Chapter 27

“THEY’RE SO BEAUTIFUL!” she squealed into the phone when I called. “You must have spent a fortune on them. It was too much, but I love them! Oh my God, they smell amazing. I’ve got them in my room and the whole room smells like roses. Thank you SOOO much! I can’t believe you DID that!”

She was babbling excitedly and I chuckled. Hanna was in the back seat with me and she giggled. “Someone else got a flower delivery today,” she told them in the front seat.

“Aw!” Emma cooed. “She must feel like a princess right now!”

I finally got her to calm down enough to talk and she was still gushing about the flowers and how shocked she was. “I had no idea what you were doing. Dad was just as shocked when he saw it. He was out getting groceries when it arrived. When he got home and saw it, he said that I could go out with you on dates so long as I’m not out too late.”

“That’s great news!” I said, thrilled. “What’s your curfew?”

“He wanted it to be 10, but I talked him into 11 on Friday and Saturday. The rest of the week, I have to be home by 8.”

“It’s still early,” I said lightly. “You want to come out for a bit? I can make sure you’re home in time.”

“I’d love to!”

“Emma,” I said and she nodded.

“Tell her we’ll pick her up,” she said lightly.

“You hear that?” I asked.

“See you soon. Come in when you get here. Dad will want to talk to you.”

“See you soon. I love you, Princess.”

She giggled and hung up. I could feel her happiness even through the phone.

“You’re just too cute,” Hanna said, reaching over to pinch my cheek.

I laughed and bit her hand playfully. We stopped in front of Tricia’s house and I told them I’d go in to get her.

I’d barely rung the doorbell when she pulled me inside to talk to her dad.

“Matthew,” he said and offered me a seat.

“Mr. Saunders,” I said, offering him my hand. He shook it without trying to crush it and we sat down to talk.

“Tricia has become very fond of you in a short period of time,” he said, trying very hard to keep things civil.

“I’ve become very fond of her too,” I said carefully.

“Yes, that I became aware of earlier today,” he said dryly. “You don’t believe in half-measures, do you?”

I shook my head. “I don’t,” I agreed. “Tricia deserves every petal on every blossom though and more.”

“You’ve convinced her that your intentions are perfectly noble. I’m not so easily convinced.”

I nodded. “I can understand that,” I said amicably.

“Can you?” he asked, skeptically.

“I think so. You’re a single parent to a daughter who’s precious to you. You probably see a lot of her mother in her and want to protect her from every tear she could shed because each one that escapes her eye is a knife in your heart. You heard a lot of bad things about me at the start of the year and then I magically show up at your doorstep on a day you were expecting her to be home waiting for you and now I’m coming to your door a lot more. You remember what it’s like to be a fourteen year old boy and that ‘perfectly noble’ is a relative term when you involve the sexual urges and impulse control problems that most boys my age have. I represent everything that you want to protect her from. I DO get that. It’s why I keep coming back. I feel the same way you do, that she’s precious. I’m just not sure that either of us can shield her from every harm and I’m not sure we do her any favors to try.”

He sat and studied me for a long time before he answered me. “Yes, I think you’re interested in my daughter on a level I do not approve of. That worries me because I know what state you’ll leave her in when you get what you want. So that puts your name on my list of hurts to protect her from.”

“Not an uncommon attitude in a parent,” I allowed. “It’s done some damage to Tricia, but I’m working on smoothing that out. Let me explain what I mean by that,” I said, seeing his expression turn angry. “When I first met Tricia, I saw right away that she was beautiful, but that she hid it. She was painfully shy, cripplingly self-conscious and heart-breakingly timid. When I asked if she was going to the Halloween dance, I could tell that she wanted to go more than anything, but was holding back. She said she was just going to stay home and give out candy to the kids. She was overlooked by everyone around her and I’m ashamed to say that included me. Once I talked to her though, I thought she was someone I wanted to spend a lot more time with. She has a way of speaking that reminds me of my mentor, Carl Saddler. He’s the friend I posted the video about having cancer.”

I paused and took a breath. I was still emotional talking about that, but I got hold of myself and continued. “I asked the other girls to take her out to get her hair done and teach her to use make-up and get a total make-over. When she came back, the change was astounding, but I don’t just mean the way she looked. I saw that she was beautiful the first time I saw her. The biggest change was how she felt. She was radiant. She’d come out of her shell and shown herself to the world for the first time. I was so happy for her because she looked HAPPY. She’d become the proud, confident young woman I know. If I hadn’t come along, it might have been years before she got to this point and that would have meant years locked in her own thoughts.”

He sat and considered what I was saying and grimaced. He saw the same change in her that I saw. “So you think I’m overprotective?” he asked.

“I think that in your position, I’d be overprotective too. Can I promise to never make Tricia cry? No. I can’t promise that, just like she can’t promise never to make me cry. I’m a boy. It’s in our nature to do stupid things. Even the best of us aren’t perfect. She’ll be angry with me and disappointed in me and thrilled with me and through it all, we’ll be in love with each other.”

“And if I asked you not to have sex with her?” he asked, throwing it out on the table.

“I would respect your wishes. I wouldn’t necessarily agree to your request, but I would respect it. What I WILL promise you is that I will not have sex with Tricia lightly. If and when it happens, it will be something that we both want and it will be done with love and respect and tenderness. If we ever take that step, it will absolutely be her choice to do it.”

“And I’m supposed to trust you with my daughter after that?” he laughed.

I shrugged. “Other guys my age and older would lie to you, tell you what you wanted to hear and then do whatever they thought they could get away with once they were out of sight. I thought you’d appreciate me respecting you enough to tell you the truth. I can promise I won’t have sex with Tricia tonight. We’re not at that point yet and it’s a little late for that kind of activity if I’m going to get her home before curfew.”

“Give me one good reason to let her see you at all,” he growled angrily.

I nodded and stood up. I went over to Tricia, who looked like she was watching life come to an end. I drew her to her feet and stood her in front of her father. “There. You see the look on her face at the thought you might forbid for her to see me? That’s a damn good reason. She’s a big part of my life and I’m a big part of hers. You might not like the life she’s building. You might feel like it’s the wrong path for her, but in the end, it’s her life. Cutting her off from it will start those tears you’re trying to avoid.”

His expression soured again, but then softened as he really looked at her. “Alright,” he said, knowing he was defeated. “If you’re a MINUTE late...” he warned, trailing off. He let the warning hang in the air.

She beamed at him and flung her arms around his neck. “Thanks Dad. Matt’ll make sure I get home on time.”

He glared at me. I suspected that he intended to even the score. I wasn’t worried. I figured the portrait I was doing would lengthen my lead.

“Thank you,” I said and offered him my hand again.

He took it warily. “What are you thanking me for?”

“Because you listened to me. You clearly don’t like me and don’t like what I represent, but you considered what I had to say and despite not liking me, you feel like I’ve earned enough of your trust to try this arrangement to see if we can be responsible.”

“Don’t hurt my little girl,” he warned me sternly.

I nodded and we got out of there. Tricia hit me in the arm as soon as the door closed. “You couldn’t have told him that you wouldn’t fuck his little girl so he could sleep at night?!!?” she laughed. We got in the car and everyone was interested in what had happened inside.

“Captain America here decided to tell my father that he could only promise not to have sex with me tonight, because there just wasn’t enough time for that before my curfew was up,” she growled angrily.

They all laughed and we took off to get some dessert.

“Seriously! He convinces my father to give him a chance by sending me a bouquet of roses the size of my desk and then spoils it by saying that! Why do I love you again?”

“Because I love you and I sweep you off your feet every chance I get?” I asked lightly.

“It’s because you’re pretty,” she said grumpily. “If you ever let the Watermans mess up your face, I’ll leave you for someone prettier.” She spoiled it by smirking a little.

We invaded Dairy Queen and took over one of their large booths with sundaes to chat and bond. “You know your Dad might have been less upset with us going out if he knew we’d be supervised the whole time,” I pointed out.

“Yeah!” she scoffed. “Because you’d REALLY be discouraged from having sex by your OTHER girlfriends.” She laughed about that.

“I wasn’t going to tell your Dad WHO was going to keep an eye on us. And I sure wasn’t about to tell him they’d find it entertaining.”

“Oh?” she giggled. “NOW you start thinking about what not to tell him?”

“Oh I thought about it while we were in the house. He knows you’re hot, knows that I noticed, but now it’s on the table and he knows that the decision isn’t his to make.”

“Matt’s right,” Emma said lightly. “If he lied or misled your Dad, he’d be a short-term boyfriend. He’d get caught in a lie and then he’d be met at the door by your Dad whenever he came to ask you out. Instead, he’s telling your Dad that he’s going to be around for a while. He might not like him, but he’s got a lot less reason to hate him.”

“I suppose,” she said with a shrug. “One thing you got right, Matt. I do look a lot like my Mom. I think it bugs him that I’ll be growing up and getting a life of my own.”

“Well, he should too,” I said. “He’s been alone since your Mom died. He should have moved on too. It’s been six years, right? That’s a long time to mourn. Maybe we should try to hook him up. He might have less of a problem if we gave him something to think about.”