Page 103 of Crossing the Line
“Be who they need you to be, not who they want you to be. Protect them, listen to them, support them.”
“What if it’s too late?”
“I can’t speak for you and Sylvia, but your daughter could use a good man to lean on these days. You can start by taking some responsibility off of her shoulders.” Xavier turned to leave. He wasn’t going to let Waverly stay on this boat another five minutes. There was only so much a person could witness before the damage was permanent.
“You love her, don’t you?” Robert asked quietly.
Xavier turned around but said nothing. He had no answer for the man or himself.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. I can see it… now that I’m paying attention,” Robert said with a sad smile. “It looks like she’s already got a good man that she can lean on.”
“There’s always room for another,” Xavier told him.
Xavier returned to the salon. Waverly was still scrubbing at the rug in the same spot. He crouched down next to her. “Come on, Angel. Let’s go.”
She shook her head, kept scrubbing. “I can’t just leave this here like this. Someone has to clean it up.” She lifted her gaze to him, and he saw the anguish in those beautiful sad eyes.
“It’s not your mess to clean up,” Xavier said softly. He tugged the soiled towel from her hand. She let him pull her to her feet.
Waverly crossed her arms over her chest and looked around the room. She looked lost without her purpose.
“Someone has to,” she said again.
“I will.” Robert stepped tentatively into the room. “I’m going to clean this up, and then I’m going to talk to your mother.”
“You don’t have to do that, Dad—” Waverly began.
“I need to,” he said quietly. He shot a glance at Xavier, and Xavier nodded.
“Robert, I’m taking Waverly to London today.”
Robert’s face fell briefly. “Of course,” he nodded. “I understand. I… uh,” he cleared his throat. “I have some things that I need to take care of here.”
“Dad, really, I can—”
But Robert shook his head and put his hands on her shoulders. “No, Waverly. It’s long past time that I stepped up. Let me do this.”
She took a shaky breath and Xavier put his hand on her back to steady her. Finally, she nodded at her father. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. You too, Xavier. Have a safe trip, and be careful with my daughter.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Waverly and Kate met in a squealing hug in the foyer of Waverly’s London hotel suite. “I missed you! How was your trip with your family?” Waverly demanded once the squealing had quelled.
Xavier enjoyed watching them chat animatedly as they moved into the suite’s living room with its view of Kensington Gardens. Waverly may have never told anyone she loved them, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t feel it. With Kate, with Mari, even Louie the fashionista chef, Waverly’s feelings were obvious.
The girls flopped down on the stuffy couch while Kate filled Waverly in on her trip to Boca for what sounded like a disastrous family reunion. Xavier checked his watch. He had a briefing with hotel security downstairs in a conference room in five.
“Can I trust you ladies not to do anything incredibly stupid for half an hour while I go downstairs?” he asked.
Waverly beamed at him. “If you hand me that room service menu on your way out, I’ll order enough food to keep us all here for a week,” she promised.
He handed over the leather bound menu and let his fingers linger on hers a little longer than necessary. If they’d been alone, he would have tilted her head back and kissed her senseless. But instead he just winked at her. He’d make sure to make it up to her when they were alone tonight.
Waverly seemed to sense his train of thought and flushed under his gaze.
“I’ll be back soon. Good to have you back, Kate.”
