The Firefighter Daddy

by Margaret Daley

  “We’ll figure something out. The next meeting is this Tuesday.”

  “What’s it for?”

  “It’s for the day camp at our church. It gives needy children in the area who can’t afford the cost a chance to go. The fund-raiser kicks off the camp, which the kids can attend for June and July. Money is tight. For many working parents it’s a lifesaver.” Her mother headed for her room. “Will you order the pizza, please? I need to get off my feet.”

  Sarah watched her leave, not surprised her mother was on a committee planning for a fund-raiser for children. Sarah was an only child, not because her mother hadn’t wanted more children, but because she couldn’t have them. She knew the kind of longing her mom felt because she did, too. She loved children and would love to be a mother.

  * * *

  Running fifteen minutes late for his second meeting with the Single Dads’ Club, jokingly referred to by some of the men as the Lone Wolves, Liam had to stop at a restaurant to purchase shredded barbecued beef on the way to Colt’s ranch. They had stayed longer at Sarah’s than he’d realized. There had been no time to cook. He remembered one of the firefighters at his station, Brandon Moore, had requested his homemade macaroni and cheese after Liam had served it for lunch last week. He’d intended to do that.

  “We’re late,” Madison said from the backseat. “I hate to be late.”

  “So do I. See, we have that in common.” Using the rearview mirror, he glanced at her and, as usual, she gave him a frown.

  He sighed and kept his attention focused on the road leading out of Buffalo. When he’d first come to take care of them, Madison wouldn’t even talk to him. At least now she did, although sometimes he wished she didn’t, especially when she would point out that he wasn’t her dad. He’d tried not to let those words hurt him, but they did.

  “I like to be on time, too,” Katie said right behind him.

  “We have that in common, then.” In the mirror he smiled at the six-year-old, who was missing one of her front teeth.

  Why couldn’t Madison be more like Katie? Earlier, when she hadn’t wanted to give Gabe back to Sarah, had been one of the first times she had been difficult. The sisters argued all the time, but Katie hadn’t argued with him. In fact, when he’d arrived to be their guardian, she’d latched onto him and had hardly left his side for the first month.

  The main gate to the Remington Ranch came into view. Another car disappeared through it. Good, he wasn’t the only one running late. As he turned into the ranch, a truck drove up behind him.

  “It looks like others are late, too.” He followed the Jeep in front of him, the road winding in an S with tall pecan trees on each side lining their path.

  As they emerged from the green canopy, a large white house appeared, a veranda running the length of the front.

  Madison whistled. “This is a big house.”

  “We’re having a picnic out back, and then the kids can ride horses.”

  The sounds of cheers and claps filled the car.

  “I guess you all want to ride?”

  “Yes,” they both said together.

  Liam parked next to a white SUV and grabbed the food.

  The girls hopped out before he had a chance to open his door and raced toward a group of kids. The last time they’d discovered several friends from school, so he’d hardly seen them the whole evening.

  At a slower pace, he walked toward the food table.

  Brandon came up behind him. “Macaroni and cheese?”

  Liam set his dish with the others. “Nope. Didn’t have time. The owner of the dog we found the other day showed up for him.”

  “How did the girls take it?”

  “Considering they thought the Lab would be theirs forever, not bad. But I have a feeling they’ll be bugging me every day about getting a new dog.”

  Brandon clapped him on the back. “Welcome to the club. My oldest son has had a string of pets over the years. If I let him, he’d open a zoo at our house.”

  Liam scanned the kids for Brandon’s eleven-year-old son. “Where is Seth?”

  He waved toward the rancher surrounded by six of the children. “He’s bugging Colt to let the kids ride before dinner. I see your nieces found their friends.”

  Madison and Katie were in the middle of a group of girls. Colt’s nine-year-old daughter stood next to Madison. The girl with Down syndrome grinned and nodded.

  Colt stuck two fingers into his mouth and whistled. The loud sound caught everyone’s attention. “I told the kids we’ll eat right now, so the ones who want to ride can afterward.” When a few children ran toward the food table, he added, “Let’s say grace first.” The three boys halted and bowed their heads as Colt blessed the dinner, ending with, “Give us the knowledge to do what is right, Lord. Amen.”

  When Colt finished the prayer, all the children hurried for the food, juggling for their places in line behind the fathers of the younger ones who went first to fix plates for their toddlers.

  Fifteen minutes later the kids sat at a long table, the older ones a buddy for the young children. The dads settled in lawn chairs, close enough to make sure everything went all right while far enough away to talk freely about any problems they needed help with. Liam was between Colt and Brandon.

  “Who wants the floor first?” Colt, the founder of the Single Dads’ Club, asked the group. When no one said anything for a long minute, he smiled. “I’m not afraid to get this started. I freely admit I don’t have all the answers, but I hope between us—” his gaze skimmed the faces of all eleven men present “—we can figure out what to do. Beth came home the other day crying. There was a birthday party last weekend, and everyone in her class was invited but her. It’s hard seeing your little girl’s heart broken.”

  “Confront the parents of the kid with the birthday,” a man across from Colt said.

  “No, you shouldn’t do that. Have Beth ignore the child,” another suggested.

  For the next ten minutes different options were voiced. Liam listened to the men talk over a wide range of solutions, some he would never have thought of. “What did you do, Colt?”

  “I held her then tried to take her mind off the birthday party. I’m not sure that worked. But y’all have given me something to think about. Anyone else have something they want to discuss?”

  At the first meeting Brandon had told Liam about Colt’s wife walking out on their marriage not a year after Beth was born. She couldn’t handle their daughter having special needs. She’d disappeared with their son.

  Liam was at least thankful he hadn’t had children when his wife divorced him, but then, that was the reason why she ended their marriage. The last he’d heard, she was married and had a baby on the way. That was what she’d always wanted, but it hurt knowing he hadn’t been enough for her.

  “I feel out of my depth with two girls.” Liam finally said what he’d been feeling for the past six months. “They’re different from boys. Do you find that a problem for you?”

  Michael Taylor, a dad with two boys and one girl, chuckled. “Like day and night. What’s going on at your house?”

  “They insist on keeping their hair long. But you should see me trying to get it untangled in the morning before school. I suggested cutting it, but you would have thought the world was coming to an end. They were tardy for school that day.”

  “Do you have a detangle brush?” Nathan asked.

  “I guess not. I don’t know what that is. Where do you get it?”

  “In the hair product section of the supermart. It was a lifesaver for me. Another dad with two daughters told me about it.”

  More problems and solutions were tossed back and forth until the children stood around looking at them because they couldn’t go to the barn without their dads.

  Colt rose. “I guess that’s all
for tonight. Feel free to call any one of us for help.”

  Suggestions for different situations filled Liam’s mind. The first time he’d attended a meeting, he’d left numb with so much discussed and debated. This time hope bloomed inside him as though he might have a chance to make them into a real family.

  All he needed was time and patience.

  * * *

  At noon on Saturday, Liam stuck the chicken casserole in the oven at the station house, set the timer for forty-five minutes and then refilled his cup with freshly brewed coffee. He headed for the patio behind the building to sit and enjoy his drink after a hectic morning.

  When he’d returned from that multiple car wreck on the highway, he’d immediately started lunch while some of the guys had finished up cleaning the equipment and trucks. He’d become the cook on his shift after the others realized he knew how to prepare not just an edible meal but a delicious one, too.

  Two other firefighters were outside on the patio. Brandon was stretched out in a lounge chair, catching some sun, while Lieutenant Richie Dickerson worked a crossword puzzle at the picnic table. He looked up as the door closing disrupted the quiet.

  Liam took a seat across from Richie. “After we eat, I’ll need to go to the store to stock up for next week. Earlier you said something about coming along, too.”

  The lieutenant put his pen on top of the New York Times’s puzzle. “Yep. I’ve gotta pick up some other items for the station.”

  “Are there any other errands to run?”

  “Nope. That should be it today except for our refresher course in CPR at three. Of course, this schedule could be a moot point if an emergency comes up.”

  For the past two days both Madison and Katie had been moping around the house. Nothing Liam suggested for them to do was met with an enthusiastic response ever since Gabe’s owner had retrieved him. And yet with him gone for twenty-four hours at a time, he was concerned about getting a pet for them.

  “I do have a job for you. The captain suggested you could help Brandon with the fund-raiser for the kids’ summer camp. Every year we’re one of the sponsors of the event, and we send two firefighters to be on the committee overseeing it.”

  Liam glanced at his friend, probably pretending to be asleep. “When are the meetings?” he asked, hating to have to ask Aunt Betty to babysit any more than she already did.

  “That’s the great part about it. It’s during the weekday at lunch. If it’s a day you’re working here, you’ll go as part of our community outreach.”

  “What if we are called out?”

  “Usually, I can spare one, possibly both of you, depending on the emergency. On your days off, I still need you to attend the meeting. You’ll get together once a week in April and May. The fund-raiser is scheduled for Saturday June 4.”

  “That’s fine, since the girls will be in school. I think it’ll be fun.” Liam started to say more, when his cell phone rang. Hmm... Aunt Betty calling. Not good. She only called him at work when something was wrong. “Liam here.” He steeled himself for what his nieces had done this time.

  “I went out into the backyard to get the girls for lunch. They were playing in a fort they built out of blankets. But they’re gone.”

  “You know how they love to play hide-and-seek.”

  “Liam, I promise I looked everywhere before calling you. They aren’t at my house, and I even went over to yours, but they aren’t playing in the yard there, either.”

  His brother had installed a gate between the two properties when, at three years old, Madison had tried to climb the fence to see Aunt Betty on her patio. “I’ll be right there. You might talk to your neighbors and ask if they saw anything.”

  “I just went inside to make lunch. I brought it out to have a picnic. I knew something was wrong when it got so quiet.”

  With his nieces, that was usually an indication they were up to something. When he hung up, he turned to the lieutenant. “Madison and Katie aren’t where they’re supposed to be.”

  “You go. I’ll follow with a couple of the men.” Richie strode toward the bay area of the station while Liam made his way to the parking spaces at the side and jumped into his red car, his heart racing.

  What if someone had kidnapped them?

  Eight minutes later he arrived at his house and noticed the girls’ pink and purple bicycles weren’t leaning against the back of the fence where they’d put them last night. The sight of them gone calmed him a little as he loped toward his aunt’s yard. If someone had taken them, their bicycles wouldn’t be missing.

  At least he prayed that was true. He wanted the Lord to show him where they were, but he doubted he would hear from Him. He couldn’t blame God. Liam hadn’t had the strongest faith, and when his wife had walked out on his marriage, his life had fallen apart. Since coming to Buffalo, he was trying to change that because of his nieces.

  Aunt Betty rushed out the back door. “A fire truck pulled up out front.”

  “A few of the guys are going to help us look for the girls.”

  “Should I call the police?”

  “I don’t think anyone took them. I think they went riding on their own.” Liam rounded the side of his aunt’s house toward the front with her following. He spotted his lieutenant and waved. “I’m going to drive my car around the area. The girls’ pink and purple bikes are missing. They love the park two blocks away. Can you and the guys search there while I go up and down the streets?”

  “Sure. If we find them, I’ll call you on your cell phone.” Richie turned to leave.

  As the company of firefighters climbed back onto the engine truck, Liam headed toward his car.

  Aunt Betty hurried after him. “I’m coming with you.”

  “No. Stay here in case they come back. You have my cell number. Call me. If I find them, I’ll let you know.”

  “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. I’m so sorry. I should have made them come in when I did, but they were having so much fun with the fort.”

  The sorrow in his aunt’s voice halted his steps. He hurried back to her at the gate between their yards. Tears filled her eyes. Her short graying hair wasn’t its usual neat style but looked as though she’d run her fingers through it repeatedly. “This wasn’t your fault. I suspect the girls wanted to go riding and left without asking you because you would have said no.”

  “Of course. They’re too young to go by themselves, and I could never keep up with them while walking.”

  “I’m going to make sure they understand that when I find them.” How, he wasn’t sure. It was possible they rode to the park to play on the swings as they had yesterday evening with him. If so, Richie and the others would find them.

  Driving about ten or fifteen miles per hour, he started down his street, going all the way to the dead end. He got out of his car and yelled their names into the wooded area near the creek. That was another place they loved to play, but there was no sign of them.

  He started back the other way, inspecting every place he could. An invisible band around his chest tightened, threatening his breathing. When he reached the block Sarah lived on, he thought he spied the back end of a pink bike in her yard. He increased his speed, afraid to be optimistic. But as he neared, he saw the pink bike and then Katie’s purple one.

  He exited his car, praying they were at Sarah’s. He rang the doorbell. No one answered. Stepping to the large picture window in her living room, he pressed his face close. Empty. He shouldn’t be surprised. Most likely Saturday was one of her busiest days at the salon.

  But if the girls are here, then where are they?

  He reached for his cell to call Sarah at work. A deep bark echoed through the noonday air, and he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He rushed around the side of the house and went into the backyard through the gate in the wooden fence. Giggles echoed
in the quiet and spurred his pace. When he rounded the house by the kitchen, he found his two nieces lying on the grass, playing with Gabe.

  Finally he allowed relief to loosen the tight hold tension had on him. He sank against the side of the house, watching his nieces so enthralled with Gabe they didn’t even know he was there. He understood their attachment, but he couldn’t let them think they could leave the house without a word to anyone. What should he do?

  He took a step toward Madison and Katie, their laughter filling the air and wrapping around him. He hated to see it come to an end, but he had no choice if he was going to do his job as their guardian.

  At the sound of the back door opening, Madison looked toward the deck and smiled. “Hi, Sarah. You said we could visit, and we figured Gabe was lonely while you’re working.”

  Liam focused his attention toward the young woman, who had occupied his thoughts more than he wished these past few days since he’d met her. She glanced at him, puzzlement in her dark brown eyes.

  He fortified himself with a deep breath. “Girls, you need to get your bikes. We’re going home. Now.” Amazingly he said it in a calm voice, but he’d learned in stressful situations that shouting didn’t do any good.

  Madison stared at him for a few seconds then whispered something into Katie’s ear. Immediately both girls shot to their feet. Madison started for the gate at the side of the house while Katie bent and hugged Gabe before quickly catching up with her big sister.

  When his nieces passed him, he said, “Wait by the car. I need to let Sarah know what happened.”

  “Uncle Liam, we didn’t—”

  “Madison, we’ll talk when we get back to Aunt Betty’s house.”

  Both girls slumped their shoulders and hung their heads as they trudged the rest of the way to the gate.

  As Sarah descended the stairs to the deck, commanding Gabe to stay, Liam called Richie and his aunt to let them know he’d found his nieces and would be back shortly. Sarah caught up with Liam as he exited the backyard to keep an eye on his nieces.

  She looked him up and down in his firefighter uniform. “It’s obvious you didn’t bring them over here.”