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“Let it go,” she scolded herself. “What’s done is done.”

But when she walked out the front door of her house, she was greeted by the slow and easy drawl of her father’s voice.

“Where do you think you’re goin’, baby girl?”

Whirling around, she found him sitting on her porch swing.

“Not now, Daddy.” She turned away, fumbling to lock the deadbolt.

“Not so fast,” he said as she tried to leave. “Come and sit down.”

“I can’t.”

“Sure, ya can.”

“I’m embarrassed,” she said, biting her lip to stop it from trembling

“And?”

“And I don’t wanna talk about it, sir.”

Katherine addressed her father as “sir” whenever she knew she was in the wrong. A habit she picked up from her older sisters whenever they’d gotten themselves into trouble as kids.

“Stop that ‘sir’ nonsense,” he told her, patting the empty space on the seat beside him. “I wanna talk to you.”

Katherine didn’t hesitate this time. She knew when this man of few words meant business, there was no running from what he had to say. Sitting down, she braced herself for the worst.

“It looks to me like you love that man.”

Shock snapped her eyes wide open. It wasn’t unlike her father to get straight to the point. Though she would’ve never expected him to say what he did, she felt compelled to explain. But again, he stopped her.

“You’ve been alone a long time, Katherine.”

As her lip quivered, she said, “Yes, Daddy, I have.”

With a nod, he looked out across the lawn, carefully contemplating his next words. When he finally spoke, he turned to look her square in the eye. “Officer Brandon is a good man. And I like him.”

“You do?”

“Yep.”

Katherine was awestruck. She couldn’t believe such a strong sentiment had come from him so soon. She knew those words didn’t come easy. Especially since her sister Ellie had waited nearly a year to hear the same praise about her own husband.

“Your truck runnin’ alright?”

Katherine smiled. Jerome Bennett was done discussing his feelings.

“Yes, Daddy, it’s running like a top.”

“Good, let me know if you need anything,” he said, patting her on the leg before getting up and sauntering across the porch toward the steps. “And don’t worry about Mom and the girls. They won’t hear a word of this from me.”

Katherine’s eyes glimmered with gratitude and emotion. “Can I give you a lift to the station?”

“Nope,” he said, patting his stomach. “Gotta walk off some pie before it or your mother catches up to me.”

“You ate piebeforebreakfast?” Katherine smirked. “That’s a first.”

Jerome glanced back over his shoulder with a wink.