Read Online Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck - Free Book Online Page A

tissue. “Daddy, should I try to get Adam back?” She knew the answer. But she’d been committed for so long it seemed downright unholy to just let the relationship end so simply.
    “Only you know, kitten.”
    “It smarts like the dickens, but …” Her voice waivered with truth. “I think he did us both a favor.” The more she realized she didn’t want to marry him either, the more she felt the fool. Best just to move on. Put it behind her.
    The conversation settled, and Susanna watched Daddy resting, breathing. In his fighting years with Mama, Daddy would order Susanna to her room where she’d hide in her closet, shaking with fear. Now she was overwhelmed with love.
    He became a very different Daddy after he remarried Mama when Susanna was twelve. He was gentle and kind, encouraging, supportive, and in his way, telling her he was sorry about her childhood. Over and over.
    “What am I going to do with all that money?” he ventured through his medicated drowsiness, his eyes still closed, his breathing still a bit labored.
    “What money?”
    “The money I saved up for your wedding.”
    She laughed through a fresh start of tears. “Buy that yacht you’ve been threatening Mama with.”
    Wedding. Yacht. It didn’t matter. There were no savings. Daddy and Mama sank all of their money into keeping the Rib Shack afloat. That was Daddy’s yacht. Anchored in the red clay of Georgia.
    “I blame myself. Well, your mama and me,” he said, eyes open now. “We skewered you to the wall before you had a chance to duck.”
    “Stop it, Daddy. No need for this talk now.” She caught a fast tear with her finger before it dripped from her chin onto his hand.
    “You ain’t protecting my feelings by pretending we were great parents.”
    “I’m not. You were rotten when I was little. But, Daddy, I can’t blame you and Mama for my failed relationship with Adam.”
    “I always thought you were just settling with him.”
    “Really …” Susanna stretched back, eyes wide. “This is news.”
    “Well, you know. Love’s a tricky business. You seemed to think he was the true love you always wanted. He was a nice,steady boy with a good career. But, kitten, there’s something more for you. I can feel it. Something big.”
    “Now that’s just the medication talking. All I want is for you to get better. That’s my something big.”
    Daddy drifted off. In the quiet, Susanna realized how scared she had been on the way to the hospital, but Nate—
    She jumped up. Nate. Goodness, she’d forgotten him. Left him in the waiting area.
    The door eased open and two nurses entered.
    “… he’s been sitting there all night,” said one of the nurses.
    “I can’t keep my eyes off of him. He’s like a fine painting,” said the nurse with the name tag that read
Kasey
. “Hey there, Mr. Truitt.”
    “He’s sleeping,” Susanna said. “Did you say a man was still sitting in the waiting room?”
    “The handsome one.” Kasey typed in notes on Daddy’s bedside computer. “Hasn’t budged in the last hour. Said he was waiting for a woman.” She arched her brow. “You that woman?”
    “Of course not.” Well, not
that
woman in
that
tone. Susanna gently kissed Daddy’s cheek, then whispered, “I love you. You have all my prayers.”
    She hurried down the hall on tiptoe, trying not to disturb the patients with the click-clack of her heels against the tile. Her legs pushed against the constraints of her tight skirt. Her heart thumped against the confinement of her expectations.
    Why had he waited so long?
    Yet when she rounded the nurses’ station, the chairs were empty. Susanna stopped cold. So he’d finally gone. Disappointment smarted as she slowly finished her route to the chairs.
    Well, good for him. He shouldn’t have hung around for so long.
    But oh, it would’ve been nice to thank him. Again. Twice in four days he’d been her knight in shining armor.
    Maybe she could contact Mrs. Butler’s event coordinator, see if