Page 121 of Property of Stone
“It’s—”
“Nope. Sit down. Sunny’s gonna clear the table, scrape the plates, rinse them good, and stick ‘em all in the dishwasher.” He addressed his daughter next. “Just be glad you ain’t handwashin’ them in a fuckin’ river.”
Taryn mentally groaned.
“Dad,” his daughter started again.
He closed his eyes and released a sharp breath. “Don’t got the patience for this bullshit tonight, Sunny. Taryn made you a damn good meal and you practically licked your plate. Least you can do is help clean up.”
Okay, he wasn’t a completely horrible role model. He hadsomegood points. But it would be better if he used a softer tone and didn’t liberally sprinkle his words with cursing.
She understood the whole “tough love” thing, but?—
“Why would anyone wash their dishes in a river, Mommy?” Wren whispered to her.
Taryn leaned closer and murmured, “That’s what they did before homes had running water. You had to go down to a creek or river and wash your things there, like dishes and clothes.”
His little eyebrows knitted together. “Why didn’t they have a dishwasher?”
“They hadn’t been invented yet.”
No surprise his next question didn’t have anything to do with the current topic. “Can I go play outside?”
Having him do that would be a great idea right now. He didn’t need to watch father and daughter butting heads. “Did Mrs. Landers give you any homework?”
“Nooooo,” he answered in a sing-song voice.
“Then yes. Just don’t leave the backyard.”
Stone added, “Stay away from the pool and make sure to stay where your mom can see you from the window, kid.”
“Okay!” he shouted with excitement. He quickly shoved his chair away from the table and raced outside. She grimaced when he let the screen door slam behind him.
She pulled in a deep breath and reluctantly turned her attention back to the current conflict.
Stone now sat back with his tattooed arms crossed over his chest while keeping a bead on his daughter. With her expression pinched like she was sucking on a lemon, Sunny carried a stack of dirty dishes over to the sink.
“Make sure to scrape ‘em first, daughter of mine, before rinsin’. If I gotta hire a plumber due to clogged pipes, gonna take it outta your allowance.”
Taryn stayed in her seat and downed the rest of her wine, then stared longingly at the bottom of the empty glass. She wasn’t a big drinker but now she regretted not buying another bottle.
“Sunny, you can leave the pots and pans. I’ll take care of those.” Especially since they were her top of the line set. As expensive as they were, Taryn took good care of them so they’d last since she couldn’t afford to replace them any time soon.
But telling her that didn’t stop Sunny from bashing the dishes around as she scraped and rinsed them before stacking them in the dishwasher.
Taryn figured it was best to stay out of it and let those two work it out.Riiiiight.
As soon as Sunny was done, she turned to her father. “Can I go now?”
“Yep. Thank you for helpin’.”
“Thank you, Sunny,” Taryn quickly added, plastering on a smile.
Sunny rolled her eyes and in a flash, disappeared. Seconds later, they could hear her feet stomping up the stairs with each step louder than the next.
While that conflict was over, she waited for the next battle since it was now only the two of them in the kitchen. And she’d been avoiding him as much as possible.
With the way he had stared at her over his food, she had a suspicion that would be coming to an end within the next few minutes.
