Page 80 of Mountain Daddy (Mountain Men #2)

Luther

I want to say something. Reassure Kendra.

But there isn’t time.

Pulling the doors to my bedroom closed, I leave them just short of latched so they don’t make any noise.

Then I take two long, quick strides down the hall toward the stairs. “Ash?”

I take another step, putting distance between myself and the woman hiding in my room, when my daughter appears at the top of the stairs.

“Hey, Dad.” She drops her duffel onto the ground but keeps her backpack on.

I wasn’t expecting her tonight. And she was about thirty minutes away from witnessing something she’d never be able to unsee. But no part of me is mad at her for coming home.

I tap my chin. “It’s weird because I didn’t think today was Friday…”

Ashley rolls her eyes as she walks her five-foot-ten frame toward me.

Her hair is a darker purple than the last time I saw her and hangs halfway down her back.

I pull her into a hug.

“Becks said she’d take my shift at work tomorrow so I could come home for an extra night,” she says, referring to the tea shop she works at.

“That was nice of her.” It was nice. But a heads-up would also be nice. I nod toward the duffel. “That all you brought?”

“I still have a suitcase in my car.”

I’m not surprised. She’s never packed light in her life.

Resigned to the situation, I start down the steps. “I’ll bring it up.”