Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
“What are you doing?”Delilah asked. It was the night before the band was driving to New York and she’d insisted on Cassie coming over for dinner. Cassie was in Presley’s living room, using her nail polish remover pads to take off the half-peeled red polish on her nails. She’d need to repaint them before the audition.
“Just taking off my nail polish,” she told Delilah. “It got chipped.” She held up a nail that she hadn’t started on. “See?”
“What are those?” Delilah asked, pointing at the pads.
“They’re polish remover pads. You can buy the liquid separately and use it on cotton pads, but I like to carry these around in my bag in case of an emergency.”
“Do you always paint your nails?” Delilah asked, tipping her head to the side.
“Most of the time. I like the way it makes my hands look.”
“You have pretty hands,” Delilah said, reaching out and touching the nail Cassie had just cleaned. “Will you paint them again?”
“Yes, when I get home.” Cassie nodded. She’d started taking it off here because she wanted to be able to repaint them as soon as she got home. That way they’d be dry before she crashed for an early night and right now Presley was running Delilah a bath. It was early, but Delilah looked beat.
So did Presley. The poor guy had been working himself to the bone. Cassie was planning on leaving as soon as she’d read Delilah’s bedtime story, since the little girl had made her promise to.
“Can you paint my nails?” Delilah asked.
“Sure. I can do it sometime if your dad says it’s okay. Not tonight though, because the polish takes a while to dry. And if you touch something while it’s wet it gets all smudged and you have to start over.”
Delilah nodded, looking serious.
“Why don’t you live with us?” she asked.
Cassie blinked at the sudden change in conversation. “What do you mean?” she said, partly to give herself time, but also because she wanted to know where the question was coming from.
“My friend Zoe’s mom has a boyfriend. He lives with them.”
“Oh, do you mean why am I your daddy’s girlfriend but I have a separate house?”
“Yes.” Delilah nodded. “Why don’t you live here?”
“Bath’s ready.” Presley walked into the living room, his lips curling into a smile when he saw the two of them so close.
“Daddy, why doesn’t Cassie live with us?”
He blinked at the sudden question.
“Her friend Zoe’s mom’s boyfriend lives with them,” Cassie told him, trying to get him up to date.
“Oh, right.” Pres swallowed. “Let’s go,” he said to Delilah.
“But what about Cassie? Can’t she come with and give me a bath, too?” Delilah asked.
“You give yourself the bath,” Pres reminded her. “I just stay to make sure you don’t flood the whole bathroom.”
“I don’t do that.” Delilah frowned.
“Not since I learned not to fill the damn thing to the top,” he told her. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned.”
“But I want Cassie to do it.”
Pres pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He was on edge, she could tell that much. He’d been that way all week.
“I’ll come up once you’re clean,” she promised. “I’m reading you a story, remember?”
Delilah’s lip pushed out into a pout. “But I want you to bath me.”
“Get upstairs,” Pres told her, his voice low. “Now.”
Delilah sniffed, her eyes shining. “No.”
Cassie shifted on the sofa, feeling sorry for Pres. Feeling sorry for Delilah, too. She should have refused to come over. They were all exhausted.
“I’m not going to argue with you. If you don’t go up now, Cassie won’t be reading you a story.” His jaw was tight. He wouldn’t look her way.
“But Daddy…”
“Get. Up. Stairs.”
A tear ran down Delilah’s cheek. “You’re mean. I hate you. I wish my mommy was here.”
Presley’s eyes caught Cassie’s. She could see the emotion in them, but she felt powerless to help. She lifted a brow, in an attempt to ask if she could do something.
He shook his head imperceptibly, swallowing hard.
“Your mom isn’t here, and I’m sorry about that,” he said to his daughter. “But you need to get in the bath. Otherwise you’ll be going straight to bed. Your choice.”
Delilah looked at Cassie. “I wish I lived with you,” she told Cassie. “You wouldn’t be mean.”
Cassie inhaled softly. “I’d still want you to take a bath. Do as Daddy says and I’ll come up and read you a story after.”
Delilah looked from her to Presley, then back again, as though she was weighing Cassie’s words.
“Okay,” she said, her voice wobbling. “But I still don’t like you,” she told Presley.
The way he winced just about broke Cassie’s heart.
“Well it’s a good thing I love you enough for the both of us,” he told her.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” Presley said, walking into the living room where Cassie was waiting for him. “She isn’t usually like that.”
She’d read Delilah’s story as she’d promised, and then she’d left Presley to do the final good nights, sensing that he needed to be alone with his daughter.
Especially after their argument about bath time.
“I know that. It’s been a long day,” she said softly. “Or a long few weeks. You’re both exhausted. Feelings ran high. It happens.”
He collapsed onto the sofa next to her, laying back so his head was on her thighs and his legs were stretched out in front of him on the floor. “What did I do to deserve somebody like you?” he muttered, looking up at her. “Christ, I mess things up sometimes.”
“You didn’t mess anything up. Kids are kids. You said yourself that it’ll get worse when she’s a teenager.” From this vantage point she could see how dark the shadows were beneath his eyes. She ran her fingers through his hair in a gentle motion, lightly scraping her nails on his scalp.
He closed his eyes. “God that feels good. Just tell me I’m not the worst dad in the world and I’ll stop being needy, I promise.”
She smiled. “You’re a good dad, and I’ll keep telling you that. Try having a parent who never calls.”
“That’s what I’m trying not to be,” he muttered. “I want Delilah to know I’ll always be here, no matter what. I don’t want her to ever worry that she doesn’t have me on her side.”
“She knows that. She wouldn’t have argued with you if she didn’t trust you. I never dared to contradict my mom growing up. Because I knew what would happen if I did.”
He frowned. “What would happen?”
“She’d take an extended vacation. Either literally or figuratively. If I didn’t do what she wanted, she’d learned that ignoring me got the desired result.”
She leaned down and softly kissed his brow. He let out a long breath.
“Jade’s sister called earlier,” he said.
“She did?” Cassie slid her fingers between his. “Is everything okay?” She knew he found it hard to deal with Jade’s family. The stupid guilt he still held made everything more difficult.
“Yeah.” His eyelids fluttered closed again. “She told me her parents missed Delilah. I’ve been a little lax in taking her to see them.”
“Can’t they drive here?” she asked.
“Yeah, I guess. But they never have. They prefer having me drop her off.”
“Do they work?”
“Both retired.”
“So why do you have to do the driving?” she asked, genuinely curious. “Shouldn’t they want to help? The way your mom does.”
“I don’t know. Maybe they don’t want to interfere. I guess I’ll call them when we’re back from New York.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” she said softly.
“Sadie had heard about the audition,” he told her. “I guess Alex has been spreading the news.”
Cassie pulled her lip between her teeth. “What did she say about that?”
“Not a lot. It was a brief conversation.” He opened his eyes again and looked at her. “I told her that if we got signed I’d be leaving the band.”
Cassie blinked, mostly because he’d never said it out loud before. Sure, he’d voiced his worries that first night. But never more than that.
“You can’t leave the band,” she told him. “I won’t let you.”
A ghost of a smile passed his lips. “Yeah, well if tonight’s proved anything, it’s that my daughter needs consistency. She’s not gonna get that if I’m traveling all over the country playing gigs.”
“I guess not.” She leaned down to kiss him again. This time her mouth caught his. He groaned against her lips.
“Damn, I’ve missed being in your bed,” he told her.
“Well that’s one thing to look forward to in New York,” she pointed out. “A hotel room. With a lock that Marley and Alex won’t be able to open even if they wanted to. I figure this whole thing is an excuse for you and me to spend some quality time together.” She paused. “Naked.”
This time his smile was big. He reached up to curl his palm around her neck, pulling her back down for another kiss. “Promise?”
“Oh yes. It’s pretty much guaranteed,” she told him.
“Okay then.” His voice was low. Thick. “Bring on the good times.”