Julie parked her car near the garage late Saturday morning. Nancy had called a meeting first thing today to discuss the new location for the dinner. Being new in town, Julie had few suggestions to offer for alternate venues. She had several online students’ papers to go over this afternoon, but first she wanted to check in with Gil and Abby.
Gil had promised they would paint Abby’s room purple today, and she had talked of nothing else all week. Julie stepped into the kitchen and set her purse on the counter.
“No!”
Gil. Julie hurried toward the stairs. Had he fallen? Was he hurt? Before she could take the first step, Ruffles shot past her into the kitchen. A very purple Ruffles. Julie darted after her, scooping her up before she could drip paint on the family room carpet. Holding the animal at arm’s length, she carried her to the laundry room and set her in the sink. “What have you done?”
The pup yelped, her dark eyes oozing guilt. Julie turned on the water and washed as much of the “Perfectly Perfect Purple” paint from the dog’s fur as she could, dried her and secured her in the crate before grabbing up a roll of paper towels and heading back upstairs. She hated to think what Abby’s room looked like. Or what the future might hold for one fuzzy little dog.
Julie wiped up as much of the paint puddles from the floor as she could as she went along, but the mess was bigger than paper towels could handle. Cautiously she peeked into Abby’s room. Gil was sopping up spilled paint with a towel, and Abby was seated cross-legged on the bed, pouting. She had paint splatters on her face.
Gil glanced up, then sat back on his heels. “We had a little setback. Someone forgot to put Ruffles in her cage before we started.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
He dragged the back of his hand over his forehead, leaving a fresh streak of paint. Julie stifled a giggle.
“It’s okay. But I hope you see now why you can’t let a puppy run around when we’re trying to paint.”
“I know.”
Gil shrugged his shoulders. “It’s only paint. I was planning on pulling out the carpet anyway. This will just hurry things along.”
“I cleaned up Ruffles and put her in the crate. There’s a trail of purple puppy paw prints down the hall and on the stairs.”
He stood and picked up the paint tray, now piled with soaking purple towels. “I’m going to change clothes and get the shop vac out. Abby, you go downstairs with Julie and see if you can help her clean up some of this mess.”
She nodded and scooted off the bed, glancing over her shoulder at the two freshly painted walls. “Thank you for my purple walls. I love them.”
“You’re welcome. We’ll finish the other walls later.”
Two hours later, Julie pulled up a chair at the table and studied Gil and his daughter. Gil looked exhausted after working to clean up all the paint. The floors were mainly tile and hardwood downstairs, but the upper hall and stairs were carpeted like Abby’s room. Even the powerful shop vacuum couldn’t remove all the paint. Abby kept glancing at her dad as if trying to judge how upset he was. Ruffles lay at her side, none the worse for wear, but looking guilty as anything. “I hadn’t expected such excitement this morning. I can’t wait to tell my friend DiDi about this.”
Gil scowled, until he realized she was teasing. He smiled, flashing a row of white teeth and putting a twinkle in his deep blue eyes. Her breath lodged in her throat, and her insides melted into a soggy puddle. The man’s smile should come with a warning label. Overexposure could be harmful to one’s heart.
“Well, at least we got the color right.”
Abby giggled and nodded. “It’s beautiful.”
He hugged her to his side. “Good. That’s all that matters. My brother and I tried to paint our room once. Linc was too lazy to move the furniture, so he just painted around it. Our dad wasn’t too happy. Especially since it was black paint.”
“That sounds gross.”
“It was.” Gil squeezed Abby’s hand. “I think we’ll move you to the spare room for a few days until I can get the rest of the room painted and have that carpet pulled up.”
“Okay. Can Ruffles stay with me?”
“I suppose.” He looked at Julie. “I meant to ask you how the meeting went this morning.”
“Fine, but we’re trying to find a new place to hold the dinner. The number of people signed up for the meal has tripled, and there are nearly twice as many entrants to the talent show as last year. Nancy is thrilled, but the church can’t hold that large a crowd. They’re looking into using the VFW hall. They have a large enough kitchen, plenty of space for tables and the stage is large enough, but they don’t think the electrical system can handle the extra power needed for the show.”
“Well, that’s not a problem. I can take care of that.”
“You can?”
“Sure. I own an electrical contracting company. I’ll swing by there tomorrow and take a look.”
“That would be wonderful. Time is running out, and we need to get the venue established ASAP.”
“Oh, and I keep forgetting to tell you that Abby has been asked to be the flower girl at my brother’s wedding. She’ll need to have the dress fitted. I was hoping you could handle that.”
“I’d be happy to.” She smiled at Abby. “A flower girl is a very special honor. Are you excited?”
“I don’t know what it is.”
“Oh, you’ll love it. You get to wear a fancy dress and toss rose petals in the church aisle as you lead the bride in.”
“By myself?” She looked at Gil.
“No. Evan is the ring bearer, so you’ll walk down together.”
“Okay.”
“Gemma said to call her if you have any questions. She’ll give you the name of the dress shop and you can set up an appointment.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Gil stood. “I’d better make a few calls and have those floors replaced.”
“I’m going to look at my new purple walls.” Abby scooted off the chair.
“Don’t go in the room. Just look.”
“Okay.”
Julie watched the pair move off, her heart trailing behind father and daughter. With each event she became more and more embedded in their lives. Tomorrow they would be laughing at the mess Ruffles made. She would take Abby for her fitting, work with her on math skills and make sure she had everything she needed each morning when she left for school. Mundane, everyday tasks performed by mothers everywhere day after day.
She’d done them herself in various assignments as a nanny. But this was different. This was her little girl. It was the life she’d allowed herself to contemplate only when she was at her lowest points. Now she was living it out in real time. Except it wasn’t her life, or her home or her man. It was a fairy tale. She was dancing at the ball, but time would run out and she’d have to flee from the palace. She didn’t even have a glass slipper to leave behind.
But she would leave the shattered pieces of her heart scattered on the ground.
Chapter Seven
Gil climbed from his mud-splattered vehicle and rolled his shoulders to work out the kinks. He and Linc had taken the day off to dismantle as much of the old family home as possible. Their great-grandparents had built the home when they first settled in Dover. His father had lived there until he’d married and built the large home Gil and his siblings had grown up in. Linc had sold the property to save the company on the condition that he could salvage anything reusable from the house.
Shoving his work gloves into his pocket, he opened the back door. His heart swelled with anticipation thinking about Julie being on the other side. With the puppy issues settled, life had fallen into a comfortable routine. He’d been surprised at how quickly Abby had stopped complaining about Ruffles not sleeping with her. Laying out boundaries
for his daughter had changed everything. The first few days had been rough. The icy glares, the tears, the stomping off had threatened his resolve. But when Abby had realized none of her tantrums would change his mind, she’d resigned herself.
And it was all because of Julie. She glanced over her shoulder when he stepped into the kitchen. Her ever-present smile lightened his mood and eased the tightness in his muscles.
“You look like you worked hard today.”
“We removed eight doors, five mantels and nearly a dozen windows.” He arched his back. “And I’m paying for every one of them.”
“What will happen to the rest of the house?”
Gil leaned a hip against the counter before plucking a grape from the fruit bowl. “A friend of ours will salvage the lumber that’s reusable and store it at our mom’s place.”
“What does your brother plan on doing with all that wood?”
“Hopefully use it in the home he’ll build for his family one day.”
“That’s nice. I think it would be wonderful to have pieces of your great-grandparents’ home in your house.”
The light that came into her brown eyes captured his full attention. Was Julie longing for roots? A family? He’d assumed she was happy being single, but now he wondered if she was settling for what she had instead of what she wanted.
“I’d better get cleaned up. Something smells good, and I’m starving.”
“It’ll be on the table when you get back down.”
Her smile and easy manner filled him with a sense of belonging he’d missed. He fought the urge to kiss her cheek before he went upstairs. Instead he simply walked from the room, his insides going all warm and fuzzy. Obviously he’d overexerted himself today. He wasn’t used to the physical labor. He’d feel better after he cleaned up.
The table was set and Abby was carefully filling the glasses with sweet tea when he returned to the kitchen. Julie had prepared spaghetti. One of his favorites. Abby said the blessing and they settled down to the meal. Gil allowed the warmth of the moment to enfold him, indulging in the feeling of family. It wasn’t real, but it felt good nonetheless.
“Miss Julie, may I be excused? Ruffles has to go out.”
“Yes, you may.”
Gil caught the look of pride in Julie’s eyes. Abby’s manners were improving every day.
“It must have been hard for you and your brother to take the old house apart.”
He nodded. Gil regretted selling his own piece of land to build Leah a huge house they didn’t need and he no longer owned. But he didn’t regret using some of the money to adopt Abby. “Linc hated to sell, but it saved the family business. I just hope it wasn’t a stopgap measure.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re losing jobs we normally win. Al Thompson, the general contractor we deal with, was a close friend of our dad’s. We could always count on him to steer jobs our way. Now, because of the near failure of the business last year, he feels we’re a risk. But we never went bankrupt, and we finished that job on time. Thanks to Linc.”
“Then convince him otherwise.”
“I don’t think words will sway this guy.”
“Then you should go talk to him, face-to-face. Assure him you can do what your father always did.”
“He lives in Houston.”
Julie raised her eyebrows. “And what would he think of a business associate who went all that way to reassure him that his company was solid and capable of handling jobs the way they always had? Maybe, if you told him the circumstances, reminded him that you are your father’s son, it would overcome his concerns.”
Gil smiled, his gaze taking in her sincere expression. Once again she’d come up with the perfect solution. She always knew what he needed. Always had a simple answer to a problem, whether it was getting a little girl a puppy or standing up to a contractor. “You may have something there.”
“I think you and your brother should both go. Present a united front. Your father may be gone, but he left two sons in his place who are capable and determined to carry on in his name. What have you got to lose?”
“Not a thing. All right. I’ll talk to Linc about it first thing tomorrow.”
“Ruffles! No! Come back.”
Abby’s shrill cries brought Gil to his feet. Abby burst through the patio doors, her eyes wide with fear, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Ruffles ran away. She chased Miss Nancy’s cat and ran out the gate and she won’t come back.”
Abby ran to Julie’s side. “You have to find her, Daddy.”
Gil grabbed his jacket. “I’ll find her.”
* * *
Julie watched Gil race out the door, her heart a lead weight inside her chest. Abby’s sobs deepened, and Julie held her close, stroking her hair. “Don’t worry. He’ll find her.”
“I want to help look for Ruffles.”
“We’d better stay here in case she comes home. But we can check to see if she’s hiding near the garage. Grab your jacket and let’s go outside.”
They checked around the garbage cans, behind the garage and in the front flower beds, but no Ruffles. It was dark, and trying to find a black dog in the gloom was hard enough, but the more they looked, the more upset Abby became.
She could hear Gil in the distance calling the dog’s name. She tried not to think about what that might imply. The farther Ruffles wandered, the greater the danger. Cars, other people, bigger animals, all posed a threat. She shivered at the thought and tried to hide her worry from Abby.
“I’m sorry I didn’t shut the gate. I called and called, but Ruffles didn’t come back.”
Julie hugged her close. “It was an accident. Dogs like to chase cats, and Ruffles got excited and forgot to obey you. Do you hear your daddy calling her? He’ll find her and bring her back safe and sound. You’ll see.”
“Let’s look around the garage again. Maybe she snuck back while we were out front.” The sickening sound of screeching tires split the night air. Julie’s heart froze. Abby appeared unaware of the sound. Hopefully she hadn’t heard it or if she had, she didn’t realize the implications. How would she explain to Abby what had happened? Her heart would be broken and there would be nothing Julie could do to make it better. She sent up a prayer that the horrible sound didn’t mean a sad ending for Ruffles.
The air was too cold to let Abby stay out much longer. “Let’s go inside and warm up, sweetheart. I’ll make us some hot chocolate while we wait. Your daddy will need something warm to drink when he brings Ruffles home.”
She stirred Abby’s chocolate and set the cup on the table as the back door opened and Gil stepped inside. He held an unmoving black dog in his arms. She held her breath. Ruffles raised her head and barked, eliciting a squeal from Abby.
A tearful Abby pulled the puppy from her father’s arms and held her close, rocking back and forth as she buried her face in the wavy fur. “I’m sorry, Ruffles.” She drifted off to the living room.
Gil ran a hand through his hair. “When I heard those tires screech I thought for sure Ruffles was a goner.”
She hurried to his side, slipping her hand in his. “Me, too. I didn’t know how I was going to tell Abby.”
Gil drew their clasped hands up to his chest. “Thankfully we don’t have to.”
Abby walked back into the kitchen, Ruffles at her heels. She looked at her father, her big brown eyes wide and a bit sad. “Thank you, Daddy, for finding Ruffles.”
He tilted her chin upward. “You’re welcome. But I hope this will be a lesson to you. You have to be more careful about the gate, and you’ll need to work with your dog more on her obedience.”
Abby teared up and reached for him. “Thank you.”
Gil picked her up and held her close to his chest. “Of course, sweet pea. That’s what daddies do.”
> Abby wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “I love you, Daddy.”
Julie’s heart squeezed at the look of profound love on Gil’s face. She knew he’d waited a long time to hear those words from his daughter. She wiped tears from her cheeks. The final corner had been turned for Gil and Abby. She knew with certainty that they would be fine from here on.
Which meant she was no longer needed.
* * *
Gil hung up the phone, then leaned back in his office chair and breathed a sigh of relief. All the bids had been submitted, and he’d placed his last follow-up call. Now it was a waiting game. He offered up a prayer that at least one of the bids would result in a job. That would make him a happy man.
His gaze drifted to the picture of Abby and Ruffles he’d placed on his desk last week. What made him happier was the memory of Abby’s declaration last night that she loved him. He couldn’t stop smiling. He’d feared he’d never hear those sweet words from his daughter. And all because he’d rescued that black fur ball from being flattened by a car. Thankfully the driver had seen Ruffles dart off the sidewalk and stopped in time. He’d been very apologetic and upset that he might have hit the little mutt.
Linc peeked into the office, shaking his head and smiling. “You still feeling like a hero? That smile you’re wearing has enough wattage to power the building.”
Gil leaned forward. “Not a hero, but I do feel like a dad. Everything changed last night. I didn’t think I’d ever reach this point with Abby.”
“Saving a little girl’s puppy is a big deal. I knew you’d figure out the father thing in time.”
“I think Julie had more to do with it than I did. She always knows what to do and how I should handle Abby.”
Linc perched on the edge of the desk. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve been working hard at establishing a relationship with Abby.”
“Julie wants me and Abby to enter the talent portion of the Father-Daughter Night at the church. I think I’m going to if Abby agrees.”
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