“She went to the ladies’ room.”
Jules raised a brow. “Alone?” Mona, who was legally blind, was the woman her father had been seeing for a few months.
“Yes. Alone. She’s very independent.”
“Obviously. And she looks beautiful today.”
Ben smiled. “I think Mona looks beautiful every day.”
Jules nodded. Her widowed father had fallen in love, and he’d made that clear to both her and Shana. He’d also made it clear that he intended to make Mona a permanent part of his life, and that anyone who had a problem with that needed to get over it. Since Shana had easily accepted Mona’s role in their father’s life, that comment had been mainly directed at Jules, and they both knew it.
“You know what I think, Juliet?”
She knew that line, especially when he referred to her by her full name. Her father was about to point something out to her that she would rather not hear. But she wouldn’t dare tell him that. She would do as she’d always done, just grin and bear it. “No, Dad, what do you think?”
“That there’s a thin line between love and hate.”
She hoped her father wasn’t intimating the possibility of something happening between her and Dalton. He was totally wrong if he thought there was a chance that she and Dalton Granger could ever be anything other than enemies. Just in case he was thinking that way, she knew she had to squash that assumption. He was so far from the truth it wasn’t funny. “You have it all wrong, Dad, trust me. I wouldn’t fall for Dalton Granger if he were the last man on Earth. Even if I were threatened with jail time, I would gladly take a life sentence. I would choose hell over heaven if I thought for one minute that he had already passed through the pearly gates.”
Her father didn’t say anything; he merely stood and stared at her for a long moment. She could handle his stare as long as it meant he accepted what she said as gospel. She knew he was thinking, giving what she’d said much consideration...a little too much to suit her. When he finally nodded, she released the breath she’d been holding. Had it been anyone other than her father who’d suggested such a thing, she would have given him the tongue-lashing he deserved.
“I can understand why you might assume that,” she said, breaking the silence after taking another sip of her drink.
Ben lifted a curious brow. “You do?”
“Yes. You’re in love with Mona, and Shana got married today. So, in your mind, love and happiness are ruling the day.”
“Possibly,” he said, still giving her that in-depth Ben Bradford stare. “Nevertheless, you and Granger need to resolve this issue and make permanent peace.”
Permanent peace? She doubted that was possible. In fact, she knew it was highly unlikely. “Why?”
“For your sister’s sake.”
Jules shook her head. She couldn’t see herself doing it, not even for that reason. “Dad, Shana’s fine. Besides, she married Jace, not Dalton.”
“He’s Jace’s brother.”
“And I’m her sister.”
Her father paused a moment then asked, “Do you want to force Shana to take sides?”
“Of course not.”
“You are twenty-six, not six. You and Granger need to stop behaving like children and start acting like adults.”
She had news for him. Acting like an adult is what had landed her in this mess with Dalton. As a fully grown woman, she’d never been aware of a man the way she was aware of him...and that wasn’t good.
“There’s Mona. I’ll talk to you later,” her father said, moving away. “Come to breakfast in the morning,” he threw over his shoulder.