Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
He’d never been disappointed in either of his kids before now.
Of course, over the years, Grant had gotten annoyed with them, he was only human, and so were they, and there had been plenty of times they’d been naughty.
When they’d been pregnant with Lindsay, he and Lara had discussed how they wanted to parent, and they both agreed that rules and routines were good for kids, but so was the ability to speak freely about their thoughts and feelings.
Mom and Dad weren't always going to be there, and they wanted their kids to feel independent enough to be able to acknowledge whatever they were feeling and then think through the consequences of any decisions they wanted to make.
Over the years, that had worked well for him. His kids learned early on to come to him and speak freely without judgment. It didn’t mean that he sometimes didn't have to enact consequences for poor choices, but he thought he had his kids’ trust.
Turned out he’d been very wrong on that.
Despite over three months having passed since he announced he and Ashlyn were dating, Lindsay hadn't softened her stance even a little bit. He hadn't been expecting his kids to jump all in enthusiastically to the idea, but he hadn't expected this either.
Neither he nor Ashlyn expected Lindsay to look at her as a mother figure, and they were both prepared to ease the kids into the idea of them dating, but Lindsay was being completely unreasonable, and despite him giving her multiple chances to explain what was bothering her, she refused to talk.
“Hey,” he rebuked as he caught a glimpse of Lindsay tossing the homemade strawberry cinnamon scrolls Ashlyn had made her completely from scratch over the side of the boat.
“Oh, oops,” Lindsay said with what could only be described as a mean smile on her face.
When had his daughter learned to be mean? She could dislike the idea of him dating someone without needing to be cruel about it, and some of the things he’d caught her doing and saying to Ashlyn could only be described as cruel.
Where had his sweet, kind, compassionate daughter gone?
It was like in the blink of an eye, she had turned into someone he didn't even recognize.
“Accident,” Lindsay added with a sneer. While he’d hoped Ashlyn hadn't noticed since she was deep in conversation with Kevin, when Lindsay looked past him to where the pair were talking and smirked, he knew his girlfriend had indeed seen what his daughter had done.
That was it. He’d had enough of his daughter’s attitude. It was time for her to either tell him what was going on inside her head so he knew how to help her, or start treating Ashlyn with respect.
“Inside, now,” he snapped at Lindsay in the rare, angry father voice his kids had never given him much cause to bring out.
Eyes widening at his tone, Lindsay tried batting her eyelashes at him and giving him her I'm just your cute little daughter look, but he wasn't having it. When she realized that, she gave an annoyed huff and stood, sauntering her way into the boat’s small cabin.
Taking a seat at the little table in there, Grant waited until his daughter sat opposite him, and then he studied her, trying to figure out what had changed Lindsay into this girl he didn't even recognize.
“What's going on?” he asked. They’d had this conversation several times over, but he was yet to get any sort of answer.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me. We don’t do that in this family.”
“You lied about her,” Lindsay seethed.
“I absolutely did not. I met her one time at a wedding, then again the day before we told you about us. I didn't want to lie, that’s why I told you and your brother from the beginning.” He still wasn't sure whether he’d made the right move, but it was what it was.
“We don’t need her.”
“It’s not about need. I want Ashlyn in my life.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“I'm sorry to hear that, Lindsay, because she’s going to be part of your life.” Grant loved his kids with his entire being, but he was falling in love with Ashlyn, and he refused to let his teenage daughter bully him into breaking off the relationship.
“She’s always hanging around. Butting into our family things,” Lindsay said with a pout.
“That’s categorically untrue. I go out on a date with her once a week, and this is maybe the sixth time she’s done something with all of us together.
We’ve gone out on the boat at least half a dozen times this summer, and this is the first time she’s joined us.
” He was doing his best to balance both parts of his life and make sure everyone was getting the attention they deserved.
“I don’t want her around at all. Ever. I hate her.” Lindsay said it with such conviction that Grant feared his daughter meant it. He had no idea what that meant for his future relationship with Ashlyn, or with Lindsay. But he did know he wasn't giving up on either of them.
“If you won't speak to me, tell me why you're so adamantly against me dating Ashlyn, then I think I'm going to book you an appointment with a therapist. Maybe that will help. But make no mistake about it, I love you more than you will ever know, but I will not tolerate this bad behavior any longer. You will start treating Ashlyn with the same respect that she shows you. Starting with an apology for throwing the strawberry cinnamon scrolls she made for you overboard.”
“No,” Lindsay said simply, shoving to her feet. “I’m not a little kid anymore, I'm going to be sixteen in less than six months. I'm not apologizing to her for anything. She should be apologizing to me.”
With that, his daughter stormed off back outside, down the opposite end of the deck from where Kevin and Ashlyn were still talking, leaving Grant staring after her, wondering how he was ever going to join all the pieces of his life together to make one where everybody was happy.