Read Online Spoiled Rotten by Dayle Gaetz - Free Book Online

bent and kissed Amy’s forehead.
    â€œCome on, Jess,” Dad said. “Let’s leave these two alone. I’ll buy you some breakfast.”
    In the coffee shop I ordered a cinnamon bun and hot chocolate with whipped cream. The hot chocolate went down so good that I asked for another one.
    Dad didn’t say a word; he just sipped his coffee and stared at his hands. Finally he said, “Jess, I’m really proud of you.”
    â€œAnyone would have done the same thing,” I told him, embarrassed.
    He looked at me then. “I don’t just mean last night,” he said, “I mean all the time. I’m proud that you are my daughter.” He studied his hands again. “I guess I don’t show it very well these days.”
    I stared into my hot chocolate. “So? What’s to be proud of? I don’t get good grades like Amy. I’m not pretty like Amy. And, you may have noticed, I’m not the neatest person in the world.”
    He laughed and rolled his eyes. Then he turned serious. “I didn’t get good grades either,” he admitted. “But you’re a good person, Jess, you care about people. And I bet you know more about the outdoors than anyone else your age.”
    He put his hand over mine. “As for being pretty like Amy, why should you look like her? You look like your mother—so much that sometimes it hurts when I look at you.”
    I gulped some hot chocolate. It burned in my throat. “I’m sorry,” I gasped.
    â€œNo, Jess. Don’t be sorry. Be proud. Your mother was a wonderful beautiful woman and we will always miss her.” He sipped his coffee and put the mug down. “You know, Jess, she loved you very much.”
    He paused then, as if he wanted to say something else but didn’t know how. “And I do too,” he added quietly.
    â€œIn that case,” I said, before he got too mushy, “when are we going hiking?”
    â€œSoon,” he said. Then he smiled. “While Amy is in casts would be a good time.”
    I laughed. “Right on.”
    I thought about Amy. And I thought about her father. She had missed out on a lot. “But maybe one day, Dad, you could take her on a hiking trip. You know, just a father and daughter sort of thing?”
    He looked surprised. “You wouldn’t mind?”
    â€œNo,” I told him. “Not anymore.”

Dayle Campbell Gaetz is the author of many books for children including
Mystery from History, Barkerville Gold
,
No Problem
and her latest mystery,
Alberta Alibi
. Dayle loves boating and over the years has owned a tiny inflatable raft, a canoe, four sailboats, eleven powerboats and a thirty-two-foot cabin cruiser. Dayle lives in Campbell River, British Columbia.
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