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Her chin still quivered as she answered. “My head does, but my heart is having a hard time believing it. That’s not how it works.”

Now they were getting somewhere. “How what works, babygirl?”

“Getting past a mistake. Saying you’re sorry isn’t all it takes. That’s not enough.”

“Why isn’t that enough?”

Her brows scrunched as she considered his question. “I don’t know. It just isn’t. Anyone can say words. Words are meaningless.”

Those didn’t sound like her words. That sounded more like words her father had thrown at her when she didn’t live up to his expectations. Words that had bruised her. “If I hurt you in some way and told you I was sorry. And you believed I meant it. That wouldn’t be enough for you?”

She frowned. “Of course, it would.”

“I believe you meant what you said. Was I wrong?”

She shook her head. “No, Daddy. You weren’t wrong at all. I did mean it. I feel horrible.”

“Then why shouldn’t I believe you and forgive you?”

Her frown morphed into confusion. “I… I mean, I don’t know. I guess maybe you should. But if I’m forgiven, why don’t I feel better?”

Now they were getting somewhere. “That is a good question, little one. One we’ll talk about in a few minutes. First, I want to make sure you aren’t hurt. Turn around.”

When she hesitated, he dropped his hands to her shoulders and turned her to face the bathtub. Drawing down the zipper, he admired the smooth skin of her back. He slid her dress down, running his fingers down her thighs as he went.

Goosebumps pebbled her skin. She shivered and pressed her thighs together.

“Step out of the dress, bluebell.”

Once her dress was off, he ran his hands over every inch of her body to make sure she hadn’t been harmed. When he found no cuts or bruises, he sat down on the side of the tub and pulled her between his legs. “Now, let’s talk about those feelings.”

Tildi’s eyes softened with relief. “Um, when you say talk, do you mean talk ortalk?”

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to, little girl. Did I or did I not tell you to go below and stay there until I came and got you?”

“You needed help, Daddy. I just wanted to help.”

“That wasn’t the question. Did I tell you to stay below until I came and got you or not?”

She snagged her bottom lip with her teeth and dropped her gaze to his thighs. He could see her trying to come up with an answer that would get her out of trouble, but she might as well give up. Nothing was keeping him from blistering her butt.

He tilted his head to one side and then the other trying to ease the tension in his neck and stem his rising tide of anger. “Do I need to get my belt?”

Her startled lavender gaze shot back to his face. “No, Daddy. You did say that, but I wanted to help.”

“I get that, Tildi. But the way you help the most is by doing what I tell you to do. Instead, you put yourself in danger, as well as everyone else on this ship.”

Her chin quivered, and he steeled his heart. “I thought I could help.”

“I understand what you thought. What you need to understand is the best way for you to help is to obey me when I tell you something. But you didn’t do that, did you?”

Tildi shifted back and forth on her feet and reluctantly shook her head.

Good. He was getting somewhere. “Grif, Dutch, and I had semi-automatic weapons, and we’ve been in situations like that gunfight more times than I can count. We needed to be able to concentrate on taking out the threat. When you disobeyed Daddy and marched yourself back up those stairs, we couldn’t do that. We had to focus on keeping you safe. So, not only did you put yourself in danger, you endangered everyone else, too.”

She wasn’t able to hold back her tears. And damn if it didn’t break his heart to see them, but she had to learn a lesson from this. Life on a ranch had all sorts of dangers, not counting the ones that were probably going to follow them there.

She swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I wouldn’t ever want you or the guys to get hurt.”