Axl shook his head. “No, I didn’t want to give her hope because even with all that, she wants what everyone wants. Her dad to be a good dad.”

Hawk gave it only a beat.

Then he broke it down.

“First, as an only child with a father who has a chronic illness, one as significant as diabetes, it is inevitable there will come a time where he will need her. And if she feels she must do what she’s currently doing, which she does, because she’s doing it, she’ll feel duty bound to meet those needs when they become more considerable. But it is my strong opinion that now is absolutely not that time. She needs to wean him off her. And that isn’t about abuse. It’s not about control. It’s about dysfunction in a family unit that needs to be rectified. She will be in her twenties and falling in love once in her life. She doesn’t need a family member sucking her time and energy when she should be enjoying being young and falling in love.”

Falling in love.

“And straight up,” Hawk continued before Axl could recover from the velvet hit of those three words. “The man isn’t ninety, but he is ill. He’s got a life to live that is likely going to be abbreviated by his condition. So he needs to be encouraged to live it.”

“Yeah,” Axl grunted, still stuck on the thought of Hattie falling in love.

With him.

Which he was doing with her.

He’d just not consciously acknowledged it.

“The second is harder, which is why you’re here,” Hawk carried on. “But if you had no problem getting down to important business on your first meeting with this guy, I’d find your times to continue to go over when she’s with him. Regardless of the rocky start, try to establish a relationship with him. And then point out, if he loves his daughter, he should get his head out of his fuckin’ ass and put the work in to build a relationship with her that isn’t based on shit.”

“Yeah,” Axl repeated.

“That’s harder, Axe, ’cause you can’t go in there doing that without her knowledge. Which means you gotta point out to Hattie in the middle of sorting her head out about past and current issues that there’s healthy emotion mixed in that. And since there is, you think it’s worthwhile you both work on him in coaxing it out.”

Hawk leaned forward.

Because he wasn’t done.

“But you gotta be certain you’re at one with thinking it’s worthwhile to coax it out,” he warned. “If you’re not, then you should keep doin’ what you’re doing. Support what she feels she has to do, and step in when he crosses a line.”

“Right,” Axl said.

Hawk’s gaze remained steady on Axl.