Chapter Thirteen

RICHARD

And that was how the little redhead went running from him.

Richard hadn't meant to touch her and feel that shot of electricity down his bones, but it was apparently there and that meant she felt whatever it was.

He knew without being told that she was young enough to be his daughter. He must be fucked up to be feeling that way for a girl that just resumed work two day in.

Heck! There was no way to tell how he was particularly feeling.

But when he had locked eyes with Ava over Taylor's hair, it was clear as day that there was something.

There was going to be something. Something that shouldn't be. It had to be avoided, whatever that was.

Taking the two luggage with him into the house, he went straight up to Taylor's room to find her taking out clothes and dumping them on the bed as Henry retreated to retrieve the last suitcase.

"The new girl... She's pretty. Her hair is even natural." She said when she senses him enter. Richard just nodded to himself without a comment.

he smiled widely at him. "I missed this place, dad. Nothings changed though."

Dropping the bags at the foot of her bed, straightened and squinted. "Was I supposed to change anything?"

Sorting out more clothes, she sat down and laughed. "Of course not. Just kidding. I like my room the way it is. I'm not Aria."

Aria! She was the younger one with the whole drama. She would always demand that the decor of her room be changed before her birthday.

It wasn't a problem for him, since he could afford it. Once, she had changed her room to a black interior, including everything in it.

He'd almost had a heart attack when he had walked in. Now, her room was lemon. Gosh!

"I talked with her. She'll be back by next month. She's never at the same place." Richard announced.

Taylor nodded and got off the bed to open the rest of the bags.

Why did she need all those clothes for just three months?

She opened the last heavy suitcase and Richard couldn't help rolling his eyes.

Shoes!

He sat at the edge of her bed and stared down at Taylor who now started taking out the designer shoes.

"I still don't understand why you had to all the way to Merynn for something you could have done here." He asked the question that he'd always wanted to ask.

She turned towards Richard and sighed. She stood up and walked back to the bed, shifted some of the clothes to make room.

Taylor shrugged as she sat, "I already told you. I didn't want the favours. I wanted to do it on my own, because if I had done the training through you every other person would be scurrying to get things done for me." She sighed again, a bit loudly.

Richard didn't still understand it. "Wouldn't that make things easier?" He scoffed. "Isn't that a benefit?"

She looked down at the heap as if it suddenly sent her a signal. She shook her head. "Of course dad. I went to the best school and I graduated tops. I just didn't want to go through this training with your help. I wanted to do it on my own. I told you this already."

Richard nodded. She did tell him.

How did he raise such a smart daughter?

"But Merynn?" He looked at her askance.

She gave him a knowing grin. "God! Dad, we could go there some time. It's really a beautiful place. I love it."

She sure did.

Grinning back at her. "Look at you! My baby's all grown. What's in Merynn and I might consider going to see for myself?''

Taylor's grin grew bigger. "Really? 'cause I'm not exaggerating when I tell you it's a beautiful place for honeymoon or vacation. It's so serene. Did I tell you? It has a big river where they get fish and shrimps too. They're so big... I could show you some pictures I took at river... I even had..."

She just couldn't stop. You could think she wanted to go back. "Easy, baby T..." He used her endearment and watched her face to read her expression and her eyes beamed. "I'll consider it."

Now, that was two places he was going to consider.

Salta. And probably Merynn.

"Don't call me baby T dad. I hate it. I'm twenty five now. I'm grown."

They both laughed heartily about it. While he sat there and watched as she sorted her clothes, shoes and other feminine stuff, they talked at length.

It was till she decided to leave the clothes and suggested they both went downstairs to see what was cooking.

Whatever Ava had cooking on that fire smelled heavenly. Taylor took a seat at the dining while Richard went through a door to get into the wine cellar.

He chose Ariel, a 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. It was mom alcoholic and perfect for the day. Grabbing a corkscrew from a cabinet, he went back to the dining to set it down.

He didn't find Taylor there but he heard voices, so he went to the kitchen to check the progress and get wine glasses too.

"Turkey and Cheese crescent rolls? What's that?" I heard Taylor ask Ava as Richard stepped into the kitchen.

Taylor had always been warm towards others, unlike Aria. It was baffling how two sisters could be so different.

"Just something I learnt years ago."

"Years ago? Did you go to a culinary school?" Taylor pressed, quite impressed.

She smiled at Taylor and swiftly avoided Richard's wandering eyes. "No. I didn't. I learnt from someone." Her voice was now low.

Richard busied himself in choosing wine glasses and noted how she didn't want to talk about her life over the kitchen island with his daughter.

"She must be a good teacher and a good cook." Taylor continued.

"She was."

That was all Taylor needed to hear to realize she had overstepped.

Her face fell and her eyes shadowed.

"I'm sorry..."

Taylor started.

"You don't have to be."

Ava interrupted the tirade in a calm tone.

Richard gave a long sigh and shot his daughter a dark look which she returned by giving him an I-am-sorry look.

She dished the meals into porcelain wares and trays, covering them domes.

"Let me help with that. I can't wait to have a taste. I am so famished." Taylor volunteered, without waiting for an approval she deftly swept the carrier off her hands.

Richard left the kitchen with his daughter and Ava had that look on her face, which he caught.

That look that spelled confusion but you don't know if you're really confused. That was her look.

So, Ava from Salta had made sesame rice chicken ad the main course. He'd never had that, so he was cautious at first and waited till Taylor confirmed.

"Dad...!" She called and briefly shut her eyes. When she opened them, she trained them on Ava who stood on the other side of Richard. "You might have to keep her."

That was all Richard needed to know to dig in.

Taylor was right. He might have to keep her in the house. She was certainly good.

Her grandmother must have been a chef or something. He couldn't ask right then, but he was going to find out.

Between mouthfuls, Taylor asked Ava to sit with them. She hesitated at first but finally gave in. There was no point saying no to Taylor.

She might think Aria was the one that had him wrapped around his fingers, because she sure knew how to throw a tantrum.

But Taylor?

Taylor just knew his mood and what to say to get what she wanted fro him. It was like she could read him better than he could himself.

That's okay.

Ava sat there, ate as quietly as she could. She didn't touch her wine even when Richard had assured her it was non alcoholic, yet.

She just sat there as they talked and laughed and went back and forth. She suddenly seemed wound down and paler than when she'd arrived that morning.

Richard recognized that she felt out of place. It wasn't strange but she was sucking it up and had stayed put, listening to them and never saying a word.

She just nodded and sighed and smiled warily. At least, she cleared her plate.

Richard's eyes kept wandering to her. Even as she looked pale, she was still beautiful and charming to look at. She'd caught his lingering gaze once and he'd smiled at her before clearing his plate.

The Turkey and Cheese crescent rolls were awesome. He could have sworn he'd never tasted anything that good. Taylor had eaten everything that was placed in her plate.

It wasn't out of hunger, but it was solely out her appetite to savour every bit from Ava's magic hands.

Taylor wouldn't stop moaning and singing her praises.

"This is really good. Could you teach me how to make these?"

Ava's eyes searched for Richard's but he intentionally kept his eyes on his plate. Nodding at her, she agreed. "Of course. I could teach you."

"Is there a guy you want to impressed?" He jokingly asked Taylor who giggled.

Maybe he was right. There was someone.

"I'm not telling." She said before he could ask.

Running his tongue over his lips, he swallowed the question and nodded.

The lunch dragged on for minutes, till everything on the table just remained in bits.

He'd drank enough wine and Taylor had probably overfed but she'd stubbornly stayed put.

He told Ava she could take the rest of the day off once she was done. She'd smiled genuinely at him and watched as they both left the dining room to get upstairs.

Taylor had whispered to him at the doorway of her room that she liked her and would love for her stay. He could only grin and nod in affirmation. Her room was now in disarray and he knew she would probably sleep in her clothes till whenever she got up and wasn't jetlagged anymore.

He retired to his study and couldn't concentrate on anything. He'd gone through emails and the some documents Victoria had forwarded.

He lazily read through them, replied some of the emails and shit down the computer and leaved back into the comfy leather recliner.

He tipped his head and shit his eyes. He just needed to stay there and clear his head. His daughter was home now so whatever that was, shouldn't surface again.

It's just been two days and he was acting like a teenager. He'd gone into a relationship with Simone because that was what responsible men do.

Men like him date women like Simone because marriage was a duty and not anything about emotions. If the roll in the sheets turns out great, hurray! That'll be a bonus.

He had the bonus. What else?

He shouldn't be thinking too much about the hired help. He shouldn't be thinking about Ava at all.

Running m his fingers through his hair, he groaned and thought about how she'd sat there at the dining, looking so uncomfortable. She almost looked sad.

He knew what it was like. He'd been there when Daphne had died, leaving him with two daughters. His father had died too but he'd persisted and raised his daughters.

So he knew either ways. It was hard.

Groaning again, his mind played it's trick by replaying Taylor's words about how she liked Ava.

Me too, baby T.

Me too.