Ask Me Why by Marie Force Page B

that possible? Are all the men in Vermont blind?”
    â€œYou are a charmer, Patrick,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll give you that.”
    â€œMy daughter told me to leave you alone. She said you were too nice for the likes of me.”
    â€œThe likes of you? That doesn’t sound like her.”
    â€œMaybe not, but it’s true. Since my wife died, I haven’t exactly been Prince Charming when it comes to women.”
    â€œWhat happened to your wife?” Mary immediately regretted the question that caused a flash of pain to register in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that. It’s none of my business.”
    â€œIt’s no secret that she died having Cam.”
    â€œOh God, Patrick. I didn’t know that. I’m so sorry for both of you.”
    â€œThanks.” He used the stirrer to swirl the chunk of lemon around in his drink. “Cameron wore her mother’s dress today. Surprised the hell out of me with that.”
    â€œIn a good way?”
    â€œYeah. It was good, but it was hard, too. She looks so much like her mother. It’s uncanny. The older she gets, the more she’s Ali all over again.” He took a sip of his drink. “Anyway, didn’t mean to get maudlin.”
    â€œYou didn’t. It was an emotional day for you.”
    â€œMuch more so than I’d expected it to be. Not sure what I thought it would be like to see her all decked out as a bride and then have to give her away . . . Whose big idea was that nonsense, anyway? Raise this little girl her whole life and then ‘give her away’ to some other guy? How is that fair?”
    Mary laughed at his mini diatribe.
    â€œIn fact, I really have no right to be so indignant. I was a lousy father to her.”
    â€œDon’t say that.”
    â€œIt’s true. I traveled a lot, left her with nannies. She was always well cared for, but I was absent much of the time. It was easier that way. For me, anyway. I wish I had it to do over again.”
    â€œWould you have done it differently?”
    â€œOh, hell yeah. But losing Ali suddenly the way I did . . . It messed me up pretty bad. By the time I started to come out of the fog and took a look around me, Cam was ten and no longer cried when I left on business trips.” He shrugged. “I screwed up every which way, and she loves me anyhow. Go figure.”
    â€œShe’s a wonderful person, Patrick. You can certainly be proud of her.”
    â€œI’m extremely proud of her. Everything she’s accomplished she’s done on her own. She could’ve turned into another Paris Hilton if she’d been so inclined.”
    Mary shook her head. “That would never be Cam. She’s too ambitious.”
    â€œAlways was, even when she was a kid and struggling in school. She found out later she had attention deficit disorder, which made me feel like shit because I used to ride her about her lousy grades. It never occurred to me that it could be something like that. Ali would’ve been all over it, and I was oblivious. I wouldn’t have even known she had ADD, but I saw her take her meds one day and asked her what they were for. Talk about a slap to the face for dear old dad.” He seemed to snap out of his melancholy all of a sudden and shook his head. “Anyway, didn’t mean to turn this into a pity party. I never talk about this crap. What is it about you that makes me want to confess my sins to you?”
    â€œPerhaps it’s easier with a new friend who hasn’t known you all these years.”
    â€œPerhaps that’s it, or maybe it’s just you, and you’re sweet and easy to talk to.”
    Mary had no idea how to respond to such blatant flirting. She was woefully out of practice with such things.
    â€œHave you ever been to New York, sweet Mary from Vermont?”
    â€œNo, I haven’t.”
    â€œYou should come down