Page 44 of The Single Dad Project

She ended the call, tucking the cell back into her pocket with shaky fingers, her mind whirling with the cryptic conversation.

“Is everything okay?” Adam asked, his chest still pressed against the back of her shoulder and his big body still bracing her.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

Because she had to—because she needed to—she stepped away from him, turned and headed toward the door. The urgency in Cole’s voice had taken up root inside her, propelling her forward even though she didn’t understand the why or what. But if he needed her, she had to get to the inn.

“Flo, wait.” A hand grasped her wrist, and she halted, but impatience hummed through her. Adam moved in front of her. “Take a beat, please, and tell me what’s going on. Is everything okay? Areyouokay?”

She shook her head, tugging lightly against his hold, and he released her, though he didn’t shift out of her way.

“I don’t know anything yet. Cole asked me to come home, and he wouldn’t do that while I was working unless it was important. I’m sorry to leave, and it might be unprofessional, but I have to go.”

“Forget about all that.” He sliced a hand between them as if cutting off her explanation. “It’s not unprofessional. You need time for a family emergency, and family always comes first. Besides, technically, you work for Cole and the town council, not me orVintage Renovation. But I will let anyone know just in case they ask.” He shifted backward out of her space, and an irrational part of her wanted to grab him back to her. Because of that need, she, too, shifted away a step, inserting more space between them. “Go ahead,” he continued. “And be careful driving.”

She nodded then continued down the hall and stairs. People from the crew called out to her, and she waved but didn’t stop to talk, hurrying out of the house and across the lawn to her car. Now that her primary fear had been allayed, a myriad of other possibilities crowded into her head.

Cole’s solemn tone crossed out the possibility of the news being positive or happy. So what could it be? Something with the twins at school? Did something happen with Sinead in Boston? Flo had talked to her sister a couple of days earlier, and she hadn’t mentioned anything out of the ordinary. And Flo couldn’t imagine one of her siblings’ marriages being in trouble...

Stop.Just stop it.

She could teach a master class in borrowing trouble. But once it turned on, she couldn’t twist it off. And the barrage of thoughts blitzed her until she was on the road leading to Kinsale Inn. As soon as her family’s business and her childhood home came into view, she exhaled a heavy breath that sounded more like a low groan in the confines of the car.

The white bed-and-breakfast had a wide porch encircling the whole building. A short set of stairs led up to the red boards of a front door with pretty glass panes along the top. The two lower levels boasted banks of glistening green shuttered windows, and the third, smaller story, a quaint dormer window. A slanted red roof capped it all. It’d been a lovely place to grow up, and though she spent most of her time at her apartment over the photography studio in town, Flo loved coming home. It was her safe haven.

Even with her belly churning and nerves jangling like a live wire.

Pulling her car to a stop in the circular driveway, she swallowed to moisten her abruptly dry mouth as Cole and Wolf rose from leaning on the porch railings and descended the front steps. They waited, and though they didn’t resemble each other in appearance, their tall, wide builds and identical serious expression denoted them as brothers.

Her pulse clanged in her ears as she pushed her driver’s door open and climbed out of the vehicle.

“It takes both of you to meet me,” she said, arching her eyebrow. “You’re not doing much for my anxiety.”

“Flo.” Wolf tugged her into a hug, squeezing her. His scent of cedar reminded her of the wood he worked with as a carpenter. It enveloped her, and she breathed him in, taking comfort in the familiarity of her big brother. He pulled back, his hands cupping her shoulders, and his green eyes swept over her. “You good?”

“No.” She loosed a nervous chuckle. “Didn’t you just hear what I said? What’s going on, Wolf?” Glancing at Cole, she said, “I’ve made up every scenario in my head. Put me out of my misery.”

“Jesus,” Wolf muttered, thrusting a hand through his long dark brown hair. “I hate this.”

Cole stroked a hand down her back, his gaze sympathetic.

“Flo, we wanted to get to you first. Try to make this a little easier—”

“Deandrea?”

Ice slicked through her as she heard her birth name called in a deep, familiar voice. She stared into Wolf’s green gaze and Cole’s amber one, unable to move. Her chest barely rose and fell on her shallow breaths, but in her head, it sounded like a wind tunnel. Cold sweat dripped down her spine.

“Deandrea?” he repeated.

“Flo?”

She closed her eyes, squeezed them shut.

Wolf cupped the back of her neck and Cole slid his arm around her shoulders. And only with the strength of her brothers to lean on did she finally turn around.

Turn around and face Noah Dennison.

Her father.

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