Page 120 of Shine: Sins of the Father
He harrumphs. “Maybe.”
“What’s your favorite cupcake?” I ask him.
“You know what it is.”
I do. Orange Dream. “I’m bringing you a half-dozen tomorrow. All for you.”
“Oh believe me, you bring me a box of those, I won’t be sharing them. Not one.”
I grin, knowing he will indeed come around to me and Shine being together. “I’m so very happy right now, Daddy.”
“Glad one of us is,” he grumbles.
“Please be happy for me.”
He nods.
I look over and see Shine watching us. I kiss my father one last time, then move through the crowd to my man, pressing against his chest.
“You good?” he asks.
“Yes. He’ll come around. Don’t worry.”
Shine nods and kisses me. “Your mom said she’s getting a headache. Why don’t you take her home, and I’ll meet you and the baby at home? I think I need to talk to your old man. Give it one more try.”
“All right. You won’t be long?”
“No, ma’am.” He walks all of us out and waves us off.
“He’s going to talk to Daddy again, Mom.”
“I know, honey. I told him he couldn’t give up.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Shine—
“Can I talk to you, Wolf?”
He doesn’t respond, and just when I wonder how long this silent treatment is going to last, he turns and meets my gaze. “Fine. Talk.”
I glance around. “Somewhere more private?”
He huffs an irritated sigh and stands, the bar stool screeching across the polished concrete floor. “Come on.”
He leads me down the hall to the room they use for Church and drops into one of the chairs at the far end. I take one diagonal to him.
“For Fiona’s sake, we need to get along. I get that you’re pissed at me. I should have told you as soon as I realized the woman at the cabin was your daughter. But I didn’t, and I can’t change that fact. In my defense, I didn’t know everything right away.
“Fiona never told me about the baby. I didn’t know until Dylan was six months old. I swear to you. If I’d known, nothing would have stopped me from coming to see her and the baby. But I can’t go back in time and fix any of that; all I can do is be here for them now, and that’s what I plan to do.”
Wolf studies me. “I need to know you’re serious about that. I need to know that you mean what you say and that you’ll be here for them.”
I pull a velvet ring box out of my pocket, pop it open, and lay it on the table. “That serious enough for you? I want to give her this, but I won’t until I have your blessing.”
***
The very next morning, Fiona wakes up beside me, her arm across my belly, snuggled against me.
