Page 91 of Second Chance Wedding
She rubbed her sweaty palms along her thighs and nodded. “Then I accept your apology and would like to put the past behind us.”
He looked so relieved and so happy at her response that her eyes stung with heat and the prickle of tears.
“Thank you, Analise. I would love that and I know your mother would too. I should also say that I understand now. More than ever.”
“Understand what?”
“Why you loved Cole so much. I was wrong about him.”
She plucked at an imaginary piece of lint, needing to shift her gaze from her father’s face in order to steady herself in the face of that revelation.
“You were too young for marriage. I stand by that belief. But Cole turned out to be quite a good man. A better man to you and Ben than I have been. And I will live with that knowledge for the rest of my life.”
“Cole isn’t perfect.”
“What man is? My point is that if even a third of what my bailiff said is true about the discussion he overheard, I’m glad Cole is back in your life regardless of how he came to be there. I think he’s good for Ben…and for you.”
Ana sank her teeth into her lower lip and bit hard enough to focus on the momentary pain rather than the shredding of her heart. Cole’s decision to take her son to see his father without so much as a call or a text… Fury engulfed her now just thinking about it. “Cole and I aren’t together, Dad. But I suppose you could say he and his brothers have taken Ben under their wing.”
“I was told Cole told Ben thathewas his family that night. Not biologically,” her father said with a shake of his head. “I know Cole isn’t Ben’s father, but it’s obvious he feels fondly toward Ben. A man doesn’t say those things unless he’s invested, Analise.”
This time Ana didn’t look away. She met her father’s gaze and held it. “It is sweet and kind of Cole to look out for Ben. Cole and I have our differences, but he’s been good to Ben for the most part.”
“The most part?”
Ana stood to pace off her nervous energy.
“You’re angry with Cole because of what he said to Ben?”
“I don’t want to discuss it.” She turned after saying the words and caught the flash of pain on her father’s face that she wouldn’t share her thoughts with him.
Her father stared at her a long moment, and then his gaze narrowed.
“You were out of town.” Her father sat back in the chair, his hands falling to the arms to grip them. “I see.”
“And what do you see?” she asked with more than a little of the attitude she’d like to leave in the past.
Her father stood and moved to where she’d paced. He cradled her face in his large palms, his hands smooth from years behind a desk as he ruled over people’s lives.
“I see that I am not the only one struggling with pride.”
Something inside her broke at his words. Her eyes flooded, the tears coming too fast for her to hide them.
“Oh, Analise.”
Her father pulled her into his arms and hugged her, held her, and Ana struggled to wrap her mind around the show of affection after so many years of strain and distance. She’d been daddy’s little girl growing up. Until she wasn’t. Now this. The whiplash was intense.
When he loosened his hold, she quickly swiped at the moisture beneath her lashes and shook her head. “I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’mfine. I’m upset because Cole overstepped and made a decision he had no right to make.”
“About Ben wanting to see his father?”
Of course the judge would put things together quickly. He heard it every day in his courtroom and had to be able to quickly cipher through the lies to the truth. She stared up at her dad and sniffled. “Your friend really did eavesdrop.”
“He was concerned, like I said. As to Cole… I imagine that was a hard decision for him to make considering he had to know how upset you’d be with him.”
