Page 11 of Hearts of Fairlake

"Oh, you know, sometimes I like to get up and roam around at the best part of the day before getting a nap," he said with a wink. "You busy?"

"I am not," I said, standing aside to let him in. "I have the day off. Ian works the evening shift, so he should be backfrom his errands in a little bit if you're hoping to catch him."

"Or maybe I wanted to see my son," he said, giving me a hug, turning to enter the kitchen, and stopping. "Well! Beatrice, you're looking as lovely as ever."

Beatrice, as always, looked confused whenever she interacted with my father and his unfailing politeness and warmth. "A good morning to you, Mr. Bower."

"Please, I've told you before, call me Ben. I wouldn't want to stand on formality."

"How...polite. Would that it was a family trait."

My dad winked at me over his shoulder. "Eh, he might look like I did when I was younger, but that's almost all his mother. She had a short temper and a smart mouth as well. Kids, what can you do?"

"I'm almost forty," I reminded him.

"And you'll always be my kid," he said, glancing over at the machine. "Mind if I help myself?"

"Dad, you and I know I don't care if you help yourself without permission. It's not like you'll take anything we'll sorely miss," I said with a shake of my head. An EMS and small-town cop salary wasn't exactly bringing in piles of cash, but we weren't hurting either. Neither of us was particularly big spenders, and living in Fairlake was a lot cheaper than other places. Our biggest expense was, of course, Ayla, but she had spent a lot of her early years in an environment where spending was a big deal, and it had ingrained in her a tendency not to ask for much, even when she should.

My dad busied himself, preparing a cup of coffee and softly humming. "I passed Ayla on the way over. She looked deep in thought."

Which meant she looked grumpy. "She's going to go find one of her hiding spots and call Kam."

"Why is she still speaking with that man?" Beatrice asked.

"Because he's a mental healthcare professional?" I said, raising a brow. "And in case you've forgotten, Ayla spent a lot of time enduring Isabelle and her...issues. Oh, and Isabelle also showed up, brutally beat Annie, and then kidnapped Ayla. That leaves a mark."

Well, notstrictlykidnapping, as Ian had never had sole custody before the incident. Of course, showing up after being absent for years, with a violent felon in tow to rip Ayla away from her father and her home, hadn't been a good look. Being thrown in prison hadn't helped either. It had let her miss out on kidnapping charges, but it had helped Ian get full custody. Sometimes, I wondered what Isabelle would say if she knew that three years after that stunt, Ian had married me and, as far as everything but the federal government went, considered me her other parent.

Considering she wasn't due to be released for another couple of years when Ayla would be an adult, it didn't matter either way.

"Aww, and she's getting ready to leave the nest and go out into the world. That's always scary, especially after everything she's been through," my dad said as he opened the fridge to find the creamer.

"At some point, she'll have to develop some thick skin and a stronger spine if she wants to be as independent as she acts," Beatrice said.

I snorted, jabbing my thumb toward the front door. "You tell me that the young woman you just saw leave this house lacks thick skin or a spine. And then I'd love to hear your justification for it."

Her sour expression was all I needed to know that I’d made my point far better than hers. If my father noticed the tension he didn't show it as he added sugar to his coffee and smiled. "She's already a fine young woman, and she'll be a superb adult once she gets out and has to discover things onher own. You and Ian have done a wonderful job raising her, and she knows she always has a home where she can come back if she needs to, where she's loved and wanted. That's all children ever need in life."

Considering the increasing sourness in Beatrice's expression, I thought it was a fairly safe bet that she believed quite differently. Yet, against all odds, she held her tongue and stared out the front window while my father put everything away.

It was an effect I hadn't seen anyone else have on her before or since. I didn't know what caused it, but Beatrice was always completely taken off guard and downright confused by my father's attitude. At the same time, he seemed completely and utterly immune to the icy, barb-covered 'charm' she’d had from the moment I met her. Maybe it was just that her chilly aura and his warm one refused to interact meaningfully. Or maybe deep down, she understood that she couldn't get a rise out of him, which was probably a first for her.

"So," my father said once everything was tucked away. "How are the girls? I miss them still."

I smiled, gesturing toward the back door. "They're napping now, but Oracle and Demeter are still up to their tricks, as usual. And Uno, Dos, and Tres are all as peppy and annoying to the old girls as ever."

Even ducks had their own personalities, distinct even from their hatchmates. Demeter and Oracle had come from the same clutch, but Oracle was calm and patient, while Demeter was feisty and mouthy. Uno, Dos, and Tres were Ayla's ducks, and not one had come out calm. It was a miracle they hadn't gotten up already and started screaming their heads off, which was their normal habit unless they slept in.

And, of course, they never did whenwetried to sleep in.

"Ah, then I'll wait," he said, sounding disappointed. "I know how much you try to enjoy the quiet mornings when you're given them."

"I do try," I said, rolling my eyes when I heard a truck door slam. Why Ian had decided to buy the old clunker when we could have afforded payments on a new truck was beyond me. Admittedly, ithadlet him and Ayla have something to do together to get it into better shape. Of course, better shape wasn't perfect, and you had to slam the doors hard enough to shatter glass half the time. "And there they go."

Sure enough, the front door opened, and I heard the first loud quacks from the open back window, followed by more, growing into a series of outraged animal noises. A feeling of irritation and affection swept through me when Ian walked through the door, head bent as he tucked his phone away. I felt the urge to reach out and run my hand through the small patches of gray hair that had shown up in the past couple of years, but held myself back. Even if his mother was okay with our relationship, we didn't make a spectacle of ourselves too often.

Ian looked up as he closed the door, a smile on his face as he saw me. He then froze when he looked behind me. "Good...morning, everyone. I didn't know we were having family time."

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