Page 63 of Seized by Love at Seaside
“Margaret and Vernon, please,” she said with a kind smile.
Blue’s eyes caught on the bookshelves behind the sofa, and he realized that he hadn’t seen a single family photo. His family had photos on nearly every wall. He reminded himself this was their place of business as well as their residence, which gave him a mild sense of understanding even though his father and siblings had plenty of family photos even at their offices.
“How is my daughter?” Vernon crossed one ankle over his knee and leaned back with his hands folded neatly in his lap.
His use ofmy daughterrubbed Blue the wrong way. It felt like he was distancing himself from her.
“Lizzie is doing well, despite the issues between the two of you.” Blue paused, waiting for a reaction, knowing he was plowing in like a bulldozer, but he had a feeling that was what this man needed. “She’s one of the strongest women I know.”
Margaret smiled and sat up a little straighter. Vernon’s facial expression remained unchanged as he nodded in acknowledgment.
“Lizzie has always been very strong-willed,” Margaret said.
Maybe that shouldn’t bother him, but it did.Strong-willedwas different fromstrong. He was beginning to understand what Lizzie had grown up with and what she was currently up against, and it only endeared her toward him more. She was even stronger than he’d imagined.
“I realize that you don’t know me, and maybe it’s not my place to speak for Lizzie, but I am in love with her, and I’m hoping we can find a way to bridge the gap that’s come between you.” Blue hadn’t planned on going there with this conversation. He’d planned on simply trying to make peace with her father and to get him to understand what a generous person and skilled businesswoman his daughter was, and that she didn’t deserve to be dismissed by him. But Blue didn’t work that way. He’d always been led by his heart, and this was no different.
“Blue, I don’t think this is a conversation I want to have with you.” Vernon rose to his feet and looked down at his wife, who pressed her lips together and remained seated. “Margaret?”
“I want to hear what he has to say,” she said as she reached for his hand. “And I wish you would, too.”
Vernon crossed his arms over his chest as Blue rose to his feet and met the formidable man eye to eye.
“Thank you, Margaret,” Blue said gently before turning his full attention to Vernon. “Sir, I don’t have a daughter and can’t claim to know what it would feel like to know that my daughter hosted a show like the one Lizzie does.” He felt the need to say the name of the show, to show her father that he wasn’t bothered or embarrassed by it. “But my girlfriend, your daughter, a woman whom I adore, a woman whom I never imagined would do something like this, is in fact the Naked Baker.”
“And you apparently have no issues with that.” Vernon’s voice was dead calm and clearly meant to be intimidating. “You’re probably one of those guys who watches that show, along with a dozen of other pornographic shows on the Internet.”
Blue’s eyes never wavered from his. “I see your ability to misjudge is not restricted to family members.” He wasn’t about to defend himself to this man. He had tunnel vision—clear the way for a reconciliation for Lizzie—and it was obviously going to be an uphill battle. But Blue wasn’t one to give up. He had to believe that if Margaret had stayed with this man all these years, he must have some redeeming qualities as a father and as a husband, and Blue hoped to unearth at least some of them.
When her father didn’t react to his comment, Blue continued speaking. “I wonder, Vernon, are you aware of what your daughter does besides this webcast?”
“She’s a florist,” he said with an air of boredom.
“And?” Blue cocked a brow at his brief, cold answer. He could tell by the way Margaret was fidgeting in the same fashion Lizzie did when she was nervous that she was biting back a response. Or maybe suppressing the desire to nudge her husband into saying more.
“Let me share with you what I’ve learned about Lizzie,” Blue said proudly. “Did you know that after working a ten-to-twelve-hour day at the flower shop—the flower shop that she managed to open and run successfully on her own—she takes flowers to the cemetery and leaves them on the headstones of people whose graves go untended?” He noted the quizzical look in her father’s eyes and softened his tone. “Sometimes she takes them to the assisted-living facility, or the firehouse, or the police station. She’s also been known to hand flowers out to strangers as they pass by the shop after hours.”
Blue shifted his eyes to her mother. “And did you know that the things she bakes for her show go to the homeless shelter? That’s right, at six thirty in the morning, with a full day ahead of her, she takes it upon herself to deliver the freshly baked goods to those who need them.”
“I didn’t know that,” her mother said wistfully.
When her father still didn’t respond, Blue said, “And the show she’s created? She works on that late at night most days, after she’s gone to the homeless shelter, worked a long day at her flower shop, and delivered flowers to whomever she thinks needs them the most.” In an instant, Blue decided not to try to explain to Lizzie’s parents how successful her webcast had become or that she was in talks with a major network to sell the rights. He didn’t get the sense that her success made a difference one way or another, and who Lizzie was had nothing to do with her success. If her father couldn’t see how caring, how selfless, and how incredibly generous his daughter was, it was his loss.
To his surprise, Vernon’s shoulders dropped a hair. If Blue hadn’t been watching for clues of the man softening, he might have missed it.
“Lizzie is a savvy businesswoman, but more importantly, she’s the most generous person I know.” Blue slid his hands casually into his pockets and shrugged.
“I just thought you should know, and I’m sure you already know that the money she earns from the webcast goes directly to Maddy’s school expenses. She doesn’t keep a penny for herself, even though that means she pays a higher tax rate on her earnings from the flower shop.”
He held a hand out to shake Vernon’s, and Vernon’s mouth opened, as if he was going to say something, but as Blue shook his hand, the man remained silent.
This conversation is nowhere near over.
Blue kept his thoughts to himself as he took Margaret’s hand between his and thanked her for taking the time to speak with him. He took a step toward the door, unsure if he’d made a difference or not, and before walking into the foyer he said, “Thank you for raising such an amazing daughter. She was so determined to put her own social life aside in order to fully concentrate on earning enough for Maddy’s education that she refused to go out with me for an entire year—what she didn’t know was that I would have waited ten, if that’s what she needed to feel safe.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
SKY WHOOSHED THROUGH the front doors of P-town Petals carrying bags from Wild Rice, a clothing shop at the west end of Commercial Street. It was a pricey shop, with dressier clothing than Sky typically wore, and as Lizzie came around the counter to greet her, she wondered where Sky was going to need to wear something so special.
