all you.”
He laughed and Constance relaxed into her chair. He might not be thrilled with the situation—hell, who was? But he wouldn’t make an issue out of it. For the moment.
He glanced down at his watch. “I’m afraid I’ve got to be going.” He signaled the server and handed over his credit card to pay for their drinks. The young man returned quickly with his card and her father stood and held out his arms. She savored the hug. He wasn’t a demonstrative man, but she knew he loved her.
“I’ll trust that you know what you’re doing,” he said, giving her one last squeeze before letting her go. “And that you’ll let me know if you need anything.”
“I will,” she said, almost limp with relief that the meeting was over. Now, if she could get him out of there before Luca showed up. She had no desire for the two men to meet.