Read Online Precedent: Book Three: Covenant of Trust Series by Paula Wiseman - Free Book Online
Authors: Paula Wiseman
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the driveway, her mother turned around to her. “Sweetheart, I’m sure this has been an ordeal. Why don’t you go ahead to bed.”
“ Mom, this was a big mistake. I didn’t do anything wrong—”
“ Shannon, you heard your mother.” Her dad stood at her open car door. “I think I’d do what I was told if I were you.”
“ Don’t you even want to hear my side?” Shannon climbed out of the backseat and stood inches from him, her eyes locked on his. Her father was a big guy, a head taller than she was with broad shoulders, but right now, she was too angry to be intimidated. “Or have you already made up your mind?”
“ Don’t start with this.” He shook his head and stepped away. “We just had to pick you up at the police station. Whatever your side is, it doesn’t change the fact that you were arrested at a party for being underage.”
“ I wasn’t drinking!”
“ Then how did it get on your breath?”
“ I had one drink—”
“ Which was it, Shannon? Drinking or not?”
“ A sip, Dad!” She held one finger up toward his face. “I had one sip. I didn’t even know that it had alcohol in it—”
“ What if it had one of those date rape drugs in it? What were you thinking?”
“ You’re being ridiculous!”
“ I’m not going to argue about this out here in the driveway. Go inside and go to bed.” He slammed the car door a little too forcefully.
Shannon stormed in the house without bothering to shut the front door.
* * *
“ Have you lost your mind?” Bobbi rounded the car and headed for the house without waiting for Chuck to catch up.
“ She was drinking, and she was arrested. You saw the pictures of Tracy’s wreck. That’s where this leads.”
“ Will you listen to yourself? Sipping a mixed drink at a party does not lead to Tracy. That sounds like something I would say.”
Chuck closed the front door and turned the deadbolt. “How can you take this in stride? She doesn’t have any idea what she’s playing with, and to do this to you a week after losing Brad is the height of insensitivity!”
“ And I’m warning you that if you don’t hear her out, you’re going to do more damage than you understand!” Bobbi dropped her purse by the stairs and lowered her voice. “If she loses your approval, then nobody else matters. That’s the way it is with daddies and daughters. Trust me on this one.”
“ What are you talking about? She’s not going to lose my approval.”
“ But what’s it look like from her side? After my mom died, all I wanted was to know that my dad loved me, and that he’d be there for me. Shannon just lost her brother. Don’t abandon her.”
“ I’m not abandoning her. I was trying to do what you said and wait until morning to talk about it. She started it.”
“ Who’s the grown-up here?” Bobbi shook her head. “Girls are different, Chuck. Is that how you would have talked to me?”
“ You’re my wife. It’s a little different.”
“ That’s not what I mean. I want to hear your heart, not your head. Lining up your facts has never worked with me, and it won’t work for Shannon.”
Chuck took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So what do I need to do?”
“ She needs to know that you love her, no matter what happens, no matter what she does.”
Chapter 6
Provocation
Saturday, June 21
Shannon awoke, drained and disoriented, surprised that she had slept at all. She rubbed her eyes and took a moment to regain her bearings, and as she waded back through the events of last night, and the exchanges with her father, her anger reignited.
How could he . . . ? He, of all people, should understand what it was like to be in the wrong place, to make a bad decision. Where was that grace he always talked about? “Go inside and go to bed,” he said. Well, if he wanted to talk to her this morning, he could come and drag her out of her room.
When she heard the knock at the door, soft and
“ Mom, this was a big mistake. I didn’t do anything wrong—”
“ Shannon, you heard your mother.” Her dad stood at her open car door. “I think I’d do what I was told if I were you.”
“ Don’t you even want to hear my side?” Shannon climbed out of the backseat and stood inches from him, her eyes locked on his. Her father was a big guy, a head taller than she was with broad shoulders, but right now, she was too angry to be intimidated. “Or have you already made up your mind?”
“ Don’t start with this.” He shook his head and stepped away. “We just had to pick you up at the police station. Whatever your side is, it doesn’t change the fact that you were arrested at a party for being underage.”
“ I wasn’t drinking!”
“ Then how did it get on your breath?”
“ I had one drink—”
“ Which was it, Shannon? Drinking or not?”
“ A sip, Dad!” She held one finger up toward his face. “I had one sip. I didn’t even know that it had alcohol in it—”
“ What if it had one of those date rape drugs in it? What were you thinking?”
“ You’re being ridiculous!”
“ I’m not going to argue about this out here in the driveway. Go inside and go to bed.” He slammed the car door a little too forcefully.
Shannon stormed in the house without bothering to shut the front door.
* * *
“ Have you lost your mind?” Bobbi rounded the car and headed for the house without waiting for Chuck to catch up.
“ She was drinking, and she was arrested. You saw the pictures of Tracy’s wreck. That’s where this leads.”
“ Will you listen to yourself? Sipping a mixed drink at a party does not lead to Tracy. That sounds like something I would say.”
Chuck closed the front door and turned the deadbolt. “How can you take this in stride? She doesn’t have any idea what she’s playing with, and to do this to you a week after losing Brad is the height of insensitivity!”
“ And I’m warning you that if you don’t hear her out, you’re going to do more damage than you understand!” Bobbi dropped her purse by the stairs and lowered her voice. “If she loses your approval, then nobody else matters. That’s the way it is with daddies and daughters. Trust me on this one.”
“ What are you talking about? She’s not going to lose my approval.”
“ But what’s it look like from her side? After my mom died, all I wanted was to know that my dad loved me, and that he’d be there for me. Shannon just lost her brother. Don’t abandon her.”
“ I’m not abandoning her. I was trying to do what you said and wait until morning to talk about it. She started it.”
“ Who’s the grown-up here?” Bobbi shook her head. “Girls are different, Chuck. Is that how you would have talked to me?”
“ You’re my wife. It’s a little different.”
“ That’s not what I mean. I want to hear your heart, not your head. Lining up your facts has never worked with me, and it won’t work for Shannon.”
Chuck took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So what do I need to do?”
“ She needs to know that you love her, no matter what happens, no matter what she does.”
Chapter 6
Provocation
Saturday, June 21
Shannon awoke, drained and disoriented, surprised that she had slept at all. She rubbed her eyes and took a moment to regain her bearings, and as she waded back through the events of last night, and the exchanges with her father, her anger reignited.
How could he . . . ? He, of all people, should understand what it was like to be in the wrong place, to make a bad decision. Where was that grace he always talked about? “Go inside and go to bed,” he said. Well, if he wanted to talk to her this morning, he could come and drag her out of her room.
When she heard the knock at the door, soft and
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