Page 99 of Family Bonds: Alana & Brennan
“Daddy, I want to see Alana’s house.”
Alana put his daughter down and took her jacket off, then reached for his, and hung them.
“I’ll show you around,” she said. “There might be a surprise for you in the back.”
“Surprise?” he asked.
“You’ll see,” she said.
“Why don’t you and I have a talk,” Kirk said.
Alana stopped and turned around. “No, Kirk.”
“Yes,” Brennan said. “Might as well get it over with.”
“I like you already,” Kirk said, slapping him on the back. “We can go into Alana’s office.”
He turned and went in, Kirk following. Before the door shut, Darin came in.
He was going to get double-teamed for this.
It hadn’t happened to him once in his life. Considering he’d do this to any boy or man that came near his daughter, he wouldn’t gripe.
“Before you start,” he said. “I don’t take it lightly bringing any woman into my daughter’s life. Alana is the first.”
“Because she met her before you dated,” Darin said. “We know how it happened. She babysat your daughter while you went on a date with another woman.”
When phrased like that, it sounded shitty on his part.
“One date I didn’t want to go on,” he said. “It was the perfect excuse to cancel.”
“Then why didn’t you?” Kirk asked.
He’d be honest with them. If it got back to Alana, then he’d deal with it later. “Because it gave me a chance to be around Alana and learn more about her.”
“What?” Kirk asked.
Darin held his hand up. “You wanted to see how Alana was with your daughter or you wanted to have time to get to knowher better outside of work and with no eyes on you both and it was the perfect play that fell into your lap?”
“The second one but mixed with the first,” he said.
Darin nodded his head. “No one is aware other than Kelsey that you’re dating?”
“Not right now,” he said. “I’m not sure how much longer it can be a secret, nor do I care if it isn’t. Alana and I will have that discussion soon.”
“You know what her ex did to her,” Kirk said. “She told us she told you.”
“I do. I also know she stopped you both from dealing with it your way. I’m not sure Becca could hold me back if someone did that to her.”
“Do you think we can’t take care of her?” Darin’s frown didn’t inspire confidence in this meeting.
It wasn’t going the way he wanted. “No. I think you care a great deal how Alana feels and knew that her degree of comfort or embarrassment over the situation took precedence over your need for vengeance.”
Kirk looked annoyed, Darin sighed.
“That’s it exactly,” Darin said. “Much to my son’s frustration.”
“I got my licks in and I’ll keep doing it when I cross paths with him,” Kirk said. “I don’t like that he’s even around still.”
