He’d go have a look later. After he got his girl settled. He placed her other foot down.
“And you were right to run away from him, even in bare feet.” He grimaced. Her feet didn’t look as bad as he’d feared. A few scrapes and blisters. They weren’t going to be any fun to walk on, though. “But from now on, please put shoes on first. I know you wanted away from him. But unless it’s fight or flight, footwear is a necessity.”
He met her gaze with his stern one. “I won’t be spanking you for either of those reasons. However, I do distinctly remember telling you to wait in the car while I confronted him. And then you followed me. And again, I told you to go back to the car, and you ignored me and stayed where you were. That was very naughty.”
“I didn’t want you to keep hitting him.”
“Why? Why would you worry about him?” he asked, bewildered.
“I wasn’t! I hate him because of what he did to you and your mum!”
Warmth filled him. But he couldn’t afford to go easy on her. He felt ill when he thought about how she could have gotten hurt, getting between him and his father. She needed to learn to listen to him when it came to safety.
“You still should have listened to me,” he told her firmly. “If you had gotten between us, you could have gotten hurt. And that is entirely unacceptable to me.”
“So could you,” she replied.
“I would have been fine. Are you forgetting what I do for a living? I was a Navy SEAL, baby girl. I can most definitely hold my own against that ass. You, on the other hand, are infinitely precious and delicate. If you’d gotten hurt. . .” He had to pause and take a deep breath.
“I just didn’t want you hurting him and getting into trouble.”
“You let me worry about stuff like that. If there is ever a situation like that again, you are to do what I tell you, understand?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
He cupped her chin in his hand and lightly kissed the tip of her nose. “We need to keep you safe.”
He picked her up, holding her against him, uncaring of how wet she was getting him as he grasped hold of a towel and wrapped it around her. He settled her on the counter once more and picked up another towel to gently dry her feet. Then he grabbed the medical supplies and started putting some disinfectant on the cuts.
“Baby girl, I don’t want you walking on these today,” he told her. “Your foot is also a bit swollen so I want to keep it elevated. If you need to go anywhere, I’ll carry you, all right?”
“Are they that bad, Daddy?” she asked, trying to bring one foot up to see, but he grabbed hold of it.
“They’re not bad, but walking on them is going to be painful and might make them start bleeding again. You need to rest anyway.” He placed band aids on a couple which were still bleeding.
“We need to get my girl some cute band aids. Some with princesses on them.”
“I like princesses.” She rubbed at her eyes, looking adorable.
“Okay, sweet pea, I think that will work. You were very brave. I’m proud of you.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose.
“Does I get a reward?”
“A reward? Hm. I do have a smoothie and some fruit in the car, but it’s probably all ruined now.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Fruit isn’t a reward, Daddy.”
“No?”
“No, it’s like something you have to eat.”
“And what were you thinking of?” he asked, knowing exactly what she wanted.
“Chocolate!” She clapped her hands, looking far more alert and happy.
He rested his hands on his hips, giving her a mock-stern look. “Chocolate? Do you deserve chocolate?”
“I was brave.”