Deputy Daddy

by Patricia Johns

  * * *

  Bryce went and had a brief word with Chief Morgan, and then he came to sit with Lily in the back row on the bride’s side. Lily didn’t want to disturb the ceremony if she needed to duck away with Emily if she started to fuss, but the baby was quiet in her arms, drinking a bottle with the earnest devotion she always gave to her food. Her little hands opened and shut with the rhythm of her drinking. Bryce reached over and stroked Emily’s downy head with one finger, then let his hand drop.

  This might be the last time she got to sit like this with Bryce, and she realized with a squeeze of her heart that she would miss him most desperately. Maybe God had sent Bryce for different reasons—for answers about Aaron, and perhaps to show her that she needed to be right here with her family, in Comfort Creek. But of all lessons in life, this one had stabbed deeper, hurt more.

  The wedding was beautifully arranged. They’d set up candles at the end of each row of chairs, and at the front where the vows would be said. The combination of sunset and candlelight was warm and intimate—achingly perfect. Her heart was heavy as she watched the ceremony unfold. One day, she wanted this for herself, but it would have to be a day when she’d stopped longing for the man across from her to be Bryce.

  Clarisse and Aaron stood holding hands at the front, the reds and pinks of sunset flooding over them. Clarisse’s ivory dress looked pearly in the wash of lowering light. The minister was giving a little talk about love and marriage, and the life of togetherness that they could expect. It was a kind of love that Lily would have to wait a little longer to experience again...because healing her heart after Bryce was going to take time.

  Her mother sat with all four boys near the front, and the twins were tugging at their new dress shirts uncomfortably. Randy and Burke were looking older—more grown-up than she’d ever seen them, and through her own sadness she felt a rush of pride. They’d be okay, too. Everyone who had told her to hang on because they would grow up eventually had been right. Kids grew, and kids made mistakes. They’d still need her, she knew, but maybe Randy and Burke could start settling down and then give her a hand with the twins. Was that anywhere in the near future? She could only hope. But there was another day tomorrow, and another day after that. They’d make it.

  Clarisse and Aaron turned toward each other at the minister’s request, and looked into each other’s eyes.

  “I, Clarisse, take you, Aaron, to be my lawfully wedded husband...”

  Emily finished her bottle, and as Lily sat her up, the baby started to squirm. She needed to be burped, and as Lily reached down for a cloth to protect her shoulder, Bryce reached for the baby.

  “Let me,” he whispered.

  Emily immediately calmed in his arms, and as Lily arranged the cloth over his shoulder, Bryce turned toward her, his face so close that he could have kissed her again. Heat rose in her cheeks at the thought, and she looked down at her lap. Those days were over, and she’d have to say a goodbye after this service with some semblance of dignity.

  Emily had settled against Bryce’s chest as he gently tapped her back.

  “I wish this could last forever,” Bryce murmured.

  “I know you don’t want to be a father,” Lily whispered, “but you’d be wonderful at this.”

  She wasn’t meaning to push, but he had to know how she saw him. He was silent for a moment, and he leaned toward her a little so that his muscled arm pressed against hers.

  “If I could...” His voice was low and hesitant. “If I could be a good dad, would you be willing to be saddled with a lout like me?”

  Tears misted her eyes. Her aunt was right that every man had something to deal with, and the more she thought about Clarisse and Aaron the more she realized that loving a man meant loving all of him, and being his strength just as often as he was hers. She couldn’t leave Comfort Creek, no matter how desperately she’d miss Bryce once he was gone. But would she want him? She wanted him now—she wanted something that he couldn’t give.

  “I still have a family who needs me, Bryce.”

  “I’d stay.”

  His words were firm and resolute, and she turned toward him, her breath in her throat. Had she heard him right? But that didn’t change what he wanted in life...

  “But I thought you didn’t want to be a father,” she whispered. “And Emily—”

  He reached over and took her hand in his firm grip and bent his head close to hers to keep their words private. “Aaron was right about having a choice. I thought I’d be a terrible father because my own dad was, but I do have a choice. I’m not my dad, either.” He looked down at Emily, then back to Lily, and his voice broke when he spoke again. “I want this so badly it hurts.”

  “Does that mean—” She swallowed. “Do you mean—”

  “It means I want this...you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, and I want to help you take care of your brothers.” Emily let out a soft burp, and he grinned down at the baby. “And Piglet, too. But most of all, Lily, I want a life with you.”

  “You mean you’ll stay?”

  “If you’ll have me.”

  His words settled into her heart, and she found herself nodding before she’d even formed her answer. “Bryce, I will most definitely have you.”

  “But I want to get married, Lily. I want to do this in sickness and in health, for better or for worse. I want to help you wrangle your brothers and raise this little girl.”

  “Yes,” she whispered, and a smile broke over his face and he was about to lean in and kiss her when the minister’s joyful voice rang out, “What God has joined, let no man put asunder!”

  Bryce pulled back with a wry smile, and a cheer went up as Clarisse and Aaron came down the aisle. The bride shot Lily an exuberant smile and she beamed back. She’d have news of her own soon, but she wouldn’t take away from her aunt’s special day. It could be their secret—for today at least—and she’d treasure all this happiness in her heart.

  When the couple passed by, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and as she turned back toward Bryce, his lips came down onto hers in a soft and tender kiss. She put a hand on Emily’s back and let her eyes flutter shut as the voices and bustle around her drifted away in the tender longing of that kiss and what had just happened settled into her heart.

  “Lily?”

  They pulled back to see Chris and Carson standing in the aisle, looking at them with uncertain expressions on their faces. Behind them, Burke and Randy were grinning, and her mother’s face held an unspoken, but hopeful question.

  “The wedding’s over,” Chris said, making a face. “In case you didn’t notice.”

  Lily chuckled. “I want you all to come for breakfast tomorrow morning. I’m going to make a spread like you wouldn’t believe.”

  “In honor of Aunt Clarisse and Uncle Aaron?” Carson asked.

  “Them, too,” she said. “I have news, and I won’t be able to wait a moment longer than tomorrow morning.”

  “Hey, if Lily’s cooking, we’re there,” Burke said, and Randy grunted his agreement.

  This was her family—all of them—and Lily had never been so full of joy. When God said no, a heart could break, but when God said yes...

  “I love you,” Bryce said quietly into her ear.

  “I love you, too.”

  Emily squirmed, and she took the baby back into her arms and leaned against Bryce’s strong shoulder. When God said yes, a heart could fill so completely that it overflowed. A yes was worth the wait.

  As they walked together across the church lawn, Bryce slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer. He paused, and when she looked up at him, his expression was worried.

  “If I’m not very good at this—” he started.

  “You’re already rather good at this.” She smiled up into his face.

  “I’m seriou
s,” he said. “If I turn out to be insensitive or really bad at the kid thing, I want you to promise that you won’t give up on me. You’ll tell me how I can do better, and you’ll stand by me. My mom kicked my dad out, and while he might have deserved it—”

  She could see where that worry was coming from, and she let the smile fall from her lips. His home had fallen apart, and he was afraid of ending up just like his dad—out of the family circle.

  “Then you promise me something, Bryce.”

  “Anything.” She could tell by his expression that he meant that.

  “Promise me that you’ll try, even when it’s hard, and even when it doesn’t make sense to you—that you’ll keep trying. That’s all we need, you know. Someone who loves us enough to not give up.”

  “Always.” His gaze softened again. “Trying—that’s the easy part.”

  “I think we’ll do just fine, Bryce.”

  Emily squirmed, and Bryce nodded toward the baby. “Can I take her?”

  Lily laughed softly and handed Emily into his arms. “She already has you around her little finger, you know.”

  He looked down at Emily for a moment, then pressed a tender kiss on the top of her downy head, then he winked at Lily.

  “I’m around your little finger, too,” he said. “And speaking of fingers, you and I have some shopping to do...”

  He loved her—she could see it in his eyes, and in his eagerness to buy her a ring that would tell the world their plans. And she loved him—enough to help him learn how to do this right. She’d be Mrs. Camden, and for a while at least, the girls would outnumber the one man in the house. They’d baffle him with their feminine ways, she had no doubt, but she also knew that he’d love them with his whole heart.

  And that would make their family just perfect.

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed this story by Patricia Johns,

  pick up these previous titles:

  HIS UNEXPECTED FAMILY

  THE RANCHER’S CITY GIRL

  A FIREFIGHTER’S PROMISE

  THE LAWMAN’S SURPRISE FAMILY

  Available now from Love Inspired!

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  Keep reading for an excerpt from CHILD WANTED by Renee Andrews.

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  Dear Reader,

  We receive all sorts of messages about who we are from society, from family, from media... Women are told what we’re supposed to be. Be pretty, be cute, be quiet, be good. And when we don’t live up to all those expectations, the message can get meaner. You’re fat. You’re ugly. You’re unworthy. I found that when I finally pinpointed where those messages were coming from, they lost their power.

  Everyone is going to have an opinion about you—that’s an unfortunate fact—but there is only one opinion that matters, and that’s God’s. Never forget to whom you belong! It changes everything. And you are absolutely good enough. You’re also beautiful and intentionally created.

  If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me on my website at PatriciaJohnsRomance.com, or on Facebook. I’d love to meet you!

  Patricia Johns

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  Child Wanted

  by Renee Andrews

  Chapter One

  “Jerry, this is Mr. Green.”

  Ethan Green crouched to eye level with Jerry Flinn as Mrs. Yost, the social worker, introduced the four-year-old boy to the thirty-year-old man. “Hey, Jerry. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

  Talk about an understatement. Every day for the past three years, Ethan had prayed for the sandy-haired, freckle-faced child. He was fisting his hands in the fabric of his navy T-shirt as he edged backward, his eyes darting from the social worker to Ethan to the couple that ran the children’s home in this tiny town of Claremont, Alabama, where Jerry had been placed merely three days ago.

  Ethan recognized the panic, the terror, pushing through his future son’s veins. He wanted to run. Or cry. Or both. But he also wanted to be tough. Be strong. Control the fear.

  Ethan knew each of these emotions firsthand.

  God, please help me know what to do, what to say, to gain his trust.

  “Hey Jerry, I got some bread for you and your friends to give the geese.” Ethan held up the brown lunch sacks of stale bread that he’d purchased at one of the stores on the town square. He knew the twins belonging to Brodie and Savvy Evans, the couple that ran Willow’s Haven, weren’t technically Jerry’s “friends” yet, since he’d only met Rose and Daisy three days ago, but Ethan wanted him to know that they would be. It was important for Jerry to understand that he would have friends and that he now had people who cared about him in his life.

  Like Ethan.

  “You got bread for us?” Rose hurried toward Ethan with Daisy at her heels. If their names weren’t on their pink and yellow T-shirts, he’d have never been able to tell them apart.

  “I sure did.” He handed a bag to each girl and then waited for the little boy to approach him. Instead of moving toward Ethan, however, Jerry merely watched Rose and Daisy dart past him, their laughter filling the air as the squawking geese began a rendition of follow the leader, or rather, follow the bread sacks. Rose flung a piece behind her, and several headed for it, then she and Daisy tossed more on the opposite side.

  The geese waddled beyond the girls to get to the scattered pieces. And Jerry held his ground, red tennis shoes rooted in place and hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans.

  “Jerry, I got a bag for you, too. Don’t you want to feed the geese?”

  He looked at the girls and then the sack in Ethan’s hand. He slowly nodded.

  Ethan said a quick prayer of thanks. “Okay then, here you go.” He extended the bag, but Jerry merely looked at it, still not budging.

  “I’ll put the sack right here.” Ethan placed the paper bag on the concrete edge surrounding the three-tiered fountain that designated the center of Claremont’s town square. “And then I’m going to sit and watch you feed the geese, okay?”

  Jerry’s gaze fixed on the bag.

  Ethan walked away from the bread and sat on the opposite end of the park bench from the social worker. “You may want to get it soon—” he forced a little laugh “—or those geese may go after it without you.”

  Daisy giggled from the other side of the fountain. “Yep, go on, Jerry. You need to get your bread and start feeding them before they eat all of ours!”

  J
erry shot a glance toward the girls, surrounded by geese, then to his bag, and then to Ethan. Small shoulders lifted as he sought the courage to step toward the sack. Easing closer, he snagged it as if he thought Ethan planned to grab it first, before Jerry had a chance.

  Maybe that was the type of thing he was used to, but that wasn’t the way things were—not anymore.

  “Great.” Ethan gave him a thumbs-up. “Now you can feed those hungry geese.”

  As if his words were an invitation, the geese transferred their focus from the girls to Jerry.

  The little boy’s blue eyes widened, hinting at obvious fright at the onslaught of the noisy animals.

  Ethan knew better than to rush toward the child, so he instead leaned forward on the park bench and spoke soothingly. “It’s okay, Jerry. Just toss a few pieces away from you. You can even throw some in the fountain if you want. They’ll probably get wet trying to get the bread.”

  Undeniably frightened, Jerry plunged his fist into the bag, grabbed a handful of bread and flung it into the fountain. As predicted, the geese headed into the splashing water, dipping their heads beneath the surface and wiggling their backsides in an effort to get the sinking and bobbing bits of bread.

  Rose and Daisy jumped up and down, clapping and laughing at the spectacle. But Jerry clamped his mouth together. Was he afraid to smile? Had he gotten in trouble for laughing or smiling in the past? He also kept peering toward Ethan and Brodie, the only men near the fountain, as though expecting some sort of reprimand for tossing the bread.

  Ethan scrubbed a hand down his face, at a loss for how to handle the situation. As an eighth-grade English teacher, he interacted with adolescents on a daily basis and attempted to provide a fatherly example to the kids in his classes. But he’d never spent a lot of time with four-year-olds, particularly ones who had been so abused that they feared the majority of adults.