Page 48 of Worth the Fall
She grinned like she understood completely. “’Cause you hurt his feelings. Boys don’t like when you hurt their feelings. They always get mean. Like Scott,” she said, and I watched her with piqued interest, wondering who Scott was. “He goes to my school. He’s not nice. But when I hurt his feelings, he gets real mean. But I don’t care because he deserves it.”
This girl didn’t need my help at all. If anything, I probably needed hers.
“Is he still bothering you?” Thomas cut in, leaning down to be at the same height as his daughter, protective-dad vibes on full display.
“Not really, Daddy.”
He made a growling noise that made my brain instantly go to the bedroom. I wondered if he sounded like that when he was inside a woman.
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?
“I think my daddy was going to punch your meanie though. Weren’t you, Daddy?”
“I considered it,” he answered her honestly, and it warmed my insides, knowing that he didn’t lie to her. Children were always smarter than parents gave them credit for, and Clara was no exception.
“What do you say we get out of here?”
I assumed Thomas was talking to his daughter, but apparently, he was also talking to me.
“We can send the staff home. They can finish up the room tomorrow before the event starts in the afternoon.”
“It’s pretty much done anyway,” I agreed.
We’d been wrapping up the last handful of tables when Eli came in with his embarrassing outburst.
Thomas turned around the face the small group before announcing, “Everyone, go ahead and go home. We’ll call it a day and come back tomorrow to wrap this up.”
“Are you sure?” Maribel asked from somewhere in the back corner.
“See you tomorrow,” he said before reaching for Clara’s hand and walking out of the room completely.
I followed him like a freaking puppy, my tail wagging the whole damn time. Instead of taking the elevator, we wandered through the interior hallways and found our way back on the main lobby level, where the entire space had been transformed into an incredible fall feast for the eyes. I almost forgot what had just happened with Eli—the decorations were so distracting.
The walkway was lined with giant cornucopias that overflowed with pumpkins of all sizes and flowers in fall colors as far as the eye could see. Two massive scarecrows greeted guests as they went to check in, and there was even a wagon filled with hay bales and pumpkins that spilled out of it and onto the floor in perfect harmony.
“Look at all the pumpkins!” Clara shouted as she dropped her dad’s hand and ran to see the decorations up close.
“Wow,” I breathed out as I took it all in myself. Sugar Mountain Resort never did anything halfway. “They did all this so fast.”
“They’re really good at their job,” Thomas said.
A week ago, I would have taken that as some sort of backhanded jab. But today, I knew he simply meant what he said. There was no other meaning behind it.
“They are. This is stunning.”
“Isn’t it beautiful?” A deep, gruff voice hit my ears, and I turned to see Mr. O’Grady heading in our direction.
“Pops!” Clara shouted before running into his arms.
He scooped her up like it was nothing and held her on his hip, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me you were here? You show up at the resort and don’t come give your Pops a hug? I’m hurt.” He pouted, and she whipped her head back to me to give me a look I couldn’t decipher.
“But not like hurt, where you’ll be mean to me, right, Pops?” Clara asked, and I met Thomas’s stare instantly.
The last thing I wanted to do was tell the general manager of the resort what had just happened with my ex.
“Not sure what you mean, kiddo. I’d never be mean to you. I’m just happy to see you,” he said as he put her back on the ground.