Page 79 of Daddy's Wild Girl

“Yes, Bebe. Try to stay with me here, sweetheart. Did you hurt yourself?”

“When?” she asked, looking bewildered.

“When you tripped just now.”

“Oh. Ohhh. No, that was just me being clumsy. And maybe the jellybean sparkle went to my head.” She gave him a small smile that did little to convince him she was all right.

“All right. Just be careful, I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

“Um. Yeah. Sure. Come. Come see the wishing tree.”

To his shock, she grabbed hold of his hand and led him over to the tree on the other side of the room. It really was fake, of course. But it looked amazing lifelike. People were crowded around it and there was an opening in the bark.

“Has anyone ever tried to climb into it?” he asked as they pressed close and he took in the size of the hole.

“Um, I’ve thought about it. But I don’t want the Duke to take my membership, so I decided it probably wasn’t a smart idea.”

Right.

That was the best reason she had for not climbing down a narrow, fake tree.

This is why she needed him. To keep her safe. Not just from outside dangers but from herself.

“This is what you do. You grab a piece of paper.” She picked up a piece of yellow paper and a pen that were on the table next to the tree. “Then you write down your name and your address and your wish.”

“You have to put your name and address?” he asked. “What? The tree doesn’t just magically know those things?”

“No, silly, it doesn’t. What would you wish for?” she asked, staring up at him.

You.

But that wasn’t something he could say. Not without scaring her. So he cleared his throat.

“I don’t know. Maybe . . . maybe one more day with my dad.” It was odd. Most of the time, he thought he was good. That he had gotten past the raw pain of his father’s death. But then, something happened to bring the past back. Something would remind him of his dad and he would feel the pain flood him again.

Suddenly, he found himself with a bundle of Bebe in his arms, holding onto him tight with her face pressed against his chest.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, squeezing him tighter.

“Hey, what’s this?” he murmured. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m so sorry that your dad died. He was a wonderful dad to you and he’s gone too early . . . it’s just not right, and I wish there was something I could do to get him back for you.”

Oh.

Ohh. That was really very sweet. He tightened his hold on her, spotting Hayes across the room. The other man pointed up. Was he going upstairs to look around? How would he get up there?

Actually, it didn’t matter.

He was grateful that Hayes was giving them time alone.

Drawing her back, he placed a finger under her chin. “Thank you for that, baby. My dad dying was a horribly painful thing to go through for my whole family. But I was lucky to have him and I didn’t say that to make you sad.”

“It’s just . . . the wishing tree can’t bring people back from the dead.”

She said it so earnestly. As though she thought it could really do other things . . . like grant actual wishes.

“It’s all right, Bebe. I know it can’t. When I said that about my father . . . well, I wasn’t really thinking. It just came out. I know that nothing can bring him back. Not even a magic wishing tree.”

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