“I’m not your little girl,” she corrected.
“You’re right, you’re not. Although I’m not sure how I feel knowing that is the part of my statement you feel the need to correct me on.”
“Hate is a pretty appropriate word right now.”
Vaughn flinched at her statement. “That’s fair. That’s more than fair. I deserve that. I acted like a first-rate asshole at breakfast the other day. There is no excuse for the way I acted. I could drone on about how it’s hard to admit that you’re all grown up and that you’re your own person now, and it is. It’s hard to accept that the itty-bitty baby who used to nap in my office, or the little girl who used to sing everywhere she went, including while in the bathroom, is an adult, making her own choices. But you are. And despite the fact that you were raised by three bachelors making it up as they went, you turned into one hell of an amazing young woman.”
“Thanks.”
“And I shouldn’t have been as taken aback about you and Kyle as I was that morning. I knew how you felt about him. Simone has droned on and on for what feels like forever about how cute the two of you are together. Not that any parent type wants to think about their kid that way. And Miller was right—anyone could see watching the two of you that there was something there, and really, we were rooting for you too. Maybe rooting is the wrong word. Well, my brothers were all about it—I was maybe a little less enthused. But, believe me, I do want you to be happy and to find your person. Would I have preferred he come to us prior to just sweeping you away, sure. But I also realize this isn’t eighteen fifty-two and no one needs permission to date you. I like Kyle, I do. He’s a great kid, Drea, and he’s a hard worker and I know that he wouldn’t set out to hurt you. He’s exactly the kind of guy you want to date your kid. That’s why I invited him to join us for our pre-bonfire rituals. He has become part of this family.”
“And yet you said exactly the opposite to us at breakfast.”
“I did. How did Simone put it? Oh, I ‘lost my shit.’ I became a fucking lunatic.”
“You weren’t very nice last week, either, before we went away for the weekend.”
“I know. I have no idea why the idea of you two taking a weekend for yourselves bothered me, but it did. It shouldn’t have—it’s not like it’s something you two haven’t done a dozen times before. But somehow, this time seemed different. Oddly enough, that seems to have been exactly what your Uncle Grayson was pushing for, but still, it struck a chord. I felt the need to protect you and so that’s what I tried to do.”
“You don’t need to protect me!” she exclaimed. “I am not a child! I’m twenty-six—I can take care of myself.”
“I know. I know,” he sighed. He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Your mom went into labor while your dad and I were meeting with the pool diggers. We were standing out there, watching them dig away when she waddled out saying she needed to talk to your dad. I told her ‘not now, we’re working.’ She just looked at me and goes ‘okay, then I’ll tell the baby now isn’t a good time. Should I check your calendar to find out when would be better?’ Sofia had no problem sticking it to any of us.” He laughed at the memory.
“Miller will wax on about how you were just perfect from the moment you showed up, and yes, you were cute as a baby. But you were just a baby to me. Until one day Sofia sticks her head in my office as I was trying to figure out this booking software that we had just bought. She was just going to leave you in there with me because you were sleeping and she wanted to go see the new stove be installed. She was gone just as quickly as she appeared. About an hour later there was the loudest noise that I’ve ever heard, still to this day. I went running, and it wasn’t until Grayson looked at Miller and me and went ‘where’s the baby?’ that I remembered you were on the floor in my office.”
He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, hanging his head. “When I got back, you were still asleep. I picked you up, and there you were in my arms, so small and helpless, and I knew it was my job to protect you from then on.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Drea asked, confused.
“Because in that moment, when you were asleep in my arms as an inferno raged in our brand-new kitchen, I felt so fucking useless. I yelled and screamed and threatened to sue anyone who had ever touched that stove. And the only time I have ever felt like that since then was the moment that Kyle kissed you the other day. I can’t explain why, but I did. And my knee-jerk reaction was the same then as it had been—to yell and scream and lose my shit. It was a shitty thing to do, but what’s done is done. And I’m sorry, Drea.”
“You had no right. You are not my father. You were not even my legal guardian,” she ground out.
“I know. I know that I’m not even really your uncle. Believe it or not, it was a title I fought at first, but your mom still referred to me as ‘Uncle Vaughn’ when she talked to you as a baby. And, yes, Miller was the one who assumed the dad role, but that doesn't mean that Grayson and I don’t think that you’re ours too. We're a unit, the four of us.”
She sighed and stood up from the chair. She walked over to the window that overlooked the guest portion of the beach. It was a beautiful, sunny day with only a few small clouds in the sky, and the beach was full of people soaking it up.
“I love him,” she finally said. “But you drove him away.”
“I know.”
“And he wouldn’t even say it to me when he was leaving. I told him I loved him, and he didn’t say it back. He told you in the kitchen he did, but…he didn’t say it to me. And now…now he’s gone,” she said, turning around. “He left the island, went back to the States. Said no one would hire him once they learned he’d been fired from the Indigo Royal.”
“I’ve tried calling him a couple of times, sent a few texts, but he won’t return my calls.”
“Glad to know it’s not just me,” she muttered, turning back to the window.
“I wish I could take it back, Drea. I’d do pretty much anything to change what happened that morning.”
She nodded slowly, still glancing out the window. She hated that she understood where he was coming from, but she did. It would be so much easier to just stay mad at him, to tell him to fuck off and leave her alone, but she knew that she would never be able to hold on to the anger knowing that he reacted out of love. However misguided he was, he had been trying to do right by her. Overprotective had been his go-to since day one, and she knew that she couldn’t hold his personality against him for forever.
Without looking away from the window, she responded, “I’m still mad and I’m still really hurt, and I can’t promise that will change any time soon.”
“But it will change, yes?”
“Eventually,” she answered, turning back around to face him again.
“Then I guess that’s all I can ask for,” he said, standing, holding his arms open wide for a hug.
She crossed the room in only a couple of strides and stepped into his embrace. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and squeezed like he might never let go. When he finally did let go, she took a step back, wiping lightly at her eyes to make sure her makeup was still intact.