Page 21 of August 20

The excitement in her voice made the risk of bringing them to the beach worth it.

Though the first person Skye turned to was her aunt, Maverick was there to witness the moment. He’d done that for his kid, and it made any risk of leaving the house worth it.

"You'll remember this day for the rest of your life, honey," whispered Brooke. "That's the Pacific Ocean."

Maverick's throat spasmed, and he couldn't take his gaze off the mirror. He wanted to tell them both that he was here. He was the one who brought Skye to the water. That someday, she'd remember him being the one who took her to the beach for the first time, but he couldn't speak now if he wanted to.

He shut off the engine. The truck Havlin Motorcycle Club owned was parked a hundred yards down the shoreline. To his other side, a rock cropping made it impossible for anyone to walk up on them from that direction.

The MC had made the beach safe. Jagger had gone beyond what was needed to protect him. He’d given him time with his daughter outside the house.

"Slow down." Brooke grabbed Skye's arm before she could open the door. "You can't run into the water."

"She can go," he said.

Brooke glared at him. "She’s too young."

Skye had loved water when she was a baby. He'd often let her splash around in the tub when she was cutting her teeth. The activity relaxed her and soothed the discomfort.

He got out and opened Skye's door. Holding out his hand, he led his daughter to the ocean without waiting for Brooke.

He never looked behind him to see if she followed. Nor was he worried about her running off. She’d proven that she would never leave Skye alone in his company.

At the water's edge, he bent down and took off Skye's shoes and socks, marveling at how big her feet had grown. He found his hands shaking. Taking her shoes and socks in one hand, he grabbed her hand again and walked her into the water, where the tide brought the water up and over her toes.

She squealed. "It's cold."

His heart pounded in his chest. He could barely hear her over the roar of the ocean, but her smile took his inner pain away.

He needed no words.

All he needed was to watch his daughter enjoy the day.

He looked behind him, wanting to share Skye's happiness with Brooke. Instead, his gaze collided with a beam of hatred directed at him.

Brooke stood twenty feet away on the shoreline, her arms crossed and hugging her middle. It was evident to him that she couldn't share in the day with him because she believed he was responsible for killing her sister.

Chapter Eleven

Skye held a sparkler in each hand and twirled in a circle. Brooke sat on the front step, watching Skye enjoy the fireworks Maverick had pulled out of his duffle bag after returning to the house.

While he went away for a couple of hours that afternoon, a man named Cord stayed inside the house and made sure they couldn't escape.

She hated that, little by little, she'd gotten to know four Havlin Motorcycle Club members because they babysat her and Skye when Maverick had to go somewhere.

Not that she knew anything about them beyond their names. They were all polite to Skye and went out of their way to ignore her.

Maverick lit another sparkler and supplied Skye as the one she held went out. With her chin propped on her hand, Brooke could find nothing wrong with Maverick, outside of him holding them both hostage at the house.

He rarely talked. She suspected something was wrong that kept him from communicating with her and Skye. He tended to clear his throat after speaking, and the lines at the corner of his eyes deepened as if it physically hurt him to open his mouth.

He seemed to get his point across with fragmented sentences and lots of gestures.

She wondered if he'd always had that infliction or if it was damage from the fire that killed her sister. From what she understood, Skye's father was in the house at the time and the only one who survived besides Skye.

From what she'd heard during the formal change in custody at the courthouse, Skye's father had gone directly to the hospital and then to a jail cell, where he was sentenced to prison.

The police had called her because Skye, thankfully, was found on the sidewalk and not inside when the explosion happened. Thank goodness, her grandma's name was associated with Janelle at the police department. When they came looking for her grandma, they discovered her—a blood relative.

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