We got past that when we both agreed to amend our primary criteria so we could explore a relationship.”“But now hers has been fulfilled. I’m gue...sing you agreed to delay discussions about church?”“We’ve had some preliminary ones about what the minimum I could accept would be. I’m not sure we can reach a suitable middle ground, but I agreed to try.”“Because you wanted to have sex or because you think she’s worth pursuing?”“If I just wanted to have sex, that would have happened back in. "I redid the makeup, to heavy eyeshadow, bright red cheeks, and dark lipstick. I had false eyelashes, but decided against them, choosing instead the heaviest liner and mascara I owned. As I finished, I noticed the sun go down, and felt him approach. I lowered the lights in my bedroom, making sure I was backlit so my body was erotically displayed, and waited.He appeared on the small porch outside the sliding doors, in his cape, smiling greedily, and I felt him demand to be invited in. I opened. At the same time, she moved her hand from the man's shoulder and pulled the hood back to reveal his face.The man before her was indeed her father and at the same time not. Her last memory of him, of course, was when she held his corpse in her arms twelve years ago, but..."He is so young! He cannot be more than a few years older than I am right now. I do believe he is younger than Erik."The man raised his hand, briefly touched his palm to her cheek and then playfully tapped his thumb on. A bowl of bread and a plate of cheese sat in the middle.The man quickly returned from the stove and poured her a steaming cup of herb tea. He poured himself a cup before taking his place across from her. The table was so small that should could simply reach out and touch him. He began to cut the cheese, finally Arabella got a good look at him.He had large blue eyes, bushy blond eyebrows, long blond eyelashes, and light freckling across the bridge of his nose and on his cheeks. She found him.