18
Bella knew telling Ryan was the right thing to do, but that didn’t make it easier to face her father when she got home later that morning. Albert was in the kitchen drinking coffee when Bella walked in. He scanned her quickly and scowled, but he didn’t comment on her showing up in the same clothes she wore the day before.
“Good morning,” Bella said softly.
“Morning,” Albert replied.
It was stiff. Uncomfortable. Worse than when she showed up on his doorstep unannounced. She wanted to fix it, but she didn’t know if it was possible. But she had to try. Albert and Ryan were both important to her. She’d smoothed things over with Ryan, but Albert was going to be much more difficult.
“What do you have going on today?” Bella asked.
“I have someone coming to bottle some of the white and I
