He grinned. “Oh, I did. Let’s go visit your parents.”
Nineteen
The valuable lesson I’d learned? Teagan Daly was susceptible to the ol’ bait and switch trick.
I’d had something in my pocket, all right, but not the one she’d plundered. I’d taken a chance on her inherent nosiness and it had paid off.
Big time.
Once we arrived back at the car, I hid the treasure I’d noticed on the owner’s shelf behind the cash register—an item he was not selling, as it was a priceless family heirloom. Until I’d explained my situation with Teagan, who had been spiritually communicating with the piano I’d surreptitiously bought her at that exact moment.
I walked out of there a good bit poorer, but with Teagan none the wiser.
My buoyant mood lasted until I pulled into her parents’ driveway in Jersey and looked over to see her running her fingers up and down the seatbelt as she worried her lower lip between her teeth.
“Would you parents get mad if we had sex on the porch before going in?”
“Say what?”
“Look at those cushy wicker chairs. I love it when you ride me.”
Her eyes widened. “But here? With my parents inside? I’m all for being an exhibitionist, but I don’t want to traumatize them.”
I grinned and cupped her cheek. “It seemed as good a way as any to get you to stop worrying.”
“That obvious, huh?”
“To the guy who knows you better than anyone? Yeah, just a little.”
Her smile radiated warmth through me. “That’s true. You do. Those wicker cushions are pretty padded. What do you say we—”
I unclicked my belt and got out of the car to the sound of her laughter.
Teagan rang the bell and her mom opened the door, a giant smile wreathing her face. “Baby, come here and let me look at you. Oh, thank you. My favorite.” She pulled Teagan into a hug as Teagan pushed the perfume bag into her hand.
Mrs. Daly was an older version of her daughter. She was also slight, with auburn hair touched with gray in a tidy ponytail. She wore jeans and a T-shirt that said my daughter is in a famous rock band, which made me laugh.
“Cooper, sweetheart.” Her mom stepped out on the porch and drew me into the group hug. “How are you?”
“I’m good.” Minus the flop sweat and pre-proposal question jitters. “How are you?”
“Couldn’t be better. It’s about time you come visit your parents. I was starting to think you’d adopted a new set.”
Teagan grinned. “Never. Besides, no one else makes bread like you do.”
“Coincidentally, I made fresh pumpernickel this morning. Want a slice?”
“No. I want two.”
Mrs. Daly laughed and pulled her daughter inside.
Before I could follow, Mr. Daly appeared, wearing his spectacles and a brown cardigan with patched elbows although it was pressing eighty-five outside. “Dallas. I want to talk to you.”
“Um, okay?”
He led me down the hall to his bookshelf-lined study before I could so much as shout to the women where I was headed. Since there was fresh bread involved, Teagan probably wouldn’t even notice I was gone.
I sat on the chair opposite Mr. Daly’s desk and took a deep breath as he shut the door behind us. The sound had an air of finality I did not appreciate.
This would not be the battle that thwarted my half-formed marital plans.
“Before you begin,” I said as he sat down, “I am going to marry your daughter. Please?”
Okay, so that wasn’t the start I’d been going for. And I’d intended to talk to her mom too, but he’d thrown me off with his stern expression and use of my last name before he dragged me off to the gallows.
Teagan’s father cocked his head. “Is this supposed to be a surprise?”
“Yes?”
I really needed to stop using so many question marks.
“Well, it’s not. How many times have you come here with Teagan?”
“Four times?”
Apparently, I wouldn’t be stopping today. Maybe tomorrow.
“Five,” he corrected me. “I knew you loved her from your second visit when you insisted she wear a jacket with a hood because, and I quote, ‘it was misty out’. To which she threatened to knee you, and you smiled at her as if she was Diana Ross.”
I wouldn’t have chosen that particular analogy, but he had a valid point. I smiled at the memory. “She complains when her hair frizzes, so I was trying to save her the trouble.”
“A noble undertaking for sure. Where’s the ring?”
“Uh…”
Mr. Daly folded his hands and waited.
“I don’t have it yet?”
“You’re not sure?”
“No. I don’t have it yet. I’m certain. I’m not prepared because, well, we only started dating on Friday.”
“It’s Sunday.”
“Yeah.” I itched the side of my neck. “How about those Yankees?”
Turned out Mr. Daly was a Red Sox fan. Strike fifty.
“I have the ring box though.”
“You have a box, not a ring,” he said slowly, as if he wouldn’t give his blessing for me to accompany his daughter across the street.
After this conversation, I wasn’t sure I blamed him.
“Her grandma—your mother, I think—gave her this crystal piano. It was really important to her, and her asshole ex destroyed it when—” I took a deep breath as Mr. Daly’s jaw turned rigid. “I love her so much. I’d give my life for her. I don’t know what else to say.”
He studied me for a long moment before he broke into a smile. “That’s it. That’s exactly what you needed to say.” He rose and rounded the desk to clap me on the shoulder when I stood as well. “Welcome to the family, son.”
I grinned as we hugged, and then he sat back down. I did the same, even though I wanted to bolt for the door and the freedom that waited on the other side.
“The fire,” he said gravely. “What happened?”
Shock curled through me. I had to clear my throat. “You already knew?”
“I’m on the insurance paperwork. I was one of the first calls, I imagine. We expected Teagan to call, but she didn’t.”
How stupid. Neither one of us had even thought of that. Then
