Make Me Stay Read Free

impressed.”
    Smiling in triumph, he took another appreciative look around. “It’s not too bad. I got it for practically nothing. Luckily, it came fully staffed. Kara, who you’ll meet later, is a godsend. This was all her idea. I just gave her the money to get it done.”
    Kara? My father had never mentioned her before. Then again, our conversations usually didn’t go into too much detail. Is he dating her? Are they in love? I’m not sure I can handle that. It had been close to five years since--had he moved on? He’s a good man. He should be happy, and if this Kara makes him happy, then I’m going to have to like her, no questions.
    Just then, the back door, which led to a hallway, opened. It slammed loudly against the wall. The bang of the door hitting, made me jump. “B, can you come give me a hand?” a squeaky female voice called from behind two large boxes.
    My father smiled down at me. “I guess you can meet her now.”
    The female voice dropped the boxes on the ground and brushed her hair out of her face. Okay, I’m going to have to have a talk with my father.
    Kara was young, or she had an amazing plastic surgeon. She was a petite blonde, who didn’t look a day over eighteen. Great, no wonder my father is happy. He turned into a sugar daddy .
    She had on a cropped top that barely covered her boobs, and her jean shorts looked like she had swiped them from a cheese country music video. Flipping her head down, she grabbed all her hair and tied it up in a big floppy bun on the top of her head. A few loose, blonde strands fell around her face perfectly. Yup, I’m going to have a talk with my father .
    “Kara, this is Caroline, my daughter.”
    I tried to smile politely, but I had the most disturbing image in my head.
    Kara smiled. “Hey, it’s nice to finally meet you. B won’t stop talking about you, like ever,” she said, reaching over the boxes to shake my hand.
    “So, are you guys...” Great, I’m too embarrassed to even say it.
    She ripped her hand from mine, shook them both at her sides, and ran in place while shaking her head back and forth. “Ew, you think? That I’m? With?”
    I had clearly made a huge mistake.
    Kara looked over at my father, clearly confused. “B, what the hell? Why does your daughter think I’m dating you?”
    My father turned all sorts of red. “Caroline Ann! I am not involved with her.”
    Yeah, big mistake. “I’m sorry, I just thought that--”
    “Well, you thought wrong, honey. I like him, but not like that,” Kara said, laughing.
    My father grimaced. “Well, now that we have that all taken care of, I’ll give a proper introduction. This is Kara, the manager. She started as soon as I bought the place and had some great ideas, because I was too stuck in the eighties, like this place used to be. Kara sold me on remodeling and things have been non-stop-busy since the day we re-opened.”
    Clearly, this girl had some real talent with decorating. Why she was working at a bar was beyond me.
    She seemed to squirm a little at his praise. “Well, it wasn’t all me--ah, who are we trying to kid? It was all me. This place was a pig pen before I came along,” she said, admiring her handy work.
    “I’m so sorry. I kind of jumped to conclusions,” I said apologetically.
    “Its fine. You weren’t the first person to think that. Your dad and I have been hot gossip since I started working here.”
    There was another reason to make sure summer ended with me leaving--small town gossip.
    Kara grinned at me. “It was great to finally meet you, but I have to get back to it. It’s going to get crazy in here tonight.”
    Thinking back to the barren streets and closed shops, I frowned. Right then, I doubted anyone but my father and Kara even lived in this town. “Oh, okay,” I said, not believing her at all.
    “Tomorrow won’t be as bad, so I’ll start training you then. Enjoy tonight and welcome.” Grabbing the top box, she walked off into the back of the