Chapter 11 #3
At the long farm table, Daddy’s placemat, plate, napkin, and silverware sat in the middle of the worn wooden table to make room for his real estate magazine. A hard copy, no less. He looked up at Ariel. “Is Ethan taking care of your horses?”
At her nod, he shifted his gaze to Aunt Dahlia.
Caleb’s question about her father still burned in Ariel’s mind—did he support the two women’s decision about her career?
From the slight scowl on Daddy’s face when he saw Aunt Dahlia, Caleb might have been right.
Her mother and aunt may well have railroaded him into a decision he regretted.
His long-ago words sizzled in her memory again.
She’s too young, Mary. I won’t let you and Dahlia—
If this visit had felt awkward before…
Ariel moved to the stove and stood beside her always-busy mother. “Can I help?”
Mama just laughed and used an antique meat fork to turn a golden drumstick. “You’d better stick to singin’, darlin’.”
Did Mama think she’d abandoned her northern roots too? The stilted conversation in this house certainly gave the thought credibility. More than ever, she felt like a stranger in the North. In this home. In this family.
Suddenly, all she wanted was clarity from her father. She turned toward him, but he had his nose in his magazine. “Could we take a walk down to the spring?”
“Uh, sure.” He closed his magazine and left it on the table as he followed her outside.
They started toward the pasture and the little spring that bubbled up from limestone bedrock, the ground still soggy from last night’s storm. The sky had turned cloudy, and now the wind picked up, blowing tall grasses and rustling leaves.
“I hope we can eat before the storm hits,” she said, her gaze on the clouds.
Daddy looked into the graying sky. “Storm’s a ways out. Might rain on your ride home.”
“I wish we could wait it out here.”
“Call the fire department and tell them Dahlia Denton wants a ride home.”
Now that she suspected he didn’t exactly approve of Aunt Dahlia, she caught the sarcasm in his tone. He’d spoken of her this way as long as Ariel could remember, but she’d always thought he said it in jest. Today she wasn’t so sure.
She glanced up at the sky again. If she hoped to ask him about that night, she’d have to do it soon.
They stopped when they reached the spring and the lush foliage thriving among the rocks, and she summoned all her courage and looked into his eyes. “Daddy, what did you say when Aunt Dahlia offered to take me to Nashville?”
He kept his gaze steady. “You mean when she took you?”
Oh. Those words alone answered her question.
Her father drew a deep breath and blew it out, looking to the sky. Maybe to check the clouds or beseech the Lord.
“Your aunt is a powerfully determined woman. Your mother has a mind of her own too,” he said in that Nordic accent she loved. “Whenever they get together, trouble ensues.”
She lowered her voice. “What kind of trouble?”
“That night? They joined forces against me.” He put his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him. “You’re my special girl, my bonus child. The surprise of you was the best I’ve had in my life, and I didn’t want you to leave me.”
Oh, Daddy…
She raised a hand to her tightening throat.
He hadn’t wanted her to go.
“I needed to raise you. I wanted you here, in my home, playing on my farm, growing up on my knee.” His voice cracked, and he swallowed. “You were the sweetest, most agreeable little girl I’d ever known, and you were a comfort to me.”
But he hadn’t raised her, not after her tenth birthday. And now, did they really know each other? The kind of knowing that comes only when a man gets eighteen years with his child under his roof, at his table, in his life?
The awkwardness in the kitchen said they did not.
Ariel stepped closer, laid her head on his shoulder. “But you didn’t say no.”
“Those two women are a formidable force.” Daddy’s arm came around her waist. “When they make a decision, nothing can stop them.”
“You tried to stop them?”
“I couldn’t,” he said, his voice wavering.
“See, back in the day, your mother was an even better singer than your aunt. After she was crowned Tennessee State Fairest of the Fair, RCA offered her a contract. Your mom was set up to become a star. But before she could fulfill the contract, we had—we got married, and she moved here with me instead.”
Wait, was he saying Mama was pregnant with Ethan when they got married? She’d never thought about that, but Daddy had all but said so.
And it had ended Mama’s career, crushed her dream. “You thought you should let her have her way.”
“It was more than that. Your mother wanted to give you opportunities she couldn’t have. You’re even more talented than she was, so she felt she owed you the chance to become a star.”
“But why me? Ethan and Charlotte sing as well as I do.”
“Because you’re Ariel Sullivan—the Sweetheart of Nashville.
” He held her gaze as if searching her heart.
“You love people and you’re not afraid to show it, just like Dahlia and your mom.
They didn’t make it in show biz because of talent, but because of their hearts.
Dahlia knew you’d fit right in with her. ”
Ethan and Charlotte loved people too. That much she knew. But they did express love differently than Ariel and Aunt Dahlia did.
The Lord had created all three of them as individuals.
Daddy drew in another deep breath and puffed it out. Looked up. “Storm clouds are getting closer. Let’s get you some chicken, then get you on your horse.”
Ariel was pretty sure she’d heard the last from her father on the subject. But with his answers came an understanding and a freedom she’d never dreamed of tasting.