Free Dating A Silver Fox (Never Too Late) by Donna McDonald Page B

certainly use one today,” Lydia said, keeping her voice as serious as she could make it to offset the smile she couldn’t control.
    Jane’s temper disappeared as she gawked. The woman recognized her father’s mannerisms? When had that started happening?
    And now that she was paying more attention, she also noticed Lydia actually looked concerned and upset.
    Over her father?
    That was not a good sign, Jane thought, definitely not good. The woman was totally not the right kind of woman her father needed in his life. But even so, she couldn’t let Lydia think her father was some random jerk who just shirked people for no good reason, could she?
    The decision whether to be a good daughter or a bad daughter could easily use up all the brain cells needed for more important things, like preparing for the open house. A bad daughter would say nothing and just let Lydia think Morrison Fox was a shallow, inconsiderate man. But a good daughter would cover her father’s insensitive ass for not calling and make sure the woman he liked knew the truth about what was going on.
    Jane shook her head at her conflicting thoughts, glad Lydia’s attention was on the furniture again as she tried to decide what to do. She was not going to be able to play the role of bad daughter on this. There was no use pretending otherwise. She didn’t want to go to her grave wondering if she had messed up her father’s last chance to fall in love, no matter how she felt about the target of his affection.
    “You don’t know what’s happened this week, do you?” Jane asked, though she pretty well knew the answer from the sudden surprise in Lydia’s gaze locking onto hers in alarm. “First, let me just say Dad isn’t hurt. So don’t go there. I can’t believe he never called to tell you he had a family emergency.”
    “How could he call? Morrison doesn’t have my number. I never gave it to him. Since he obviously could have asked you to pass along his plans, I figured he had his reasons for not doing so,” Lydia said as nonchalantly as possible.
    She stepped back and surveyed the finished result of the pillows, trying not to think about how upset she had been—over nothing now, she realized. Why on earth did she care what Morrison did or did not do?
    “So what do you do think, Jane? I think this will be fine, don’t you?” Lydia asked, pretending her conversation about Morrison was over.
    “Yes. Everything looks great, Lydia. But listen for a minute,” Jane reached out a hand and put it gently on Lydia’s arm. “My uncle—Dad’s brother-in-law—died a few days ago. Dad’s been sitting shiva with my Aunt Rachel and helping her take care of things. He would seriously have rather been here helping you. Trust me.”
    Heart melting at the sincerity of a daughter’s concern for her father, Lydia’s hand came up to cover Jane’s.
    “I’m sorry for your loss and for assuming the worst. I should have just asked you about him, so don’t blame your father too much. He didn’t seem like the type to just not show up, but I’ve learned from experience not to be surprised by what men do. When he didn’t show up or contact me, I figured he’d gotten bored with a hopeless case and moved on.”
    “Wow. You really have gotten a bad impression of Dad, haven’t you?” Jane asked with a laugh, partly at herself and her reaction to seeing the fears flitting through the older woman’s gaze. Ah nuts, she couldn’t squash that connection between them—just couldn’t. It would be nice to have someone care about her that much.
    “Okay Lydia, I just have to tell you this. Despite all his teasing, Dad is the most steadfast man alive, and that’s not just daughter bias. Anyone that knows him would say the same thing. The flirting he does now is new—like really new. A few years ago my brother and I couldn’t get him out of the house. His world got rocked hard when mom passed so suddenly. Frankly, I’ve been worried about what was going to