Page 71 of The Biker Needs A Nanny

There’s no way I’m heading home until I know he’s not following us. So, I drive in circles, up one street and down another, until I’m sure.

I don’t let my guard down. “Girls?”

“Yes, Grace?” Ella replies.

“I need you to listen to me. When we get on our block, I want you to undo your buckles and be ready to jump out of the truck the minute I pull in the drive and park. Okay?”

“But that’s not safe.”

“I know, sweetie, but we need to get in the house and lock the doors as soon as possible, okay? I wouldn’t normally do this, but it’s an emergency.”

“You should call Daddy,” Ella says.

“I don’t need to call your daddy, Ella. I just need us to get in the house.”

Five minutes later, I’m slamming the front door shut and locking it, then resetting the alarm.

I watch out the front window for a good twenty minutes, but I never see a green truck or any other vehicle.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Lucky—

It’s the girls’ bedtime when I roll in. I’m exhausted, but I try to never miss story time. When I have a bad day, it always grounds me and washes all the bad away. Snuggling with them while they sit in rapt attention to some fairytale is precious to me.

Shrugging out of my cut, I hang it on a hook in the entryway, then take in the candle on the small table. There’s a ceramic Santa sitting next to it. I recognize it from when Ella was born. I think my mother gave it to us. It’s been buried in a box all this time. I suppose Grace found it when she decorated the tree with the girls.

I gaze around my house. It’s become a home again, and that’s all thanks to her. So much has changed. When she first arrived, I couldn’t stand anything she tried to change. Now, I can’t imagine going back to the way things were before she came to us. I’m no longer just counting down the days until my aunt can come and replace her. I don’t want anyone to replace Grace.

I go up the stairs and hear happy chatter coming from my daughters’ room. Walking in, I find Grace again braiding Poppy’s hair. She wraps the end in a hair tie and stands.

“Daddy’s home, girls.”

I hug them both when they run to me. “What story should we read tonight?”

“This one,” Poppy says, climbing up on Ella’s bed withRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeertucked under her arm.

Grace smiles, then exits, quietly closing the door.

“This was one of my favorites when I was your age,” I say.

“It was?” Poppy asks, wide-eyed.

“Yep. Now snuggle close and let’s start.”

I’ve got Ella cuddled on one side, and Poppy on the other. Heaven couldn’t be any better than this.

When I finish the story, Ella looks at me.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, baby girl?”

“Something scared Grace today.”

“What do you mean?” She instantly has my full attention.

“In town. She made us run to the truck and leave.”

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