Chapter Ten

Delinda marched into her father's office with an agenda. "Daddy, we need to talk."

Ed, not looking up from his paperwork, let out a quiet sigh. These were not his favorite talks. "Sweetheart, if this is about that pot smoking band of hippies, look, you are a grown adult, if you want to run around with them, that's up to you."

"They are the Polyphonic Spree, dad, and this isn't about that, but thanks for the blessing for the future."

Ed rolled his eyes, "More parking tickets?"

Delinda let out a deep sigh, he wasn't going to make this easy, "Speeding."

"Oh, I see we've graduated up, then," her father remarked dryly.

Without thinking, Delinda's voice adopted a tone, "You know, Daddy, you act like you know what it's like to drive and park in Vegas. Not all of us have our own parking spots five feet from the lobby."

Ed stopped what he was doing and slowly looked up at his daughter, "Did you come in here just to piss me off, or do you have something you want to say?"

His blonde daughter looked at him, her hands on her hips, "Are you aware that you are screwing things up big time with Sam?"

"Screwing things up?" He said with a sigh, "I don't understand you, Delinda. First you were pissed because Sam and I were getting close and when I back off to take a breather, you get pissed at that."

"Dad," Delinda said with a sigh as she sat down in his couch, "I'll get pissed no matter who you date. I'm not used to seeing you with other women, in fact, I've never seen you with another woman, just mom. It's going to take some time."

Ed nodded as he stood up and walked over and sat down next to his daughter, "I know, honey. It's going to take some time for me to get used to the whole..." he paused, his hands waving, "dating scene. I haven't been on a date in thirty-five years, I have no idea how to act around women this day and age."

"Well, Daddy, here's a hint," she started, "girls still like getting flowers and they still like to be complimented."

He chuckled softly and reached out and brought her head over, kissing the top of her forehead.

"Daddy, call Sam. She really misses you."

"Delinda," he said with a soft sigh, "I can't. She told me something and it really scared the crap out of me."

"I know, Dad," she said softly, "But it's okay. I know you feel the same about her, and, Daddy, mom knew that the feelings were starting to arise, and she was okay with that. She'd want this, trust me."

Ed smiled softly at his daughter, "Are you sure you are really okay with this?"

Delinda hesitated for a moment and with a soft sigh, she nodded, "Just try and keep the PDAs away from me, okay?"

He laughed softly and nodded, "I promise." Kissing her cheek, he rose to his feet and headed for the door. Delinda watched him curiously, "Where are you going?"

Ed turned around and gave her a small smile, "To talk to Sam."

Sam had her nose buried in a book at Cuppa Joe's during one of her rare breaks. She mindlessly reached for the piece of chocolate chip muffin that rested on a doily and plate and placed it in her mouth, savoring the sweetness.

She slowly turned the page in her novel, becoming more engrossed with it after each page.

Ed walked all through the hotel, looking for her. After checking out by the pools, the casino, Mystique and Bella Sera, someone finally clued him in that she was spotted at the coffee shop. Walking by, he noticed her and walked over, but stopped short, noticing how into her book she was. He couldn't help but grin at her as he walked over and stood over her, clearing her throat softly, "Anybody ever tell you how incredibly cute you look in those glasses?"

Not realizing that it was Ed who said it, Sam replied, not looking up, "Only about a half dozen times."

"You should listen to them."

Sam looked up and then blushed as she reached for her marker and closed the book. Ed sat down across from her and reached for her book, "The DaVinci Code?"

The brunette nodded, "It's really a good book. Very fascinating."

Ed nodded as he reached over and pinched off a piece of her muffin, something that found himself rewarded with a smack on the hand. "Paws off," Sam said. "The book is somewhat hard to explain, it has a lot to do with the Bible, Leonardo DaVinci, Christ, the Catholic church..." she paused, "there's speculation that Mona Lisa was actually both man and woman and that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and she bore his child."

Her boss blinked a little, "Mary Magdalene was a prostitute."

"Ah," Sam said with a grin, "the Bible never actually comes out and says she was. It's really good, you should read it."

Ed scoffed, "I'll wait till the movie comes out."

The woman rolled her eyes. Trying to remain nonchalant, she said, "So what's up? I have exactly," she paused to look at her watch, "eight minutes left of my break."

"Eight whole minutes, huh?" He asked with an amused look. Sighing softly, he looked around a moment and then back at her, his voice was quiet, "Sam, I want to apologize for earlier. I panicked and it wasn't fair to you."

"Ed," Sam said with a quiet sigh, "I was the one who was unfair to you. I shouldn't have blurted that out. I really did not mean to freak you out. I feel awful about it."

Ed shook his head, "I want you to do me a favor. Get Mike and Danny to watch Jasmine tonight. I want to have dinner with you and I want it to be just the two of us."

His companion felt herself swallow hard, "Like a date?"

He grinned at her, "Yeah."

Sam nodded slowly, "Okay. What time do you want me to meet you and where do you want it to be?"

Ed chuckled softly, "You haven't done this much, have you? I'll pick you up around eight. Dress nice, not that you normally don't, but I'm taking you out tonight."

The woman nodded as she nervously bit her bottom lip, "Okay, I'll be ready."

He grinned as he leaned in and kissed her cheek and stood up and walked out of the restaurant.

Danny and Mike were watching Ed and Sam on the monitors and both let out a collective "whoa" when they saw him kiss her cheek.

"Did you see that?"

Danny nodded, softly, "Yeah. I thought he wasn't ready for this."

Mike sighed softly as he shrugged, "Apparently he is. I wonder what changed his mind."

"A persistent daughter who wants to see her father happy."

Both Mike and Danny whipped their heads around to see Delinda standing in the doorway. "Guys," she started as she walked in, "leave my dad and Sam alone, okay? Don't keep watching them and don't tease them or say anything that will make them feel bad."

Danny blinked in surprise, "You are okay with this?"

Delinda nodded, "Yeah, I am. She obviously makes him happy, and we all know how much we want Daddy happy."

The guys nodded mutely and Delinda smiled and walked over to them, kissing each one on the cheek and heading out.