Page 45 of Rock Hard
Chapter Eighteen
It wasn’t hard to findCarly. She was exactly where he would have gone when he was her age—in the far recesses of the resort’s gardens, away from the people and the noise. She was barely visible, stretched out in the grass as she was, staring up at the star-filled sky.
He had come out to talk some sense into her, to demand she get her ass in gear because they had a plane to catch, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the look on her face as she gazed upward that gave him pause. She looked so young, so vulnerable. He wasn’t used to seeing her that way; far more accustomed to her scowl. Even when she had first arrived, she had been filled with attitude. Sulky and sullen with a huge chip on her shoulder. She hadn’t talked to anyone except Alice. She’d taken to Alice right away. Just like he had.
At the time, he had been glad for Alice handling all that. He was on top, loving life, making music and living the dream. What did he know about raising cubs?
Looking at Carly now, he wondered if maybe he had done them both a disservice by leaving everything to Alice.
Carly wasn’t that same defensive, spitting cub anymore. Oh, she still had the attitude, but she was a young woman now. When the hell had that happened? Years had passed, and he still didn’t have a clue.
He didn’t know if she had experienced her first shift yet, or even if shecouldshift. She was only half him, after all. His genes should have been predominant, but there was still a chance she favored her human mother.
“I’m not going back.” Her soft voice carried on the warm breeze, her golden eyes now fixed on him.
He stalked over and stretched out on the ground beside her. He didn’t have a clue what he was doing, but it felt right to do so.
“Why not?”
She seemed surprised by his question. Hell, he was kind of surprised, too. They should be hauling ass to the airport, not lounging in a patch of grass as if he had nothing better to do and nowhere else to be.
“Because this is important to me, Dad.”
“But, why?” he asked, genuinely curious.
She exhaled heavily. “I don’t know. Why is music important to you?”
No one had ever asked him that before. Music had always been a huge part of who he was. He never questioned it.
“I don’t know. It just is.”
“Exactly. It just is. I love science, Dad. It’s my thing. And being here, being recognized for that ... well, it feels good.” She paused and turned her gaze back to the sky. “Kinda like I imagine you feel when you’re up on stage and people are recognizing you for what you’re good at.”
He had never thought about it that way. School, books, science—those kinds of things had never interested him, so he had a hard time seeing the appeal, but the music analogy did make sense.
“It means that much to you?”
“Well, duh. Why else would I come all the way out here?”
“Still, you shouldn’t have gone off like that, Carly.”
She snarled, the sound definitely leonine. “I figured I’d be back before you noticed.”
The saddest part of that statement was that she was right. He probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t come in and found Alice so upset.
“What if something had happened?”
She didn’t miss a beat. “You say it like that would be a bad thing.”
Stunned, he turned to face her. “It would be.”
“Yeah, right.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Come on, Dad. We both know you’d be a lot happier without me around.”
“Idon’t know that.”
“Whatever.” In a smooth, feline move, she got to her feet. “Are we done? Don’t you have a plane to catch or something?”
Yeah, he did. It would be tight, but he could get there in time to play the last set. Or ... he could say screw the Rochester improv and stay here. Styxx and the guys would be pissed, but they would get over it. His lion was telling him that his daughter needed him a whole lot more than they did. Maybe it was time he started listening to it.
“You know what? Fuck it.”
Carly stilled, narrowing her eyes his way. “Fuckwhat, exactly?”
“Language,” he cautioned, getting to his feet. Now that he had made his decision, his fledgling parental instincts were kicking in. “The band can go on without me. I’m staying here with you, and then we’ll both fly backtogetherafter your big thing.” He ignored her shocked stare and started walking back toward the resort. “I’m starved. Know any place around here that serves gazelle?”
Rex smiled to himself when he heard her fall into step behind him. Maybe this parenting thing wasn’t so bad after all. Now, if he could only figure out what to do about Alice.
