Page 2 of Falling Back to You

“Ooh!” Khia wiggled excitedly. “I want a mommy! Katie and Anna have one.”

What?! How had I slipped and said that out loud?

Sleep deprivation, that’s how.

No wonder it was an effective torture technique. Guantanamo Bay had nothing on my daughter.

“Please, Daddy!”

Oh, boy. We’d moved straight from puppy to new mom, and I’d never hear the end of it. My chest ached at her words, emotion clawing my throat. Katie and Anna were my nieces closest to Khia in age. It was only natural she was getting to the stage where she’d start questioning why she didn’t have a mom when all her friends did. Khia was only eight months old when Izzy passed, so she had no memory of the mother who didn’t truly want her. This is natural. At least according to all the parenting manuals I’d read.

“Guess we’ll have to see,” I said roughly around the lump in my throat.

“I’m gonna pray about it,” Khia announced, like she hadn’t just obliterated my heart. “Meemaw said Greg Mueller and the orphans prayed for milk, and they got it.”

“George Mueller,” I corrected lightly, chuckling. “And that’s not how prayer works, Lovebug. Sometimes God says no or wait.”

“Just like you.” Khia smiled up at me serenely. Out of the mouth of babes. “But I’m gonna ask anyway—for a mommy and a puppy.” With that declaration, she launched herself out of my arms and off the bed.

Another note to self: set up a sleepover for Khia and Rosie Cotton as soon as possible.

“Can we have pancakes? Like Uncle Grey makes, with chocolate chips?” Khia asked.

And without further ado, we were moving on.

“How about blueberries?” I countered.

“Ew!”

I slid my legs over the side of the bed and scrubbed a hand over my face, the hint of stubble scraping my palm. Time for a shave. “But you love blueberries.”

She propped her hands on her hips, standing in the doorway in her Cinderella pajamas with her dark curls askew. She was four going on fourteen. “I love chocolate chips more!”

“Uncle Grey spoils you,” I grumbled, but I couldn’t help smiling. Greyson doted on my girl, and I didn’t begrudge him that in the least. I did the same thing with my other nieces and nephews—uncle’s privilege and all that. Tugging on a T-shirt, I rolled my shoulders to ease out the stiffness. “All right, chocolate it is. Let me get the coffee on first.”

Khia skipped down the stairs beside me to the kitchen. “Is Miss Ruby coming?”

Shoot. I glanced at the oven clock. Morning practice was in just over two hours, which meant I had exactly eighty-seven minutes to get myself and Khia ready for the day if I was still going to make the half-hour drive from Serenity Springs to the arena in Caldwell.

Ruby Shepherd, my former neighbour and my ex-fiancée’s youngest sister, had agreed to watch Khia today. The same Ruby I had foolishly promised a favour to at Greyson and Paisley’s vow renewal last month.

She wanted me to do a couples photo shoot—with a stranger—tomorrow evening. I had just over twenty-four hours to prepare myself for that disaster. I hadn’t dated since Izzy died, and now Ruby wanted me to go on a blind date?

Once again, I made a mental note to refuse Ruby any more favours. I’d performed a long list of them in the last thirteen years—not limited to: driving her to prom in my old Mustang (okay, technically it was Greyson’s, but I borrowed it), rescuing her after she got a flat in Missoula, setting her up on a date with one of my teammates, and getting sprayed by a skunk while trying to rescue her cat (which wasn’t even hers, just a random stray).

Ruby was very much another little sister to me, and she knew it. Between her, Juliet, and Khia, I was a total sap.

And while we never discussed it, there was an unspoken understanding that I looked out for her because I still missed her oldest sister, Noelle. The girl who got away. The girl who still held my heart, even after she stomped on it and left me to pick up the pieces a month before our wedding that never happened. The girl I couldn’t forget, no matter how hard I tried.

And, boy, had I tried.

Now was not the time to dwell on the past. I had a job to do, a team depending on me, and a daughter to raise. Love wasn’t in the cards right now. Maybe once Khia was an actual teenager. I shuddered at the thought of my little girl growing up.

Growing up meant makeup, boyfriends, and graduating. I wasn’t ready for that. Let me keep the unicorn onesies, tea parties, and butterfly hair clips a little longer.

“I’ll start the pancakes. You go pick your clothes before she comes, okay?” I instructed, hitting the grind button on the espresso maker. “Dress warm. Miss Ruby’s taking you to the park.”

Khia giggled and scampered back upstairs. “You worry, Daddy.”