Page 47 of To Spark a Dragon's Love
“I’m so sorry.” I kissed her cheeks, snuggling her close. “I should’ve been here. I should’ve protected you. I’ll never let this happen again.”
I swore internally to whoever was listening that I’d never let her out of my sight—not for as long as I’d live.
“Mom, you’re squishing me,” Harper groaned.
“Oops.” I eased back a bit, still holding tight.
She clapped her hands on either side of my cheeks and forced me to look into her solemn eyes. “It’s fine. Malachy killed the bad dragons.”
I nodded, returning her smile and already calculating the future years of therapy bills if the world ever got back to normal.
Harper sniffed, looking past me. “Did you make banana bread?”
Kids are resilient, or so they say.
It wasn’t the first time I hoped it was true.
When Sam died, Harper was only a year old. But I read all the books for children coping with grief, had a daddy-doll and blanket made from his t-shirts, and prepared a picture slideshow with some of his music I could press play on anytime she asked.
And Harper acted like he’d never even existed.
True, he wasn’t the best father. I’d hear other moms talking about how their kids would shriek for their dads when they came home from work each day.
Harper would offer a shy smile if he ever did make it home before her bedtime. On the rare weekend he’d be off from the shop, he might join us on a trip to the zoo or park then ask to go home early.
I guess, looking back, I should’ve pressed for him to be more engaged. But I was already fighting so much guilt. I’d wanted to call off our engagement months before I found out I was pregnant and I knew he’d felt the same. A small part of methought that it was a good thing I hadn’t demanded they have a closer father-daughter relationship.
In the end, Harper had less to lose.
Over the past few months, I’d wondered if there was a father-sized hole in her heart. She took to Kieran right away and then loved Lucan. It was unsettling. She just instantly assumed they wanted her around.
Maybe I’d done too good a job covering up Sam’s flaws in her memory.
She didn’t know what it felt like to be abandoned by a male who couldn’t love her and I hoped she never would.
“Malachy gets the big piece,” Harper said as she carried two plates of warm banana bread dotted with melted chocolate chips.
Outside the window, Malachy was still standing in the yard where we’d left him with his hands in his pockets and his beautiful face turned skyward. Lucan and Kieran stood beside him, saying nothing, but there were worried lines on their faces.
They were locked in some sort of silent communication argument and I touched Harper’s shoulder, wondering how best to keep her inside.
“Why don’t you come eat with us, Harper?” Ember said, saving the day like usual. She pulled out a chair from the table.
Riley nodded. “You can help me finish my bread. I’m full already.”
Harper stuck her tongue in her cheek as she looked at the two plastic plates in her hands, weighing her options. As expected, her sweet tooth won and she handed me the plate.
“Make sure to tell Malachy that I gave him the big piece.” Harper joined Riley and Ember at the table. I mouthed a silent “thanks” before heading outside.
The afternoon autumn breeze did nothing to cool the heat of my skin. I felt silly—underprepared and underdressed—as Icarried out a piece of dense homemade bread like some kind of offering for the beast of a man who’d saved my daughter. It was even on a bright pink plastic plate with little golden flowers, for fuck’s sake.
But hewasalso part of the reason my daughter had been stolen in the first place.
So maybe I didn’t need to worry as much.
I cleared my throat as I stepped off the porch, making it obvious I was about to interrupt whatever was going on between the three of them in case the opening and closing of the front door wasn’t loud enough.
Lucan smiled at me with that boyish grin, saving me from having to call out my awkward arrival. “Is there more of that inside?”
