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 going 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.
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