Page 42 of Worth the Fall
Oh, yes, Daddy. Do you think my hair is pretty?
Thomas looked directly at me, and there was something heated behind his stare. “Very pretty.” He emphasized both words, and my heart, which I no longer trusted, started doing something funny in my chest.
But then he mouthed,Sorry, when Clara wasn’t looking, and my ego instantly deflated with the single silent word.
How did this man know how fill my balloon and then pop it in the same breath? Would it really kill the guy to give me a compliment?
“You know, sweetie, you should ask Miss Brooklyn about rock climbing. I heard she’s a big fan,” he said with a crooked grin, and my mouth dropped wide open before I snapped it shut.
He did not just say that.
“Rock climbing? What’s that? Sounds boring.” Clara frowned. “Sorry, Miss Brooklyn the Bear Slayer, but I don’t want to climb rocks.”
Thomas kept smiling.
“Never gonna let me live that one down, are you?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said before reaching for his daughter’s tiny hand and holding it in his giant one. “I’m sorry she bothered you.”
Clara instantly looked up at her father, her eyes glassy. “I didn’t bother her. Did I?”
Thomas dropped down to his knees so he could look Clara in the eyes. “I told you that everyone here has a job, right?”
“Uh-huh,” she answered.
“And a job means that they’re working. You like our resort, don’t you?”
Her little head bobbed up and down. “I love it. It’s the prettiest place in all of Sugar Mountain.”
I couldn’t agree more, kid.
“Well, we have to let Brooklyn do her job. She has a lot of work to do, and she’s very important.”
Ooh, there’s a compliment.
Keep ’em coming, big guy.
Her little mouth formed an O before she added, “But Miss Sierra said that whenever I came over, I had to say hi to her. I tried to see her, but the Bear Slayer said she wasn’t here anymore.”
Thomas leaned his head back slightly in understanding before he stood back up. “Gotcha. Yeah, I’m sorry, kiddo. Miss Sierra moved to Cherry Cove.”
“It’s okay. I was sad at first, but I like Miss Brooklyn, so I’ll be all right.”
I couldn’t stop from smiling. This girl was so sweet and smart, and I knew there was no way that most kids were as neat as this one was.
“We’ll get out of your way, Brooklyn. I’m sure you have a lot to do.” Thomas’s voice was a little softer, and I appreciated the way it sounded.
“I do need to head over to the main conference room. But I’d love Clara’s help, if that’s okay with you?” I asked.
Clara dropped her dad’s hand and ran to my side, staring up at me with those big doe eyes. “What kind of help?”
“I have a big party to set up, and I need to put a bunch of decorations on the tables.”
“Don’t you have a staff for that kind of thing?” Thomas asked.
“I do.” I nodded. “But I still want to be part of the team. Hands on, you know? I don’t want them to think I’m sitting in my office, doing nothing, while they do all the grunt work,” I explained.
Plus, I had the time to spare, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. He might think I was slacking off or something.