She nodded. “Yeah. Thank you. He’ll... He’ll appreciate that.”
“I’ll drive to Copper Ridge tomorrow.”
She swallowed hard. “You don’t have to do that. You can call him.”
“No,” he said. “If a man is going to marry his daughter, I suspect your dad needs the question to come in person. I’m not about to get on his bad side. Hell, I am already.”
“I’ll go with you,” she said.
“No,” he responded. “This is something I have to do.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THENEXTMORNINGhe found himself leaving a warm, sleeping Violet in his bed, and getting on the road, going straight to Copper Ridge without stopping.
He had gotten her address last night, and had found his way easy enough.
It was possible her father could be out working, but he would wait.
He pulled up to the house, which was a large barn that had been converted into a dwelling. There were Christmas lights strung around the outside, bright and cheery, the way that she had made his home. This was what she had come from. Yes, she’d been abandoned by her mother, and he knew that hurt her. He knew it hurt her badly. But she had...this. He did not have that.
He got out of the truck and walked down the path to the front door. Then he knocked.
A pretty woman with red hair answered.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’m looking for Cain Donnelly.”
“And you are?”
“Wolf Garrett.”
Her eyes widened fractionally. He assumed that this was Violet’s stepmother. She looked only a few years older than Wolf himself. But Violet had explained the situation, so he expected as much.
“Oh,” she said. “Well. Is Violet with you?”
He shook his head. “No.”
She stepped away from the door. “Come in.”
“Cain,” she shouted. “There’s a young man here who wants to speak with you.”
Wolf shoved his hands into his pockets and stood, just waiting in the entryway. Alison didn’t offer him an alternative. She just looked at him, and waited. And when Violet’s father walked into the room, he knew that what Connor had said to him was true. He was in very grave danger of having his ass kicked. Cain Donnelly was a big man. And very much looked to be in his prime. He also very much looked pissed off.
“Wolf Garrett,” he said. “I assume.”
“You assume correct.”
“What is it you want?”
“I’m here to ask you permission to marry your daughter.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were waiting on that.”