Page 19 of Fragile Sanctuary

Keely let out a giggle that was all carefree innocence. “He told me I couldn’t get him. But he was wrong.”

I wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders, guiding her toward the kitchen island where Fallon was perched next to Lolli, sipping wine. “Never give a girl a challenge,” I chastised Trace.

He smirked at me. “Lesson learned.” His gaze did a quick roam. It was a check similar to Shep’s earlier, but I knew Trace took in more during his quick glance. Maybe it was his years in law enforcement, or perhaps it was how he’d grown up before his placement with the Colsons, but Trace saw more than the average person and could pin it down faster, too. “Everything went okay?”

I nodded. “All’s good.”

Keely tipped her head back to look up at me. “You’re moved?”

“Yup. Just need to unpack.”

She bounced up and down on her tiptoes. “I wanna come see it. Dad said there’s lots of land. That you could have horses like Auntie Arden does. Are you gonna? Are you?”

I tugged on one of Keely’s pigtails. “You’re horse-crazy.”

“You’re telling me,” Trace grumbled.

His daughter had been begging for a horse for years, but she had to settle for riding the ones on the ranch or those at Arden’s place.

“I’m ready, Daddy. I swear. I’m responstable enough.”

Trace’s lips quirked as if fighting a laugh that wanted to surface. “We don’t have space for a horse right now.”

Nora’s fingers tightened on the whisk, and I knew she was fighting the urge to offer up her barn. Keely would be spoiled silly if Nora had her way. But it was important to Trace that his daughter grow up with rules and responsibilities. He was gentle with them, wanting his little girl to have the experience of being a carefree child that he’d missed out on, but they were still there.

Keely grinned up at him. “We could totally fit a pony in our backyard.”

He rounded the island and grabbed his daughter, hoisting her into the air as he tickled her side. “Oh, really? You might have to give up your swing set, then.”

She let out a peal of laughter. “Daddy!”

“Sorry I’m late,” Shep called as the door slammed behind him.

“Uncle Shep!” Keely yelled. “Save me from the tickle monster.”

Shep beamed, hauling her into his arms. “I’ve got you, Warrior Princess. Should we vanquish him together?”

Keely giggled, bobbing her head up and down in a nod.

Shep grabbed a towel from the counter and snapped it at Trace.

Trace jumped back a few steps and snagged a grape from the charcuterie board Nora had put out, pelting it at Shep, who batted it away easily.

“You’ll never win. The Warrior Princess is safe from your clutches,” Shep said with an exaggerated evil laugh.

Keely shrieked happily as Shep carried her around the living room at a gallop.

He’s made for this, I thought as I watched the two of them. He was the kind of man created for family. Yet, he hadn’t found it. There were plenty of interested women in Sparrow Falls. As much as he was a brother to me, I could tell in a clinical sort of way that he was good-looking. Add to that the fact that his construction business had grown and multiplied over the years, and more than a few women were looking his way.

But Shep chose his romantic partners carefully. He moved slowly getting into things, and quickly getting out of them. The first hint of someone not being what he was looking for and he was gone. The problem? Perfection was a figment of the imagination. If he really wanted marriage and a family, he’d have to settle for someone human like the rest of us.

Nora pinned Trace with a stare. “Pick up that grape, young man.”

He sent her a sheepish smile. “You’re not going to lecture Shep for the towel stunt? He could’ve taken my eye out.”

Nora just shook her head. “I swear you two will be thirteen until the day you breathe your last breath.”

But I knew Nora took that as a point of pride when it came to Trace. He’d been older than his years when he came to live with her and Lolli, taking on way too much responsibility for his twelve-year-old self. So, seeing him find that sense of carefree fun, even now, would always make her happy.

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