Page 166 of Her Boss, Her Rancher: Sunrise On The Ranch

“Francesca, please. Do you know what I’ve gone through looking for you? The least you could do is let me inside. It’s brutally cold and I’m getting soaked.”

She hesitated, but finally, because they needed to resolve this, she mustered her courage and stepped away, allowing him entrance. She had no right letting a stranger into Jared’s house, but what else could she do? Her father wouldn’t just go away. She knew him all too well. He’d stake out the house until Jared got home and then cause a big scene.

“How did you find me?”

“I’ll tell you later, but first, let me see Sienna.” He turned his attention to her baby. “Hello, sweetheart. Grandpa’s here now. How pretty you look this morning.” He reached for her to ruffle her hair and Bella stepped back. She wouldn’t allow him to touch her baby.

He sighed heavily, looking a bit defeated. “I’ve missed you. In fact, I’ve missed both of my girls.”

A lump formed in Bella’s throat. “Marco, what do you want?”

“I want...a chance to speak with you, Francesca. That’s all.”

She squeezed her eyes closed briefly. “Ten minutes.”

She led him into the parlor and offered him a seat.

Keeping a steady hand on Sienna, she lowered herself down at the far end of the sofa facing him.

“You weren’t easy to find, Francesca.”

“That was the idea.”

“Yvonne says I’ve been overly harsh with you. She says you believed me when I said I’d cut you off.”

“Yes, I did believe you. And you did cut me off. You made my life...unbearable,” she admitted, her voice sinking. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Yvonne told me as much, too. She’s been your advocate, Francesca. I know you two never got along.”

“You married a woman only ten years older than me. Hardly a mother to me.”

He pointed his finger at her. “Nobody could ever replace your mother, you remember that. The truth is,” he said, “I never really got over losing your mother and brother. It was very hard on me and I think, in a way, I placed all my hopes and dreams in you. Maybe unfairly.”

“Extremely unfairly.”

“I felt you were throwing your life away.”

“You tried to dictate my life, Father. You told me what school to go to, what boy to date, what man to marry, where I should work, where I should live. I’m twenty-eight years old. While you weren’t looking, I grew up, but you never saw that. You never understood me, never supported my passion for cooking and creating. You wanted me in corporate America. That’s not me.”

His shoulders slumped. “I was doing it for your own good.”

“And look how well that turned out.”

He blinked, and anger sparked in his eyes. “Francesca.”

“No way, Marco. You have no right to be angry. Not after what you put me through. How do you expect me to trust anything you say?”

“I know, you’re...right.”

“What?”

“I said, you’re right. I admit it. I was overbearing. The truth is, I recently had a health scare. My heart was acting up. I’m going to be okay with diet and a change of lifestyle. But you know, that trip to the hospital got me thinking about my life and what’s important to me. Yvonne says I’ve finally gotten my priorities straight. She’s been helping me with my issues.

“Believe me when I say she cares about you. She wants us to be a family. I came to tell you I’d never take Sienna away from you. It was an idle threat, Francesca. You’re a good mother and I never meant for any of this to escalate.”

“Are you saying it was all your wild temper?”

“I’m saying I was bluffing to get my way. I’m...sorry.”