Page 24 of Giddy Up, Daddy

Her head dropped, and her shoulders started shaking.

Shit.

She was crying.

What should he do?

Hug her, you idiot.

Right. That’s what hewantedto do. But it would be inappropriate. Wouldn’t it?

He stepped toward her. “Blakely, I’m so sorry about Grandpa Jack. You know he doesn’t really mean it.”

To his shock, she stared up at him and started giggling.

Giggling?

She wasn’t upset?

“Yes, he did. He totally meant it. Because it really was crap.” Another giggle, but this one didn’t sound so happy. “Totally, utterly crap. What am I doing wrong?”

And just like that, her giggles turned to despair.

“Oh, baby,” he murmured as tears dripped down her face.

“I’m a crap magician! I’ll never get accepted to magic school. I can’t even work this wand.”

Probably not the time to point out that a wand couldn’t really be magic.

Nope. Likely not.

He moved closer to her. To his shock, she suddenly flung herself into his arms so he had no choice but to hug her.

Right.

Like that’s not what you wanted all along.

He cuddled her against him. “I didn’t realize you wanted to get into magic school.”

Was there such a thing as magic school?

“Well, of course I do. What would any great magician want but to go to magic school? The only problem is I’m not a great magician!” she wailed.

“Oh, darlin’.” He rocked her back and forth. “If that’s what you really want, we’ll find a way to make it happen.”

Even if the last thing he wanted was for her to leave him . . . ah, he meant for her to leave Grandpa Jack. Because hisgrandfather had grown fond of Blakely and it would be a pain in the ass to replace her.

Yeah. That’s it.

You tell yourself that.

She drew back and wiped her cheeks with her fingers. He let her go so he could walk over and grab a tissue. Turning, he found her right behind him. The urge to hug her again was so strong that he thrust the tissue into her face without a word.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, cleaning herself up. “You know there’s not really a magic school, right? Just like everything else good in my life, it’s simply a silly dream. Something that kept me going when things were . . . tough.”

“Have things always been tough, darlin’?”

Please say no.

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