Falling For Zoe (The Camerons of Tide's Way #1) by Skye Taylor

and I decided it was long past time to start making my own decisions. And my own life.”
    “Wow! And I thought my father was impossible.” Ava sagged back into her rocker, then stood and moved toward the stairs as if preparing to leave. She stopped and hesitated, poised on the top step a moment before turning to face Zoe again. “Daddy says I should dress more like you. I think he liked your pink dress.”
    Zoe’s heart jumped, and a sudden feeling of warmth filled her breast. She’d put the pink dress on hoping Jake would notice, but then he’d been in a heated argument with Ava, and she’d thought her efforts had gone unnoticed.
    “Is that what the argument was about on Saturday?” Even while she asked the question, Zoe’s mind was still turning over the fact that Jake had admired her dress enough so that Ava had picked up on it.
    “He didn’t think what I was wearing was appropriate. But everyone dresses like that. He just doesn’t get it.”
    “Well, the outfit was a little extreme.” Zoe didn’t want to alienate Ava, but neither did she want to say anything that might undermine Jake.
    “Yeah, that’s what Daddy said. Actually, what he said was that I looked like a prostitute. And he said it wasn’t fair to be a tease. But I wasn’t trying to tease anyone. I just wanted to . . . I just thought . . . I wanted Travis to think I was pretty. And maybe a little bit sexy. I didn’t mean to be a tease about it.”
    Zoe felt her eyebrows lifting at the image of Jake telling his daughter she looked like a prostitute. “Well, that’s a little harsh, but maybe your father has a point.” Zoe lifted her shoulders for emphasis and then relaxed again. It felt like she was walking in a minefield. “But you can be attractive without being a tease. Sometimes mystery is more effective than showing everything off.”
    “Wouldn’t that still be considered teasing?”
    “It could, I suppose, but if you dress with style and class, I doubt your father would have anything to complain about.”
    Ava seemed to consider this option. Then she grinned at Zoe with a look of conspiracy lighting her eyes.
    “Maybe we should go shopping together?”
    Suddenly, Zoe felt trapped. She didn’t have a classy outfit in her closet. And what she knew about style could be written on the back of a business card. Sure, she’d had a hand in helping her sisters through the teenage years, but it wasn’t like Jake knew that. He had no reason to trust her judgment.
    “Please say yes.”

Chapter 9
    “THAT WAS FUN.” Ava grinned across the table at Zoe.
    They sat at a little table outside an ice cream parlor surrounded by shopping bags, sipping on milkshakes. Zoe had been more than a little surprised when Jake approved the shopping expedition without question. Even more astonishing, he’d handed Ava his credit card without even mentioning a spending limit. One pink dress seemed hardly enough to base such faith on, but Zoe had done her best not to violate his trust.
    She wondered what Jake would think of the clothes Ava had purchased today. All were reasonably appropriate, but whether they’d meet with his approval was something else. Fathers tended to be ultra conservative where their own daughters were concerned. Just to be on the safe side, Zoe had tucked all the receipts in an envelope so anything he didn’t like could be returned.
    “Thanks for coming with me. My mom—” Ava bit her lips into a tight, hard line, then took a deep breath and relaxed again and went on in a sad little voice. “Mom never took me shopping with her. She just bought things she liked and expected me to wear them whether I liked them or not.”
    Zoe tried to think of an appropriate reply. She was beginning to really dislike Marsha Cameron for her uncaring disregard for the feelings of her family. It would appear that her insensitivity had begun long before she’d walked out of their lives.
    Ava brightened. “At least Daddy’s going to like my