Free A Family Kind of Guy by Lisa Jackson Page A

life. But I’m going to change all that by marrying Brynnie and claiming Tiffany and Katie as my daughters. If they accept me, I’ll be a happy man. If they don’t, well, I guess I’ll just have to understand.”
    As if he could. No one had ever called John Cawthorne understanding. “I wish I could tell you that everything will turn out fine, Dad, but I’m not sure that’s possible.”
    â€œIt’s all right.” Her father managed a watery smile.
    â€œI’ve given you a lot to think about. Maybe too much. But I’ve decided to finally live up to my responsibilities as well as make the most of the few years I’ve got left.” A hawk circled lazily overhead, its shadow passing over the ground as John brushed an ant from the fence post. “Somehow I’m gonna make peace with my daughters and grandchildren.”
    â€œAre there more than Tiffany’s two kids?” Bliss asked.
    He glanced up sharply. “Katie’s got a ten-year-old. Josh.”
    â€œSo she’s married?”
    â€œNo.” He shook his head. “The guy left her pregnant and she wanted the baby, so she kept him.”
    â€œDoes this never end?” she wondered aloud. Both her half sisters had children and she, who had always thought herself the mothering kind, had none, nor a husband or any prospects of one. Her mind wandered to Mason and she scoffed at herself. If Mason were the last man on earth, she wouldn’t want him to father her child. She knew his true colors. He’d shown them once before and they were ugly and oh, so painful. Even now, ten years later, she still experienced a little burn in her heart when she thought of him and how deeply he had deceived her. Bastard, she thought unkindly, then told herself it didn’t matter. Mason Lafferty was nothing to her.
    â€œTell me about Brynnie’s other children,” Bliss said, forcing her thoughts from Mason. She rubbed her hand across the top rail and a sliver pricked her finger.
    â€œThree boys. Jarrod, the oldest, and the twins, Trevor and Nathan. Brynnie had her hands full with those three and little Katie, let me tell you.” He grinned slightly as he stared at the mare, and not for the first time in her life Bliss wondered if John Cawthorne missed having sons, a boy to carry on his name. He nodded toward the mare. “You’ll like riding Fire Cracker.”
    â€œFire Cracker?” She plucked at the sliver with the fingernails of her other hand and heard a train rattling on far-off tracks.
    Her father laughed. “Fire Cracker looks docile enough now, I suppose, but she’s got a little bit of the devil in her.” He slid his daughter a kind glance. “Like someone else I know.”
    Bliss rolled her eyes. “That was high school, Dad. I’m pure as the driven snow these days.”
    â€œNot if you’re any daughter of mine,” he said and slapped the top of the fence. “I’d better go see about the tractor. Seems to have a problem with the clutch.”
    â€œJust take it easy, okay?”
    He waved off her concerns as she watched him walk back to the equipment garage, a tall shed of sorts where tractors, plows, harrows, bailers and God-only-knew-what-else were stored. As he disappeared into the interior, Bliss bit her lip. John Cawthorne was and always would be her father. A man she’d been able to depend upon. A man she loved.
    A man who had lied over and over again. A man who, until recently, had led a secret life. A man she’d trusted.
    She wondered if she ever would again.
    Even though she was disgusted that he’d been such a liar as well as a cheat, she’d somehow ended up with a couple of sisters. How many times had she, as an adolescent, wished and prayed for a close sibling, someone to share dreams and worries with, a friend to shop and gossip with, another teenager who was as confused as she when she tried to understand the