Page 1 of Only One I Ever Wanted

Chapter1

Sullivan

I wokeup my computer with a swipe of my thumb across the track pad.

Still nothing there.

I banged my head on the back of my chair with a sigh. Things at Murdock Brothers had been slow as hell. We specialized in all kinds of handyman-type work from leaks to a full renovation.

Lately, the queue for jobs had been empty.

And the only “Brother” was me.

Living in Indigo Valley, New York meant things got slow in the colder months, but spring was pushing through the endless snow we’d gotten this winter. I had even spotted some green on my lawn this morning.

Mostly because Danny and Trouble had fallen headfirst into a mud puddle to start the morning.

I glanced over at the photo of the two of them on my tiny desk jammed into the corner of my rec room-slash-basement. A rare moment where I caught him smiling openly. Mostly because of the goofy dog in his arms.

We lived in a split ranch that perpetually needed work, on an acre of land.Generally, I was too busy to work on my own place, but if the job options kept up like this, I wouldn’t be able to use that as an excuse.

“Dad!”

I shut the lid of my laptop and grabbed my cell, jamming it into my back pocket as I headed up the stairs. “Yeah?”

“Trouble won’t come inside.”

I sighed. “Damn dog,” I muttered, as I climbed the last stair. “What did he get into now?”

“He’s under the deck again.” Danny, my eight-year-old son, stood at the door with a sullen look on his face. His sandy brown hair matched mine when I was his age, but it was already staring to darken. However, his blue eyes were all his mother’s. Not much else of him reminded me of Mindy Dougherty, which was a good thing.

She was a piss-poor mom, which matched what a shitty girlfriend she’d been.

The only good thing we’d ever done together was create Danny.

I met him at the back patio sliding door. “Treats didn’t work?” I asked as I ruffled his hair.

“Don’t think he can hear me.” He shied away and I swallowed a sigh. He was still unsure of being around me. The last time Mindy had taken off, she’d taken Danny with her, and I hadn’t been able to find them for four years.

This time, she took off alone and dumped him on my doorstep on Christmas. We barely knew each other any longer.

It had been three months, and we still weren’t finding our way.

I was failing miserably. Just like my business.

“I’ll go out and get him.” I grabbed a few treats from the jar I kept on the counter.

Boots clomped up the deck stairs, and my brother, Ripley, was holding a wiggling chocolate lab puppy. “Is this yours?”

I grunted. “Where did you find him?”

He lifted Trouble to look at his dirty face. You almost couldn’t tell with his dark fur, but his tongue lolled out and had bits of dirt stuck to it. “Digging up one of Ma’s daffodil bulbs. Pretty sure he thought it was a treat.”

I rolled my eyes and accepted the puppy. “You gonna be shitting out daffodils, son?”

Danny snickered behind me. Happy to hear something resembling a laugh out of him, I grinned down at him. “Find that funny?”

He shrugged. I handed off the dog to my son. “Can you go clean him up?”

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