As realization dawned, Adam shook his head. “Wait a minute. You don’t actually know what I did to her, do you?”

Her dad grinned like a cat caught with the canary. “Nope. At first, I thought you had cheated on her. But after the reaction you had when I brought it up, I knew I was wrong. Good thing. The punishment for that indiscretion is the death penalty as far as I’m concerned.”

Insulted by the insinuation that he was a cheater, Adam’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t cheat. I can assure you of that. But I did lie to her. It started out harmless, and I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt. Especially her. I was planning on coming clean about it all, but she found out about it before I could tell her the truth.”

Her father listened intently while he spoke and then gazed at Adam a minute more, as if trying to decide whether or not he believed him. Apparently he did. Because the old man smiled and nodded his approval. “Do you want some more advice, Adam?”

“Advice? Or another threat?”

Her dad smiled, humor glinting in his eyes. “I know my daughter, and she’s not someone who gets over things easily. Especially after she’s been hurt. Give her time.”

Adam nodded. “I’m not going anywhere. Preslee’s worth waiting for. I love her more than anything, but I’ll wait as long as I have to. It’s more than I deserve, but I hope she’ll give me another chance.”

In a friendly gesture, her dad stretched out his hand to Adam. “Me too, son.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Preslee let herself inside her dad’s house using her own key and found him lounging on the sofa watching TV. A soft cast still covered his right wrist although his blue arm sling lay idly on the coffee table. “Hey, Dad.”

Her father sat upright, careful of his arm. “Hi, honey. I didn’t know you were coming by tonight.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “What are you doing here so late?”

Preslee smiled. Only her father would consider eight o’clock late. “I came by to check on you after your first day back on the job.”

Actually, she’d made the mistake of listening to one of the six voicemails Adam had left and had begun to feel her resolve waver, so she’d gone for a walk to clear her head. Next thing she knew, she’d ended up here.

“It was a good day. It’s nice to finally get back to work. But it’s also strange.”

“You didn’t climb on any ladders, did you?”

He grinned. “Nope. Not a one. Josh wouldn’t let me.”

“That’s because, when we were having dinner last night, I made him promise me that he would keep an eye on you today.”