"You need to find you a woman and settle down, Jess. You'd make a great father."
She saw the pain in his eyes that her mother's words evoked. His smile died instantly as he reached to pull his hat, which was filled with her Little Ponies, closer to them. "I don't believe in settling down. That's for folks like you." He held his hat out so that Abigail could take her ponies back.
"Yeah, but you don't want to grow old alone, do you?"
As a child, she'd missed the torment that flared deep in his black eyes while he faced her and had his back to her mother. But as a woman, she saw the demons that tortured him, and it made her ache for him. He ran his hand along the brim of his hat and swallowed before he answered. "Believe me, Laura, there are a lot of worse things in this world than growing old alone."
Abigail had looked up with wide eyes. "Like what?"
He gave her the forced smile that adults often give to kids when they don't want them to feel their pain. "Cookie monsters who sneak past you when you're tying your shoes and eat your chocolate chip yummies." He feigned a reach for the cookies on the floor next to her. Squealing, she threw herself over his arm to keep him from taking them.
He curled his arm, lifting her and bringing her straight to his chest so that he could catch her in his arms and swing her up. In one graceful move, he rose to his feet, then twirled her around.
"Airplane, airplane, airplane," she started chanting while Jess turned faster.
Her mother gaped at them. "You're going to be wearing those chocolate chips soon if you don't stop, Jess."
He laughed. "It'd be worth it to hear her laugh."
And Abigail did.... She laughed and squealed in delight.
How could she have ever forgotten how much she once loved that man?
"What's going on here?"
Jess stopped moving as her father's angry voice cut through their joy. He cradled her to his chest while she begged him to keep going. Patting her on the back to soothe her, he faced her outraged father. "I was just teaching Abby how to tie her shoes."
Her father forcefully yanked her out of his arms. "That's not your job, now, is it?"
She saw the anger in Jess's eyes, but he quickly hid it. "Nah, guess it's not."
Her mother stepped forward. "Baby, c'mon. Jess just stopped by for a second on his way to work to say happy birthday to me."
Her father's gaze narrowed on her mother's neck, where a beautiful diamond butterfly glittered in the light. Abigail reached to touch it, then protested when her father's grip on her tightened to the point of causing her pain. She cried out in protest and tried to squirm out of his hold.
Her father ignored her attempts to get free. "Long enough to give you that, huh? What? You think I can't afford you gifts like that? Is that it?"
Her mother's jaw dropped in shock and outrage as she took Abigail out of her father's arms and held her close to calm her. "What in the world is wrong with you?"
Jess stepped forward to wedge himself between her parents so that he could protect her and her mother from her father's anger. "Look, Stan, I wasn't trying to offend you. It was real pretty and all, and I just thought she'd like it. That's it. No slight to you was ever intended."
Even though her father was a full head shorter than Jess, he shoved him back, forcing her mother to step away from the men. Abigail saw the panic on her mother's face. She might not have known about Sundown's brutal past or his Dark-Hunter status, but it was obvious that he dwarfed her father, and that in a fight, he'd definitely be the victor.
Her father shoved him again. "You need to quit sniffing around my wife every time I leave."
Jess curled his lip and stood his ground. His expression promised a serious ass-whipping if her father didn't stand down. "I wasn't sniffing around her. We're friends. That's all."
"Then I suggest you go be friends with someone else's wife. My family is off-limits to you."
An angry tic beat a frenetic rhythm in Jess's jaw. It was obvious he was straining to ride herd on an urge to beat her father down. He glanced across the room to her mother. "I have to get to work. I'm sorry I caused you any trouble, Laura. I hope I didn't completely ruin your birthday, and I'm real sorry about the gift."
His words only enraged her father more. "Yeah, that's right. Rub it in how much better you are than I am at providing for her. We can't all be international investors and make millions doing it, can we?"
Jess paused, and Abigail saw the grim look on his face that said he was one step away from slamming her father's head through a wall. Instead, he pulled his Stetson off the floor and gently dumped her ponies on the coffee table. He picked up her favorite purple one and crossed the room to hand it to her. "Y'all have a good night." His eyes were dark and sorrowful as he met her mother's gaze. "Happy birthday, Laura." And then he put his hat on his head and walked out.
"Stan," her mother growled the moment he was gone. "That was unbelievably rude. What is wrong with you?"
He sneered at her. "How would you feel if you came home to find a woman in here alone with me?"