Page 10 of The Runaway Bride's Vow

“A house. Wanna help?” She held a blue block out to him.

He really needed to work, but he couldn’t deny his daughter a few minutes of his time. He took the block. ”I’ll help you get started. And you can finish it. Okay?”

She nodded her head as she picked out some more blocks.

“Are we building a big house or little one?”

“Big!”

How did he know that would be her answer? His daughter liked things big, from her pancakes to her stuffed animals.

He settled on the blanket next to her. They took turns adding blocks in the shape of a house. For just a minute, he set aside thoughts of his responsibilities and enjoyed this moment with his daughter.

She was so cute with her messy ponytail and mismatched clothes she’d picked out herself. When he’d suggested a different shirt, she’d insisted on wearing what she had on. Her big brown eyes were so bright and observant. He was relieved that she was feeling better.

Yesterday Kaylie had gotten sick at preschool. With it being his week to have Kaylie and with his ex-wife being out of town, he had to pick her up. The preschool told him a virus was making the rounds. Lot of kids were sent home sick. The preschool policy was for her not to return for a few days.

When he got her home, Kaylie had curled up on the couch. With her favorite cartoons on the television, she fell asleep. She slept until late in the afternoon. When she woke up, she was feeling better and ate some dinner.

By this morning, Kaylie had no fever or stomach ache. In fact, she ate her pancakes in record time. It was then that he asked if she was up for going to work with him because he didn’t have anyone to watch her. To his surprise, Kaylie readily agreed.

Any other time he would have stayed home with his daughter, but the success of this project would determine whether or not he retained ownership of his house—their home. After his divorce, they’d agreed to sell the house but when it came time to sign the papers, he couldn’t do it. He’d put too much of himself into the remodel and couldn’t part with it.

He took out a loan and bought out his ex-wife. It took every bit of savings he had and left him in deep debt, but it was worth it. He loved that house. But with some unexpected large expenses in the past couple of months he’d fallen behind on his payments. This was his one and only chance to catch up before foreclosure.

He’d taken two weeks’ vacation time from his job at the fire department in order to get a solid start on this big project. The chapel was to be restored in two months’ time. Luckily, the generous budget would allow him to bring in sub-contractors to do a lot of the exterior work.

It would really help if that woman from yesterday would stay away. After all, he had a signed contract with Clara. The job was all spelled out. He didn’t need a babysitter, especially one that was accident prone. He gently rubbed the tender spot on his forehead.

“Daddy?” Kaylie’s voice drew him from his thoughts.

He focused on his daughter’s beautiful face. “What?”

“Are you mad?”

“No, sweetie. I’m not mad.” He attempted a smile.

“You look mad.”

He did? Wait. He was smiling, wasn’t he? He wondered what his daughter was seeing on his face for her to come to that conclusion. When she frowned at him, he let his face relax into his normal look.

She was probably detecting his thoughts about the annoying woman from the day before. What did she say her name was? He thought for a moment before it came to him. Brooke.

He was quite certain if that woman showed up today, some disaster would befall him. Maybe he should have considered bringing a hard hat with him…

With half of the toy house built, he got to his feet. “I have to get back to work.”

“Okay.”

The door creaked open. The breath stilled in his lungs. He turned. When he saw it was Henry Maxwell, his friend and business associate, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Henry was an older man. His wife had passed on, and they had no children. The man was a genius with sand paper and a paint brush. When his wife got sick, he’d slowed down to take care of her. And now that he was alone, he was back to work.

“Daddy, why are you huffing and puffing?” Kaylie’s forehead scrunched up as she stared at him.

Huffing and puffing? He must have sighed at his relief that it wasn’t Brooke who’d arrived. He thought of the damage the woman could unleash without even trying. Was it possible she wouldn’t come back? He doubted he would be that lucky.

A new day.

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