Page 179 of Beat of Love
Before anyone could react, Rafferty surged from the pool, reaching the shocked child a mere beat later. He crouched before her and rubbed his hands over her arms, quietly speaking to her. Closest to them, Brandy shot to her feet and rushed over, snagging towels from the nearby pile on the way. She handed one to Raff. He gave her a tight smile and draped the soft cotton around the little one. Scooping her into his arms, he sat on one of the loungers and cuddled her close. Her cries subsided as he continued to hold her, soothing a hand over her back.
Brandy’s heart just melted at the sight of the rough-edged man holding the small child so tenderly.
To think he was worried about not being a good father.
Connor and his friend slunk over, stopping a few paces away. “Sorry, Dad,” the boy mumbled, looking down, shuffling his feet while Jack kept darting a nervous look at his mom
“It’s okay, Connor,” Rafferty said gently. “It was an accident.”
“But I made Nadie cry,” Connor whispered, his lower lip trembling.
Before Raff could answer, Nadie wriggled out of his arms and hopped to the ground. She tossed the towel aside and wrappedher small arms around her brother. “It ’kay, Onna,” she chirped. “Don’t cwy.”
Connor sniffled and hugged her back, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Sorry, Nadie.”
She wriggled loose and turned to Rafferty. “Go swim wif me?”
“You wanna go swim now?”
“Uh huh. Daddy hold me tight?”
“Yeah,” Raff said gruffly. “Daddy will hold you tight.”
He scooped the precious little one up and walked to the pool.
Brandy swiped her fingers beneath her eyes, not noticing the boy until he was in front of her.
Solemn brown eyes studied her. “Who are you?”
“Hello, Connor. My name is Brandy, and I’m your dad’s friend.”
He tilted his head. “Are you Dad’sgirlfriend?”
Girlfriend?
What was she? Hisfiancée? No.
Rafferty hadn’taskedher to marry him.
Not really. That fake thing didn’t count.
Before she could find the words, Connor asked, “Why are you crying?”
That, at least, was easy. “Because I’m very happy for your dad.”
“Why?”
His small body gave a shiver, and she quickly flipped open a towel, draping it over his thin shoulders and pulling it snug around him. She sat on the lounger Rafferty had vacated and met the boy’s earnest gaze. “Because your dad’s been sad for a very long time,” she said softly. “But now he’s found you and Nadie, and he’s not sad anymore.”
As if to prove her words, high-pitched laughter from the little girl drifted in, mingling with Rafferty’s deeper rumble. The sound filled the solarium, warm and bright.
“I’m glad Dad found us, too,” Connor said simply.
*
“Want Flopsy,” Nadie said, and Rafferty handed over the floppy-eared bunny, still a bit dazed. A year ago, he’d been rotting in a shack deep in the unforgiving Amazon jungle, drifting between a drug-induced haze and a spiral of bitter self-loathing and blame. Yet here he was, tucking in a little girl who called himDaddyfor her late-morning nap.
And in the room next door, Brandy-Lyn read to Connor fromCharlotte’s Web. Her voice filtered through the open doorway, “You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.”
