into Amber’s shoulder.
Brady felt as if he was intruding on a moment, as if he shouldn’t be there, but he would never forget how beautiful the two of them looked together. Amber had his dark, almost-black hair but her smile was her grandmother’s.
Maggie set Amber on the ground and knelt before her. Amber peeked around her and gazed at Brady with familiar blue eyes. A lump formed in his throat and his chest tightened. Warmth surged behind his eyes. He tried to smile, but he wasn’t sure it came through.
“Amber, I have someone I want you to meet.” Amber glanced at her mother and back at Brady. She edged in closer to Maggie and took her hand. The lump descended into Brady’s gut like a lead cannonball. His own daughter didn’t know him.
Maggie stood and turned. She took a deep breath, which reminded him he needed to breathe. “Amber, this is—”
“Brady.” He stopped her from saying your father. “I’m Brady Ward. A friend of your mom’s.”
Maggie cocked an eyebrow at him. He shrugged. He wasn’t ready to deal with being her dad and this way, Amber could decide if she liked him without worrying about him being the father who had never been there for her.
“You have a funny name, Mr. Ward.” She peered at him with those gorgeous wide eyes and he couldn’t believe that this was his daughter.
“You can call me Brady.” He held out his hand.
She took his hand and jerked it up and down before releasing it. “It’s nice to meet you.”
She turned her back on him and looked up at her mother. Her whole face lit and her body trembled with excitement. “Did you bring me something?”
“Let’s go inside. Maybe we can order a pizza, and you can get to know Brady better.” Maggie glanced at him for confirmation.
“That sounds great.” Brady nodded and followed them up the steps.
Maggie kept throwing confused looks over her shoulder at him. He wished he could explain, but for the first time in years, he felt completely out of control. He had no idea what Amber would say when she realized he was her daddy. Would she instantly like him or instantly hate him? He’d never been there for her. Birthdays, Christmas, the days that mattered and the ones when nothing happened. He hadn’t been there. How could he look her in the eyes and say he was here now? What if she didn’t believe him? Or what if work pulled him away before he was ready to leave? It was a risk he wasn’t ready to take.
The porch steps creaked under his feet, and flecks of paint littered his path. He followed them into the small Victorian and was engulfed in warmth. All around was evidence of a house well loved by the occupants. Pictures of generations of family members were strewn all through the entryway and living room. A rainbow of colors collided anywhere he looked, but the mismatched furniture all seemed to blend together.
“Where would you like me to put the suitcase?” Brady asked.
“Brady Ward.” A feminine voice brought his attention away from Maggie and Amber’s reunion.
He would need to get used to these voices from his past if he was going to spend the next two weeks in Tawnee Valley. A copper-haired woman came down the narrow staircase. Her outfit hugged every curve, and her style hadn’t changed much since high school. “Penny Montgomery?”
“Figures it would take Maggie to go and get you to come for a visit.” Penny grabbed him into a hug and whispered in his ear, “You hurt either of them and I will personally lop off any dangly bits you have.”
She pulled away. Her smile convinced him she’d be willing to do just that and she’d enjoy doing it. He pulled a tight smile. He hadn’t even considered all the people he would run into while in Tawnee Valley. Maggie was the next victim of Penny’s embrace.
“You know Brady, too?” Amber asked from behind Maggie.
“Yeah, we all went to school together.” Penny knelt next to Amber and whispered something in her ear.
Amber giggled behind her hand and the sound softened the knot of resentment that had begun to form in Brady’s chest. If he hurt them like Penny said, it wouldn’t be intentional. He was confident that if he stepped out of line, Maggie would make sure he knew it.
“No more secrets, you two.” Maggie took her suitcase and opened it on the table. “Penny, can you order us all a pizza?”
Penny left the room but not before throwing Brady a serious look that said, “I’m watching you.”
Just what he needed—another set of eyes watching him. Tawnee Valley was a small enough town. Being back and hanging around Maggie and Amber meant gossip was going to fly. He wouldn’t have long before some well-meaning person spilled the beans accidentally to Amber. The speculation he could deal with, but Amber being hurt by it was a whole other story.
“Tell me about New York,” Amber said to Maggie as she knelt in one of the chairs near her mother. Her purple gem earrings sparkled in the overhead light. She peered into the bag, looking to find what Maggie had brought her.
Brady should have gotten her something. Would that have been odd? For a friend of her mother’s, maybe. Not odd for a father. Dammit, why didn’t he let Maggie tell her? Did he think it would be better this way? Was he already screwing things up?
“Brady lives there and before that he lived in London, England.” Maggie glanced at him and he saw all the encouragement he needed in her eyes. Maggie seemed to have a spark of faith in him even if Penny didn’t.
“You lived in England?” Amber’s full attention was on Brady.
“Yes, I did. For eight years.”
“I’m almost eight. Did you meet the queen or the prince?” Before he could answer, Amber’s attention was drawn away when Maggie held out a plastic bag.
“For you.”
Amber quickly unwrapped the snow globe of the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline. “Thank you, Mommy!”
She shook it and watched the snow fall and swirl. After a couple more times, she shyly lifted her gaze to Brady and he felt his heart sing. “Would you tell me about England?”
“Of course,” Brady said.
While they waited for pizza, Brady told Amber all about England, answering the silly questions and the serious ones with complete openness. Maggie watched them with an expression he couldn’t read. His daughter was curious, intelligent and everything he could have ever hoped for. If he had hoped for a child.
His career was his life. Work was what he’d return to when these weeks were finished. Work was what would keep him from coming around for every little event in Amber’s life.
Work kept him sane, and he was making a difference. Part of him wished he could be that father that grilled on Sundays and played catch and wiped away tears, but that wasn’t who he was. As he looked into the innocent eyes of his daughter, he knew he’d better not forget that and start to wish for more. This was all he was capable of.
