She smiled and touched his sweet face. “I’m sure I can.”

    Chapter Twenty

 Maddie had a date for the Valentine’s dance. It was her first official date, the kind where a boy formally asks a girl for a special occasion, when a perfect dress has to be found. But, there were three sophomore couples going together, not a sixteen-year-old among them, thank God. So they were chauffeured by parents. And Jock came over to Riley’s house to see Maddie all dressed up and picked up by her date.

 He didn’t act like one of those caricature dads who growled and threatened the skinny young man, and Riley was so proud of him for that. He was completely comfortable, complimenting Maddie, grinning at the kids, taking a few pictures and texting them to his side of the family. And when they were gone, off to the dance, Riley opened a bottle of wine and poured them each a glass.

 She clinked his glass in a toast. “That’s going to be hard to get used to—watching her go off with a man like that.”

 “That wasn’t a man,” he said. He pulled her down on the couch beside him. “She’s going to figure us out real soon, you know.”

 “I think she has no idea it’s you I’ve been talking to at night.”

 “It’s probably none of my business, but what happened to the other guy?”

 “We parted on friendly terms,” Riley said. “I invited him to lunch, told him that many circumstances combined to make me realize I wanted to get to know my daughter’s father better. He was pretty civil about it.”

 “Pretty civil?” Jock asked.

 “He’s a very nice guy and I suggested we stay in touch, remain friends, and he said no, thank you.”

 “Smart man,” Jock said.

 “What are we going to do if we don’t work out?” Riley asked.

 “You mean if it doesn’t work for you? It’s working pretty well for me.”

 “I don’t want Maddie traumatized,” Riley said. “You know she’ll be thrilled to think of her parents romantically involved. What if we hit a wall, fight, split apart again? What if that happens?”

 He smiled and just shook his head. “Couples argue sometimes. People disagree.” He put his arm around her and pulled her closer. “It’s okay if that happens. But those things that kept us apart as teenagers—we don’t have those things to wrestle with anymore. At least I don’t. I’m not scared and immature anymore. And you and Maddie are my family. You think I won’t do anything under the sun to protect that?”

 “How long have you been like this?” she asked him.

 “I don’t know. Look, I’m not the smart one. But my mother says I have good common sense.”

 “There hasn’t been anyone for me,” she said. “No one.”

 He chuckled. “I wish I could say the same, but I made a few women completely miserable, looking for someone to love.”

 “It is positively ridiculous that we’ve loved each other for all these years and couldn’t get together on anything.”

 “I think Emma has something to do with it.”

 “Emma?”

 “Riley, you’ve been hung up about Emma for sixteen years. Feeling guilty, angry, lonely. You blamed yourself for so much. You blamed her when you couldn’t blame yourself anymore. Then she came back, wounded after all she went through, and you saw that she was just a hurt little girl willing to do whatever she had to do to get her life back. Just like you had been. The two people who had failed you in the worst time you’d ever faced—me and Emma—are back, hoping for another chance to be there for you.”

 “I get that you are, but Emma?”

 “Emma. Working for your company, following your rules, staying away so she doesn’t crowd you, visiting your mother in secret so she doesn’t anger you. Just coming back, she reminded you that all our mistakes were so, so long ago. And some of them turned out to be real gifts. She wants to be your friend again, Riley. And I want to be your man.”

 “After all this time,” she said.

 “I couldn’t get close to you before now,” he said. “It wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you. I was such an asshole. But we have what it takes now.”

 “Ever since you lost your spleen, I’ve been very satisfied.”

 “Nice to be a little older, isn’t it? The backseat of a car or a sandy beach sure can be a challenge. Maddie can’t come home early without calling one of us for a ride. Let’s go to bed and take our time, huh?”

 It amazed Riley that her old passionate feelings for Jock when she was so young could feel just as fresh and new now. But vastly improved. Now she couldn’t help but be aware that his every touch was meant simply to please her. They had only renewed this part of their relationship about a week before and already they were like seasoned lovers, like old pros. He worked her body like he’d been doing it for years. The Jock she’d been so angry with had been replaced by a tender and unselfish man. The Jock she always thought of as an idiot was actually a very funny, intuitive man. And the man who had been such a giving father to their daughter proved he could be trusted.

 She curled up to him and whispered, “I think you are a wonderful lover.”

 “Or you are and it makes me look good,” he said, kissing her.

 Pressed up against his warm body, she drifted back in time for a while. They didn’t have the tools to make it when they were kids. Nor the wisdom and patience. But they had those things now.

 It seemed that only seconds had passed when the sound of the front door opening woke them. Riley looked over Jock’s shoulder at the clock. It was midnight. “Oh, God, what are we going to do?”