* * * *

He really was a scrawny bastard, he decided as he climbed out of his truck and found himself for the second time in his life, surrounded by dozens of Bradfords. They were everywhere. Most of them were eating, but a lot of them were setting up the neighboring sites that they’d reserved for the reunion with dozens of grills, coolers, tables, a volleyball net, more food and……

Was that a butcher setting up near the grills?

Judging by his collection of knives, his apron and the fact that the short pudgy man was definitely not a Bradford, he would have to say yes. It was definitely going to be a long and interesting day, he thought as he walked around the truck to help Rory out. He had the door opened and was reaching for a smiling Rory when he suddenly found himself picked up and moved aside like he weighed nothing instead of two-hundred and twenty pounds. It was a bit unnerving, but not as unnerving as the wall of muscle that suddenly came between him and Rory.

He heard an excited squeal the same time that he saw Rory’s arms wrap around the bastard’s neck. The man pulled her out, returned her hug as he turned around and placed her on her feet right next to Connor.

“Hey, Jason, how’s it going?” he asked, pleased when Rory released her hold on her cousin and wrapped her arm around his.

Jason grinned, looking a hell of a lot happier than he had the last time that they'd seen him a few weeks ago. The man had missed his wife and it had taken its toll on him. By the time his week of working for them was over, Jason was exhausted and his appetite had been pretty much nonexistent, making everyone worry. It turned out that the lovesick bastard missed his wife and couldn’t sleep without her. He was glad to see Jason back to being Jason. Sure the man embarrassed the living hell out of him and would annoy the shit out of anyone just for the hell of it, but he genuinely liked the asshole.

“It’s good to see you, Connor,” Jason said, reaching out and shaking his hand. “Didn’t think we’d be seeing you here today. Thought my cousins would make sure that you…..that you…..,” Jason broke off, frowning as he scented the air. “Is that cinnamon, sugar and fruit filling that I’m smelling?” he asked, turning his back on them and focusing his attention on searching through Connor’s truck.

Connor was already stepping back and taking Rory with him when several large men around them suddenly stopped, sniffed the air and growled out, “Cinnamon donuts.”

“Let’s go see if my dad is here yet,” Rory said, sounding upbeat and happy while he resigned himself to the day of hell and his truck being ransacked by Bradfords.

* * * *

“Are you hiding from me or my boys?” the man that he wanted to deck asked as he stepped up beside him.

“Both,” Connor admitted, taking a sip of his lukewarm beer as he looked across the large lake at absolutely nothing.

“Afraid my sons are going to hurt you?” Mr. James asked, sounding curious.

“No,” he said, his grip tightening around his bottle as he forced himself to stand there and not take a swing at the bastard who had it coming.

For the past five hours, he’d been forced to put up with this bastard ignoring Rory, talking down to her and acting indifferently towards her. Several times he had to stop himself from doing something that he’d regret, not that he’d live long if he punched her father with dozens of Bradfords and James around. He honestly didn’t care if they beat the shit out of him. Knowing that it would upset Rory was the only thing that stopped him. Rory deserved so much better than this asshole. She deserved a father that loved her and appreciated her and knew that she was-

“Did you know that Rory is my favorite?” Mr. James said, catching him off guard.

Connor took a sip of his beer, not sure if calling his future father-in-law a lying sack of shit was the way to go on this one. It was painfully obvious, at least to him, that the man hadn’t wanted a daughter. He’d never treated Rory like she was anything special. All he did was push her away. It was clear that the man didn’t have a clue how to deal with a daughter, but he should have tried. Connor had no clue what to do with a little girl either, but if he and Rory were blessed with one, he would damn well do what he had to for her even if that meant dressing up like princesses and playing with Barbies.

“Parents aren’t supposed to have favorites, but the moment that I held Rory in my arms she became my world,” Mr. James said, sounding pleased and that was pretty much what made Connor snap.

“Bullshit,” Connor snapped, moving to take a sip of his piss warm beer when it was suddenly snatched from his hand and just as quickly replaced with a fresh cold beer.

Frowning, and a little surprised that Mr. James hadn’t swung at him, he looked over at the man just as Mr. James tossed his old beer in one of the trash cans that someone placed near the water’s edge, not that it was really needed since everyone was still back at the main campsite, eating. He hadn’t seen anyone in over an hour and he’d been hoping to keep it that way for the rest of the night.

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Mr. James said, staring out at the water, “but I love that little girl more than anything and I’m damn proud of her.”

“You sure have a funny way of showing it,” Connor bit out, taking a sip of his beer and joining Mr. James in staring out at the lake.

Mr. James chuckled. “You were a hell of a lot nicer the last time we had this talk,” he said, taking a sip of his beer and still not looking at Connor.

“This talk?” Connor asked, wondering if Mr. James was drunk. He looked over his shoulder to see if he could find one of the man’s sons to help him walk it off, but everyone was still off enjoying the party.

“The talk we had when you showed up on my front doorstep on Rory’s eighteenth birthday and asked permission to marry my daughter,” Mr. James said, reminding him of another humiliating experience that he’d really rather forget.

“Are you going to tell me to fuck off again?” Connor asked, taking a sip of his beer as he did his damndest to ignore the memories of that conversation and how close he’d come to pissing himself.

“That’s not exactly what I said,” Mr. James said, sounding amused.

“Are you going to go for your gun again?” Connor demanded, still pissed that the man wouldn’t even hear him out and when Connor begged, yes, begged, for his permission to marry Rory if he could make up for all the bullshit he’d put her through over the years. The man wouldn't even hear him out before he went for his gun.

“You weren’t ready to get married, Connor,” Mr. James said quietly. “And Rory deserved better than that.”

“I would have taken care of her.”

“I know you would have, Connor,” Mr. James said, surprising him. “You would have worked your ass off and taken damn good care of her as best as an eighteen year old boy could, but it wouldn’t have been enough and it wouldn’t have been fair to either one of you, Connor.”

When Connor didn’t say anything, Mr. James continued. “You would have both struggled. Rory probably would have dropped out of college, because she’s so damn stubborn and she wouldn’t have felt right about you working your ass off to support her. You wouldn’t be where you are today if you’d had a family to hold you back. I know the type of man you are, Connor. You never would have taken a chance starting a business that could have gone belly up if you had a family to support. You both had a lot of growing up to do.”

Connor chuckled without humor, because that’s probably exactly what would have happened, but it still hurt thinking about what could have been. “You’re right. We probably would have started a family too soon and would have struggled just to get by.”