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“It’s not a problem,” she said immediately. “Not exactly. I just haven’t found a date yet.”
“You haven’t—? How can you go to the dance if a boy hasn’t asked you yet?”
Gina looked scornful. “Oh, Dad! This isn’t the Dark Ages anymore! I’m going to ask a boy myself. I’m not going to wait around for some nerd to ask me when I could ask whoever I want in the first place. My piano teacher says it’s demeaning to women to—”
“Yeah, I heard that line before.” Joe growled, “Pretty soon Nora is going to start charging me for more than piano lessons. So if you’re going to ask somebody, why haven’t you done it yet?”
“I haven’t gotten around to it, that’s all!” Gina’s voice rose petulantly. “You’re not the only one who’s busy around here, y’know!”
“Okay, okay,” said Joe, placating his hot-tempered child before she really blew up. “I’ll leave that part up to you. But if you need money for a dress or anything else in that department, I’ll be happy to give you whatever you need—within reason.”
“What’s within reason?”
Joe hadn’t the faintest idea how much a dress was going to cost—fifty dollars, maybe? But somehow he knew it would be a tactical error to admit such a failing. He said, “I’ll think about it and get back to you. In the meantime, you can concentrate on finding a date.”
“I can manage that, I think.”
“Can you manage to fix us a salad, too?”
“Okay,” said Gina, hopping off her stool to help. She hugged Joe from behind first and said, “I love you, Daddy. You’re so understanding. You’re the best father in the whole world!”
Joe grinned. He was wrapped around his daughter’s little finger, and he knew it. He’d give Gina a hundred dollars for a dress. She deserved the best, after all.
She loosened her hug and said softly, “You know, if you wanted to see the television lady again, I guess I wouldn’t blame you.”
Joe laughed and turned around, cradling Gina in his arms. “What brought that on?”
She didn’t meet his gaze. “I dunno. You’re not a monk, I guess.”
“A monk? Who have you been talking to?” Joe demanded, amused. “Your piano teacher again?”
Gina shrugged. “Maybe. She says you’re an attractive man. She did, honest,” Gina repeated when Joe laughed in disbelief. “She says I can’t keep you all to myself much longer.”
“Gina...” Joe began, massaging her arms and wondering what in the hell he was supposed to say.
But Gina stepped away from him, shaking her head rapidly. “I know it’s true. You hate me sometimes—when I lie—and you want to have somebody nice around....”
“I never hate you, Gina.”
“But...” Gina stopped, her voice suddenly clogged with tears. “You need a woman around.”
Joe’s heart melted. But he couldn’t find the right words to ease his daughter’s pain. Clearly, she was threatened by the idea of another woman entering his life, but he couldn’t figure out how to explain that his feelings for Gina would never change. She was his daughter, for crying out loud! Nobody could ever change that bond.
“Listen,” he said, attempting to josh her out of her mood, “let me decide what I need around here, okay? Nobody knows better than I do, got that?”
She tried to smile. “Okay.”
“And the first thing I need is food,” Joe declared. “I’m starving. Let’s get dinner on the table, partner. Then we’ll talk more about this dress business, okay?”
Gina’s smile flickered at last. “Okay, Dad.”
He released her and went back to fixing dinner. He’d find a way to get Susannah Atkins out of his mind eventually. The last thing he wanted was to alienate Gina. If giving up women for the rest of his life was required, then so be it.
But, damn, Miss Suzie was going to be hard to forget.
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