Except that he’d screwed up a few times. Seriously screwed up. There was the marriage that hadn’t worked, a sister he’d promised to protect but who was constantly in trouble, a few bad deals and his daughter. His heart twisted at the thought of Dee Dee. So beautiful. So bright. So neglected. But no more. Dee Dee deserved security and a home. Here, with him. She couldn’t be forever uprooted as Terri chased after this man or that dream. Nope. That part of his life he intended to settle today.

As for Patty, he hadn’t yet spoken to her but Jarrod had assured him that she’d been located in Mexico and was flying home. If she knew anything about Isaac Wells’s disappearance, she hadn’t admitted to it. Mason would find out. One way or another. He’d promised his mother he’d take care of Patty and he’d do just that, though Patty would probably have none of it.

But Bliss Cawthorne was another matter altogether. What in the world was he going to do with her?

Bliss. The image of her face teased him again as he pocketed his keys and wallet. He should never have made love to her, never have taken that darkly seductive step, but he had, and in doing so he had expected that he might regret his desire but he didn’t anticipate that he wouldn’t get enough of her.

She was a virgin. Had never given herself to a man before.

Who would have guessed?

So what’re you going to do about it?

There was, as he’d learned so often before, no going back. But he did have the ability to change a few things in his life.

He slipped into his shoes and flew down the stairs with more purpose than he’d felt ever since returning to Bittersweet. He had a few matters to take care of at the office, then he planned to have it out with Terri. Dee Dee wasn’t going to the San Juan Islands or anywhere away from him. If he had to go back to court, he would. But Terri would probably be just as happy with a little cash instead. She’d always had a mercenary streak, even when it came to her daughter.

* * *

“I don’t know,” Terri said, rubbing her forehead as she sat at the kitchen table, which was covered with scraps of cloth as she pieced together a quilt. From her position at the table she could watch the television in the living room where a soap opera was in progress. Dee Dee was outside, lying on a chaise longue near the small pool of the apartment complex.

Leaning against the sink, Mason stared out the window and watched his daughter, sunglasses covering her eyes, reading another book.

Terri said, “I think I’d miss her too much.”