Page 36

“Thanks, Angela. You ready to go?” Tate asked as he slipped his arm around Kelly this time, tucking her close to his side. He had no idea how she was going to react to this public display. For all intents and purposes, he’d claimed her as his own to those looking at the two of them.

She stiffened for a second and he expected her to pull away. Instead, she relaxed into his hold and he breathed easy. She was okay with his declaration. Then again, the facility was far enough away from Sweet Ridge that the town gossips wouldn’t see them.

“Sure, let’s go see your dad.”

With Kelly firmly by his side, he led her to the large common room where he and Dad always met. He paused outside of the large open double doors. After a couple of months, Tate was used to the residents and their various levels of physical and mental abilities; however, Kelly wasn’t. Tate shifted so he was standing in front of her and her attention was all on him. “Before we walk in, I want to prepare you for what you might see.”

Kelly reached up and laid a hand on his face with a gentle smile. His heart clenched at the compassion in her eyes.

“Tate, you don’t need to do that. Dad was in a nursing home. I’m sure what’s beyond the doorway we’re blocking isn’t anything I haven’t already seen.” He stood still when she went up on tiptoes and pressed her lips against his in the briefest of touches. “But thank you for your concern. How about we go see your dad?”

Chapter Thirteen

The visit withDad was going better than Tate thought it would. Currently, Dad and Kelly were engaged in a battle to see who could create the highest house of cards. Kelly was winning but her house was teetering precariously. All it would take was a puff of air and they would all come crumbling down.

Tate looked up and caught his father’s gaze. There was a devilish glint shining in his blue depths, the same piercing azure eyes all the Prentice boys had inherited. His father was up to no good and while Tate could stop it, if he wanted to, he found he didn’t.

Whether it was because his release was imminent or because of Kelly’s visit, Dad was happier than he’d been in a long time. He almost looked the way he’d looked prior to the stroke. If it weren’t for the way the left side of his face still drooped a little, no one would know that the man had been balancing between life and death.

“Better be careful, Kelly girl—that card you’re about to put on could bring it all tumbling down.”

“Pfft,” she responded. “I know you’re trying to psyche me out, Trenton Prentice. But I’ve worked in the cutthroat world of corporate America accounting, so your mind games won’t work on me.”

Tate bit his lip to stop from laughing out loud. As Kelly placed her card on the top of her design, the whole thing wobbled before settling down, the card staying in place.

“See,” she crowed triumphantly. “Never any doubt in my mind it wouldn’t come tumbling down. Come on, Trenton, show me what you’ve got.”

She sat back and Tate leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”

She turned and her lips were so close it wouldn’t take anything for him to close the gap and possess them. Only the fact his father sat across from them made him control the urge.

“For what?” she asked.

He canted his head to where Dad was getting ready to place his card on his creation. “This. For spending time with him.”

He thought for a second Kelly was going to shift, putting space between them again. If she did, Tate would want to snatch her close again.

“It’s no hardship at all. Your dad is fun, and it’s been a long time since I’ve built a house of cards.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his dad’s fingers creeping closer and closer to Kelly’s house on the table.

“He’s going to knock my cards down, isn’t he?” she whispered.

“I cannot confirm nor deny the possibility that that event may occur.”

Kelly sighed at the sound of her precariously balanced cards hitting the table, along with his dad’s laugh. “And here I thought you were on my side.”

“Sorry, Kel, I’m Switzerland.”

Giving into the need to be close to her and cement their connection even more, he closed the gap between them and kissed her. Everything about the two of them felt right. As if the universe had got its act together and aligned everything so they found each other, finally.

As much as he wanted to deepen their embrace, being in a roomful of people wasn’t the best place to do it. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers for a moment. He turned back toward his father, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Tears were shining in Dad’s eyes, along with pride. Tate couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his dad this full of emotion—probably when Mom had died. Dad had remained stoic for his sons, but Tate recalled walking past his bedroom door not long after the funeral and hearing his father crying.

Dad nodded toward Kelly and lifted his left hand just high enough for Tate to see the thumbs-up he was giving him. Tate nodded.

“That was pretty sneaky of you Prentice boys,” Kelly commented as she straightened in her chair.

“What do you mean?” Dad asked innocently. His father was far from innocent. “Your cards fell fair and square. Not my fault you were too busy to notice how unstable they were.”