Page 39 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 2

Sean watched his daughter closely. He saw guilt flash in her eyes, but there was more there. Ashley squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye before answering.

"Yes, it was me, but I've quit now. I threw all of the cigarettes I had away yesterday, and I promise you, I won't be smoking ever again."

"As heartwarming as your confession is, I think that's what you said the last time we had this discussion. You remember. The time I grounded you for a month and you called me the world's meanest dad."

"Oh yeah, that. Well, I didn't mean it. I mean there have to be a few dads worse than you." She smiled at her cheeky response. The smile socked him in the gut. It was her mother's smile. Sean had a moment of panic. What the hell had he been thinking asking another woman out on a date? He was a married man, wasn't he?

"Dad? Is everything okay? I was just joking."

They never talked about her anymore. Jerilyn's death had been the elephant in the room for months. He used to think he was doing the right thing not to talk about her constantly with Ashley. Sean didn't want to make her sad. In that moment, he knew he'd made a mistake and he needed to be honest with the most important woman in his life now–his daughter. "I was just thinking about how much your smile reminds me of your mom." Fuck. Sorrow flooded her eyes. Her words through her tears surprised him.

"Thank you for talking about her, Dad. I've been thinking about her a lot lately and it just... well... I don't know. I thought you didn't want me to mention her anymore because it just made you sad."

"Oh, Ash. I'm sorry if you felt like you couldn't talk about your mom. I never meant for you to feel that way. I just know that it makes you sad sometimes and I didn't want to keep bringing it up if you were unhappy."

"I get it, and at first maybe not talking about her helped, but not anymore. In fact, I've been thinking about it. Where are all of our picture albums and my baby movies? I was talking with a friend yesterday and she told me that watching movies of mom might help me feel close to her again. I've been missing her a lot and I think that would help."

Sean felt like an ass. He should have been helping his baby girl through their loss better. They had packed away most of their memories when they moved into the hotel. At the time, he had rationalized that their place was small and they didn't have room for everything. The truth was he had known that looking through a lifetime of memories would rip open wounds that he wasn't ready to deal with. Now, several years later, the memories didn't seem as scary.

He put on a smile. "I think that's a great idea, Ashley. We have all the photo albums and home movies boxed up and in storage out in Grandma and Papa's basement. What do you say we bring them back here the next time we go out to visit?"

"I'd like that."

When did his little girl get so grown up? He saw a maturity in her eyes that felt new. He remembered Traci and said a silent prayer, hoping Ashley was ready for the conversation they were about to have.

"There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, honey. Something surprising happened today."

"We won the lottery?"

"Sadly, no. Not that surprising." Sean took a deep breath before continuing on. "I met a very nice lady who's here at the hotel for a conference. We were talking and well... I sort of asked her out to dinner tonight."

Ashley's eye grew wide, yet she hid her emotions well. It was hard for Sean to get a read on how she felt about her Dad going on a date.

"I don't know, Dad." She paused for effect. "That might be more surprising to me than winning the lottery."

Relief flew through his body at the grin on his daughter's face. He realized after his impromptu invitation that he really should have talked to Ashley first. She was the most important person in his life now and he didn't want her upset. The look on her face told him he shouldn't have worried.

"Honestly, I surprised myself. I didn't even think about it before I blurted out the invitation. It was quite comical, I'm sure. After all, it's been eighteen years since I asked your mom out on our first date. I'm a little rusty."

"Did she say yes?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, I guess you didn't screw it up too bad."

He chuckled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence there, kiddo."

"No problem. Glad I could help. Seriously, Dad, I think it's great. When do I get to meet the mystery lady?"

"Never. She's just in town for a few days before heading back to Denver. It's perfect. She's a really nice lady. I can go out with her and practice and even if I make a complete and utter fool of myself, it'll be fine since she's leaving town. I won't have to face her day after day with the object humiliation of a failed date."

"Come on, Dad. You aren't going to screw it up that bad. I mean, you mingle with people all the time for your job and you don't embarrass yourself. I'm sure you can make it through a dinner without acting like an ogre."

"We'll see, won't we?"

Traci reviewed her reflection in the mirrored door of the elevator on her trip down to the lobby. She'd changed her clothes several times, settling on a flowered sundress she'd thrown into her suitcase at the last minute. The sleeveless arms and plunging neck and back showed a bit more skin than she felt comfortable with for a first date. Considering it was either this or a business suit or jeans, the decision was easy. She could kick herself for not bringing more casual shoes and hoped they wouldn't have to do too much walking or her feet were going to be killing her by the end of the night. Troy would give her shit if he were here, considering the amount of time his wife and sister spent admiring shoes.

She spotted him almost immediately as the doors slid open. Sean. He was standing near the front desk, speaking with several uniformed employees. Traci took the opportunity to observe him in his element and liked what she saw. You could tell a lot about a manager by how his employees reacted to him. Traci could see the general manager was well respected.

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