Page 54 of Protecting Little Phoebe

“Or we could go on a road trip, I guess,” he said.

“Road trip!” she cried, pumping her fists into the air.

CHAPTER 14

“Sweetheart, we need to get going,” Barren told her as she gave Erika another hug.

“Sorry, Daddy! I’m just going to miss everyone here so much. They all have such kind auras.”

“We’ll miss you too!” said Sadie. She was standing with Master Derek and had a sad smile on her face. “Come back anytime!”

“I’m sure we’ll be back,” Barren told her as Phoebe turned and launched herself at him. He braced himself, catching her against him and holding her tight.

“Bye!” she said, waving as he led her outside.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?” he asked her as he opened the passenger door before helping her in.

“I will be,” she sniffled. “I just h-hate goodbyes!”

“But it’s not goodbye forever,” he told her. “I’ll bring you back. I promise.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

He did up her seatbelt, then handed her Snickerdoodle, who had been waiting for her.

She grabbed her necklace, pulling the teal part into her mouth to chew on it.

“Good girl. I’ve put a bottle of water in the cup holder for you. I expect it to be all gone before our first stop or else Daddy will have to take you into the backseat and give you a baby bottle, okay?”

Barren loved the way she blushed at those words, while squirming in happiness. He’d actually bought her a baby bottle at the store and had been using it more regularly. He found giving her a bottle of warm milk at night really did help relax her and get her off to sleep.

He’d also discovered that if he didn’t watch her water intake that she’d go hours without drinking.

“I’ll try, Daddy.”

After shutting the door, he headed around the truck, climbed into the driver’s seat, buckled himself in, and started Cherry.

Damn, her engine really did purr. She was a gorgeous truck.

“You said your dad bought you this pickup?” he asked her as he drove down the driveway, passing the security guard at the gates.

“Uh-huh. When I saw her, I fell in love with her. Red and white are obviously my favorite colors. The white leather seats and the red exterior just seemed perfect. My dad bought all of my brothers a car when they turned twenty-one, so he bought me Cherry. Of course, my brothers didn’t think I could handle her.” She patted the dashboard. “They were wrong. Dad was the one who taught me to drive so he had confidence in me.” She was silent for a long moment.

He'd noticed that she would often do that. Just pause and stare off into the distance. He let her have those moments, knowing that she was still grieving.

“I still miss him so much,” she said.

“Of course you do. You’ll always miss him, sweetheart. Because he was a good man and a great father. What’s important is that he loved you and he’d want you to be happy.”

“I know he would. He’d like you.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Even though I’m so much older than you are?”

“Hmm, yeah, he might not have liked that. He’d probably have given you one of his Dad-looks, told you that if you hurt his princess that he’d rip your intestines out and strangle you with them. Things like that.”

“As he should. He had a precious girl to protect. I’d do the same if I had a daughter.”

“Did you ever want kids?”

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