Father by Choice

by Amanda Berry

  Maybe Brady should have checked with Maggie before bringing the gift, but he remembered Amber saying that she’d always wanted one. When Sam had begrudgingly brought home a couple of the pups to pawn off to other people, he’d happily given one to Brady.

  The puppy took off toward the house with Brady in tow. Brady knocked on the side of the screen door.

  “Just a second.” Maggie. The sound of her voice rushed through him.

  He tried to stop the direction his thoughts were headed, but when Maggie appeared at the door with her hair wet in a pair of cut-offs and a green T-shirt that made the green in her hazel eyes stand out, his brain stopped altogether.

  “Hey, Brady, Amber’s bus gets here in about ten minutes.” She met his eyes and smiled.

  The puppy whined and her smile faded as her eyes dropped to see the white fuzz ball. “You brought a dog?”

  “He’s a puppy.” Brady’s brain was occupied with mentally peeling off every layer of her clothing and imagining what they could do in ten minutes.

  “That is a puppy?”

  His gaze lingered a moment longer at her breasts before finally arriving at her not-pleased-at-all face. His brain shifted into gear. Definitely should have checked. “Yeah. Sam’s dog got out in the spring and this little guy is the end result.”

  “There is nothing little about that puppy.” Her eyes rounded in horror. “Please don’t tell me you brought that for Amber.”

  “Why? She was saying how much she wanted a dog the other day and how she couldn’t have one...” Realization settled in his stomach like a lump of Sam’s burned eggs. “And you were the one who didn’t want a dog, right?”

  “Do you know how much work a dog is? Let alone a puppy?”

  He hated hearing the disappointment in her voice. Hated it even more because he was the one she was disappointed with. “I can say he’s come for a visit?”

  She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “You know the minute she sees that fur ball she’s going to love it.”

  “I guess he doesn’t have that effect on you?” Brady said curtly.

  “Who do you think gets stuck with the feeding and cleaning and taking him out at three in the morning in the snow? Not to mention housetraining.”

  “Like I said—”

  “You got me a dog!” Amber’s squeal of delight was met by little excited puppy barks.

  Maggie gave him the see-I-told-you look. But Amber’s eyes glowed with happiness as she shrugged off her backpack and knelt before the puppy. When the puppy proceeded to bathe her face with his tongue, her giggles made Brady feel as if he’d brought her the moon and not a mutt.

  “You are such a licker. I’ll name you Flicker,” Amber proclaimed. “Licker would be weird.”

  Brady cleared his throat to get Amber’s attention. “I brought him for a visit.”

  Her fingers tightened into the puppy’s fur and her face fell with disappointment. His heart tightened. He almost said she could keep the dog, but Maggie had already made it clear she didn’t want it.

  “But I’ll see if Sam wants to keep him out at the farm, so you can visit Flicker.” Brady knew Sam hadn’t been pleased with the idea of more dogs, but in the grand scheme of things, Sam owed Brady more than Brady owed Sam. At least, Brady wanted to think that, but looking at the girl nuzzling this fur ball, he wondered what Sam had given up to take care of Mom, Luke and him.

  “Do you have homework?” Maggie opened the screen door. Flicker immediately burst into the house, causing Maggie to scowl at Brady.

  “I’ll get him.” Brady brushed past her. His side pressed against hers for the briefest moment, but it sent electricity coursing through his veins.

  Amber was hot on his heels. He managed to grab the leash before Flicker got to the trash can.

  “Can we take him for a walk?” Amber looked to her mother for approval. “I’ve always wanted to do that. Can we? Please?”

  “The dog can stay for dinner, but he has to go home with Brady.” Maggie crossed her arms over her chest and met Brady’s gaze. “You are responsible for any damage that dog does.”

  Obviously, Brady wasn’t the only one Amber could wrap around her finger. “That’s fine.”

  “The walk, Mom?” Amber struck a similar pose to her mother.

  “Go ahead, but then it’s straight to homework. And Brady has to go with you.”

  Amber raced to the front door. The puppy followed on her heels, jumping on her when she stopped.

  Maggie grabbed his arm as he passed. When he stopped, she pulled her hand away as if he were burning her. Maybe he had because his skin felt singed from her touch.

  “He’s too big for her to handle,” she said.

  “We’ll be fine, Maggie.” He resisted the urge to kiss her scowl away and pulled on Flicker’s leash.

  The screen door slammed behind them as Flicker and Amber raced down the stairs. The puppy kept trying to grab the end of Amber’s shirt, but she kept it away from him with a little shriek of joy.

  Brady jerked on the leash and the puppy came rushing to him. “Maybe if we walk together, Flicker will learn his manners.”

  “Okay.” Amber fell into step with Brady. The warmth of the day had settled with a gentle breeze. The puppy darted from tree to tree and jerked slightly on Brady’s hold.

  “Are you dating anyone?” Amber walked beside him.

  “No.”

  “Have you had many girlfriends?”

  Brady wasn’t used to anyone being so direct with him, but he found Amber refreshing. He already had one lie he had to come clean on. He figured the least he could do was honestly answer her questions. “A few.”

  “Did you have any girlfriends in London?” Amber watched the puppy as he burrowed underneath some leaves.

  “I had a few dates, but no one I’d call a girlfriend.” Brady pulled on the leash as Flicker tried to veer off into someone’s yard.

  “Why not? Don’t you like girls?” Amber stopped and cocked her head to the side.

  Brady stopped his mouth from gaping. “I do but I didn’t have time because of work.”

  Amber nodded as if she understood completely. He couldn’t help but wonder if she did. He had no idea what a seven-year-old thought about or even knew. Apparently, more than he thought.

  “Is New York big?” Amber asked.

  “Millions of people live there.” Brady felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, notifying him of a text.

  “How did Mom find you in all those people?”

  Brady looped the leash around his wrist and grabbed his phone. Now that they’d settled into a slower pace, Flicker walked beautifully as if he’d been raised on a leash. “The same way you find anyone. She had an address and a phone number.”

  He flipped on the screen and saw the text from Jules. Nine-one-one. Crap.

  “Amber?” Brady stopped. Flicker came bounding back to see what the holdup was.

  “Yes?” She had squatted next to Flicker and petted him to keep him calm.

  “Do you think you could take the leash for a few minutes? I need to make a quick phone call.”

  “You want me to walk Flicker?” Amber held out her hands and bounced slightly in place.

  Brady glanced at the dog who had decided to chew on his own leg. Flicker hadn’t tugged on the leash recently and seemed fairly calm. Amber could handle the puppy. He handed the leash to her. “Wrap it around your wrist and be careful not to let go, otherwise, we’ll have to chase Flicker.”

  “I promise.” Amber wrapped the leash around her wrist. “Come on, Flicker.”

  They all started forward again as Brady called Jules. “Hey, Jules, I can’t talk long. What’s going on?”

  “The contractor wants to charge us double for the most recent change order. I tried to reason with him, but he says that you and he had a deal.” Jules sounded exhausted.

  Brady stopped, but Amber kept going. “Jules, tell him that you are in charge and you know every deal that I’ve made. If he’s not go
ing to work with you, we’ll have to find someone else.”

  “Flicker, no!”

  Brady’s heart stopped as he looked up. Amber was tangled in Flicker’s leash. Before Brady could even move, Flicker jerked on the leash, and Amber crashed to the sidewalk, landing in a heap. Flicker bounded to Amber’s side as Brady rushed to her.

  Amber’s cries filled the air and made Brady’s heart ache, even as his pulse raced. Flicker whimpered and started licking the back of Amber’s head.

  “Are you okay?” Brady knelt on the ground and pulled the leash away from Amber’s legs. He shoved Flicker’s nose away from Amber’s face as he helped her into a sitting position.

  Her dirt-smudged face didn’t seem to have any cuts on it. Her tears tore at something deep inside him. He should have caught her. That’s what daddies did.

  She held up her bleeding hands that she must have used to stop her fall. “My knee.”

  Her knee was a mess of blood and dirt.

  Her eyes welled with more tears. Her cries changed into soft sobs. “I didn’t know Flicker would pull. Don’t tell Mommy. She’ll blame Flicker.”

  “No, she won’t.” Brady slipped his arms under her and lifted her from the ground. He grabbed the leash. Maggie wouldn’t blame Flicker for Amber getting hurt.

  No, Maggie would blame Brady.

  Chapter Twelve

  Maggie finished slicing the potatoes for dinner, trying to keep her anger inside. He brought a puppy to her house. He chose work over Amber, but he thought he could buy them with a puppy. Footsteps stomped up the porch and the screen door banged.

  “Maggie?” Brady called out with a tinge of worry in his voice.

  “Mommy.” Amber’s voice was shaky and tear-filled.

  Maggie had heard that tone enough to know Amber was hurt. Grabbing a kitchen towel, she dried her hands as she rushed to the entryway.

  Brady stood there, cradling Amber to his chest. In one hand was the puppy’s leash and in the other, his blasted cell phone. She glared at him for a split second before checking over Amber. Scraped hands and knees.

  “All right, let’s take this circus act to the bathroom,” Maggie said calmly. Her stomach wouldn’t settle until she had a chance to make sure nothing was broken, but being hysterical wouldn’t help anyone.

  She reached into the medicine cabinet and got out the cleanser and antibacterial cream along with the Band-Aids. The bathroom was small on a normal day but with Brady holding Amber and a rambunctious puppy bounding all around, her nerves were on end.

  “Put her down on the toilet.”

  “She’s going to be fine. I had all sorts of cuts and scrapes growing up.” Brady sounded as if he was trying to reassure himself more than anyone else.

  Maggie handed him paper towels. “Wet these. We need to clean the wound to see what type of damage has been done.”

  “Of course.” Taking the paper towels, he went to the sink. He seemed startled to find the phone in his hand. Setting it on the edge of the sink, he turned on the water.

  Maggie squatted before Amber. Amber’s tears had started to dry, but she sniffled slightly. The puppy sat in the corner near the tub and started whining.

  “What hurts?”

  “My hands and my knee.” Amber glanced over at Brady before returning her gaze to Maggie. “It’s not Flicker’s fault, Mommy. I was messing around.”

  Right. Maggie pressed her lips together. “Why don’t we get you cleaned up?”

  She had a feeling the fault lay with that phone, but she wouldn’t know until she had a chance to talk to Brady. Brady came over with the wet towels and she moved out of the way.

  He knelt beside Amber and gently stroked the wet paper towel over her knee. Amber winced, biting her lip.

  “When I was six, I was helping Dad out in the barn.” Brady moved to one of her hands. “There was an old stool out there that I liked to stand on.”

  As Maggie stood, she took Brady’s phone. He was so engrossed in helping Amber that he didn’t notice. On the screen, it showed he was still connected with Jules. She cut off the call and slipped the phone in her pocket.

  “Dad needed this special wrench from above his workbench.” Brady wiped delicately with the paper towel.

  As he cleaned off the blood, Maggie could see that the fall had taken off some skin. Amber leaned forward to watch Brady. Her hair fell forward along her cheekbone. She seemed so fragile right now, even though Maggie had patched up worse in the past.

  “I climbed on this stool and onto the workbench to get this special wrench.” Brady continued his story.

  Just as enthralled with his story as Amber, Maggie handed him some cotton soaked with the cleanser.

  “When I went to get off the workbench, one of the stool’s legs broke and I hit my head on the edge of the old, greasy workbench.” Brady held out his hand for the antibacterial and Band-Aids.

  “Did it hurt?” Amber asked.

  “Bunches.” Brady quickly applied the bandages. “I had to go to the hospital and get stitches and shots and everything. I still have a scar.”

  He touched a spot above his eyebrow and even Maggie leaned forward to see.

  “You had to get shots?” Amber’s voice was a combination of horror and admiration as she examined the scar. She reached out and traced the small, white line.

  Brady nodded. “But you won’t need shots. All done. A little battered and bruised but no worse for wear.”

  He held out a tissue. Amber blew her nose.

  “Will you help me with my homework?” Amber gave him her best I’m-hurt smile. “And maybe we can finish our walk with Flicker?”

  She avoided looking at Maggie.

  “If your mom says it’s okay.” He looked at Maggie then.

  Maggie got caught in his blue eyes. Creases of worry had formed on his forehead and around his eyes. He did care about Amber, even if work had distracted him.

  “Sure, that sounds good.” Maggie watched both of their faces light up and felt warm and cold at the same time. Amber and Brady loved each other already. She could almost believe that he would always be there for Amber. That they would have each other for the rest of their lives. That Brady wouldn’t get tired of being a dad and walk away.

  He wasn’t like her dad. She had to get that in her mind. But he did live in New York and would eventually leave both of them behind. She could only hope he would be good about staying in touch with Amber after he left.

  As she watched them settle at the dining room table with the dog at their feet, chewing on a freshly unwrapped rawhide bone, Maggie couldn’t help feeling as though she was on the outside looking in.

  “I’m going to go finish dinner.” She excused herself, but she could hear the two of them talking in the dining room. It felt right, as if this was how things were meant to be. That they could be a family. Which was ridiculous. Just because he seemed to care for Amber, didn’t mean that he wanted to be anything more with her. And even if he did, it wasn’t possible with his job and her life here. He would never leave New York.

  It all came down to work with him. Brady had obviously taken a work call. During which, Amber must have fallen. Amber’s laughter pulled her attention back to the moment. Maggie could hear the low rumble of Brady’s voice, but not what he was saying. Amber hadn’t said anything about Brady’s involvement. Was she protecting him?

  They had a little over a week left before Brady returned to New York. When he did, their life would go on as it had before, except Amber would know her father was out there. What if Brady wanted Amber to go to New York with him? For a few weeks in the summer? Was Maggie ready for that?

  She didn’t want him to walk out of their lives, but what would his involvement in their lives entail? Would Brady pop in and out of their lives whenever it was convenient for him? Would he be here for Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter? Birthdays?

  “I’m really sorry, Maggie.”

  She set down the cutting knife and turned to face him. He had stoppe
d in the doorway and leaned his shoulder against the jamb.

  “What happened?” She didn’t raise her voice. It even came out without sounding accusatory. For emphasis, Maggie crossed her arms and gave him the look she gave Amber to make her confess the bad deed she’d just committed.

  “She got tangled in the leash.” He almost seemed boyish, looking at her with his head dipped, avoiding saying what would get him in the most trouble. Hoping she’d take whatever explanation he gave. He even dared to give her that sheepish smile that had turned her into mush in high school. Too bad for him it wasn’t high school anymore.

  “And?” Maggie tried not to tap her foot.

  He sighed. “I let Amber hold the leash.”

  “By herself?”

  “Flicker was doing great.” The tips of Brady’s ears burned red, and she guessed there was more to the story.

  “You let her handle an animal that weighs as much as she does?” Maggie couldn’t keep her hands from flying as she spoke. “Did you think about what would happen if the dog ran out in the street?”

  “But he didn’t.” Brady’s face lost its placating look as he went on the defense.

  “And where were you?” She stepped closer and poked him in the chest. “Where was the great Brady Ward to the rescue? If your hands were free, you could have easily caught her before she hit the ground.”

  “On an important phone call.” He straightened from his leaning position. In high school she would have backed down immediately, but now she didn’t feel an ounce of intimidation.

  “More important than watching Amber?” The fear when they’d come in had merged with her anger at Brady for bringing the dog in the first place until all she could see was red. “You can’t apologize and think that makes it okay. We talked about this. No work when you are with Amber. What part of that didn’t you understand?”

  “The part where I have to sacrifice everything because of something my brother did.” Brady’s eyes flashed. She should have retreated, but she couldn’t. “Work isn’t just money to me. It’s my life. It’s all I have.”