by Susan Hayes
“Good luck.” Dave paused half a beat before asking one last question. “When’s Dani’s next shift? I want to come back and try one of her other new dishes.”
Jared gave him a knowing grin. “Right. You’re coming for the food, that’s all. She’s working the night after next. I guess I’ll see you then?”
“Could be.” Dave waved his brother off before the bastard laughed in his face. His office was in the area and he was going to be working late. It was only logical that he come to the pub to eat, especially with a new cook working the kitchen. There wasn’t anything more to it. It was practical, that’s all.
The fact that he was already looking forward to his next visit was completely beside the point.
****
Dani bundled Casey into the loaner car she was borrowing from Jolena’s garage. Jo and Tag had told her to drive it as long as she wanted. It was yet another act of kindness she would never be able to repay. The Wilde family had taken her in without question or judgment, and none of them had pressed her for the details of why she was running or who she was running from.
It wasn’t that it was a secret, really. It was more that she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. In the years that Bobby had been in prison Dani had done her best to put the ordeal behind her and heal. When he’d reappeared in their lives without warning it had torn old wounds wide open again. She wasn’t sleeping much, and when she did she was plagued by nightmares of the past. She checked on Casey several times a night to reassure herself that her baby girl was safe and sound.
Casey was too young to remember anything about her father. It was both a blessing and a curse for Dani that her daughter didn’t know what kind of man Bobby was. She had no memory of his dark moods or dangerous temper, which sometimes made it difficult for Casey to accept her mother’s word that her father was a bad man, one that no amount of hugs could ever fix. The blessing was that she also couldn’t remember the last night they’d all been together. The night he’d been so lost in rage and booze that he’d pointed a gun at his wife and baby and pulled the trigger.
Both she and Casey would carry the physical scars for the rest of their lives. The emotional ones would fade with time.
“Thank you for being so good tonight, bug. I was proud of the way you behaved. I’m sorry you had to spend so much time alone. We’ll find someone to stay home with you soon. Then you won’t have to sit around the restaurant and be bored anymore.”
Casey glanced up from her handheld game for a moment to answer. “It wasn’t boring tonight. Nana Meg stayed with me some of the time, and then Dave came and colored with me. He’s nice.”
“I think so, too.” Nice didn’t begin to cover what Dani thought of David Wilde. He wasn’t what she’d expected. He was kinder, funnier, and a hell of a lot sexier. He had the same good looks as his brothers, but he wore it differently. He had a quiet confidence and charm that was the polar opposite of Bobby, who always had to do everything bigger and louder than everyone else. The difference between the two men was clear. Bobby was a spoiled child while Dave was a grown man.
And I’ve sworn off men. All of them. Even hot blond ones.
“He gave me his drawing. Can we put it on the fridge when we get home? Then I get pie, right?”
“Yes, you can have pie, but only if you promise to brush your teeth right afterward. Then it’s straight to bed. You’ve got school tomorrow, and it’s getting late.”
Casey sighed heavily. “When is school over?”
“Only a few more weeks to go, and then you’re free for the summer. It’ll be over before you know it.”
“That’s what you say when I have to go to the dentist, too. And it always takes forever!”
Dani couldn’t resist baiting Casey as she navigated through the light traffic. “Thank you for reminding me. We need to find us a new dentist, and a doctor, too. Good thinking, bug.”
A horrified groan rose up from the backseat. “That was mean, Mom.”
She laughed. “I keep telling you, it’s part of the parent job description. All moms must be mean, totally unfair, and be able to nag at a professional level.”
“I think maybe you’re overqualified.”
“Casey Alexis Moore, did you just call me overqualified?” Dani asked, trying to sound stern as she struggled to rein in her urge to laugh.
“That’s what Uncle Thomas said the last time you made that joke. When I asked him what it meant, he just laughed. So what does overqualified mean?” Casey asked, carefully sounding out the word this time.
“It means your uncle Thomas is going to be in trouble the next time I see him.”
Casey giggled. “Now you sound like Dave when he was talking about his brothers.”
“You two talked about a lot of things, didn’t you?”
“Uh-huh. He told me about being part of a family, and that it means he gets to pick on his brothers, but no one else can. And he showed me what color to make the police car. Did you know they’re a different color here than at home?”
“Did you tell him where home was?” Dani asked. Not that she was worried about Dave knowing where they were from, but Casey had to learn to keep that information to herself. Their new identities were their best defense against Bobby finding them.
“No. I know I’m not supposed to talk about it.” Casey’s voice went soft. “I miss home, though.”
“So do I. It’ll get easier, bug. I promise. We’re both just a little homesick. Once we start making friends, I think we’re going to like it here.”
Casey was quiet for a moment. “Do you think that Nana Meg and her family would like to be our friends?”
“I think Nana Meg and the Wilde family are already our friends. In fact, they treat us like we’re family. They are a very special group and we’re blessed to know them.”
There was an even longer stretch of silence before Casey spoke again, and when she did, her voice was soft and thoughtful. “If they’re like family, do you think maybe Dave or Jared might want to be my daddy? Then they could be family for real.”
Her daughter’s simple question blindsided Dani and left her struggling to find something to say. Casey had never talked about another man being her father. For her, that title belonged to Bobby and no one else. It was one of the reasons Dani had never tried to date.
“Some family you’re born with, and others you choose for yourself. I think the Wildes might be the kind of family we choose for ourselves. I bet Jared and Dave and the other brothers would make really good uncles. Shall we ask them next time you see them?”
Dani glanced in the rearview mirror and watched Casey shrug. “Uncles are married. Like Uncle Thomas is. Dave isn’t married. He doesn’t even have a girlfriend. I asked.”
“You asked him if he had a girlfriend?” Dani asked, fighting to keep her voice level. “You know it’s not polite to ask people personal questions. I taught you better than that.”
“He didn’t mind. He said that he’s too busy catching bad guys to have a girlfriend, but if I spotted someone I thought might be nice I was to tell Nana Meg. He said that’s ’cause she’s on a mission to get all her boys married. And that got me thinking that maybe he might want to marry you and be my daddy.”
Astounded by her daughter’s line of thinking, Dani took a moment to compose herself. “So you think you’re ready to have a new dad? The last time we talked about this, you were pretty certain you didn’t want one.”
“That was before I met my old dad. He scared me. He was yelling and angry and I don’t want him to be my dad anymore.” Casey’s eyes met Dani’s through the rearview mirror reflection. “He can’t find us, can he?”
She hated seeing the fear in Casey’s eyes, but Dani wouldn’t lie to her. Not about this. “I don’t think so, baby. We moved a long way from home and changed our names, and there are people making sure he stays where he’s supposed to, in Washington. But if he does find us, we know what to do, right?”
Casey nodded and pulled out her phone
. “Call 911, and then call Tag and tell him the codeword.”
“That’s right. And what’s the codeword?” she prompted.
“Daisies,” Casey answered.
Dani pulled onto their street and started looking for parking. “That’s my smart girl.”
“So, can I have a new daddy?”
“Maybe someday. Don’t forget, I have to like him, too. But if you think you’re okay with me looking, then I’ll keep an eye out for a nice guy for us.”
“Okay. And I will, too,” Casey agreed.
“But no more asking men if they’re single, right?” Dani reminded her, and Casey sighed in resignation.
“Okay. But it would be so much easier my way.”
Once they were parked, Dani undid her seatbelt and turned around to look at Casey. “It might be easier, but it’s not polite. Come on, bug. We’re home.”
Home. The word didn’t come naturally to Dani, not yet. The place she and Casey were staying was nice enough, and their first-floor suite had been recently remodeled with hardwood floors and large, airy windows that made it seem bigger than it was. The house was just like all the others on the street, light brown bricks, dark trim, a simple front yard with a patch of grass and a few flowers. The door to her suite was below the porch of the main house where Jo and Tag lived, just beside the stairs to the upper level. The neighborhood was nice, older and full of working-class families, as well as kids for Casey to play with, but it wasn’t home. It was their sanctuary, though, and that was enough for now.
It was late by the time Dani got Casey tucked into bed and got everything ready for the morning. Shoes found, clothes laid out, and lunch packed and ready in the fridge. As she shut the fridge door, Dani found herself staring at the sketch Dave had given her daughter. She hadn’t done more than glance at it before, but now she could see that he had a talent for drawing and an eye for details.
The police horse in the foreground was well sketched, but that wasn’t what had drawn her eye. Her attention was on the face of the officer riding the horse. It was Casey. Somehow David had managed to capture her daughter’s appearance with a few strokes and lines. He’d even drawn Casey in full uniform, right down to the checkerboard band on her hat.
Dani took the picture with her as she poured her ritual mug of chamomile tea and headed for the living room. She settled into one corner of the large, overstuffed leather couch that took up most of the space. She set her tea down beside her to cool before flipping on a reading lamp and taking a closer look at Dave’s handiwork.
The more she looked at the sketch, the more details she noticed. There were other people in the picture, most of them only roughly sketched, but she recognized them all. Jared, with his lopsided grin and a bar rag in his hand, Ben, with his canine partner, Chase, lying at his feet and his wife, Kelly, at his side. Dave had added every member of his family to the picture, along with at least one key detail to help identify each of them. He’d even put the Leo’s Bar and Grill sign in the distant background.
He’d surrounded Casey with his family. A group of people she knew and trusted, despite only having known them for a few weeks. Dani looked at the drawing and considered her words. The Wildes weren’t merely their friends. They were exactly what she’d told Casey they were, family they’d chosen for themselves.
She sipped her tea as her thoughts drifted over the events of the evening. Time and again she found herself thinking about Dave. The way his hazel eyes lit up when he smiled, the sexy rumble of his laughter, or the heart-stopping way he’d filled out the jeans he’d been wearing. The man was serious fantasy fodder. He was also driven, focused on his career and, according to his brothers, had lived the life of a monk since the bitter break-up of his marriage.
Then there was the not-so-minor fact that she was a single mother starting over in a new city with a child who needed her, a dangerous ex-husband, and a new identity. Becoming Danai and Carla Walker was a necessary precaution, at least for the time being, but it meant that she couldn’t even tell a potential date her real name.
All in all, thinking romantic thoughts about David Wilde was as bad a plan as the time she’d talked herself into trying hot yoga classes. Both ideas were likely to turn out the same way, too: with her hot, frustrated, and twisted into knots.
It’s easier to stay single, Dani reminded herself as she finished her tea. What she was feeling wasn’t romantic interest; it was simply loneliness. She missed her family, her friends, and her old life. That’s all it was.
That’s all it could ever be. Her life was too complicated for anything else.
Chapter Three
True to his prediction, Dave spent the first week back at his desk, pulling overtime as he worked to catch up on the tsunami of paperwork that had covered his desk in his absence. He’d gotten into the habit of eating at Leo’s on his way home, and even after the overtime stopped, the visits to his family’s bar and grill continued. When his brothers started to give him a hard time over his frequent appearances he pointed out they were there more often, too, and so were the customers.
If he only appeared on nights that Dani was scheduled to work, that was simply because he preferred her cooking to Jackson’s. She was a smart, kindhearted woman, and he enjoyed their conversations on the nights that he dropped by. If Carla was around, he made sure to spend time with her, too. She was the only kid he knew, so hanging out with her was preparation for when he became an uncle.
He had an explanation for everything, but as time went by, it was getting harder to rationalize it to himself. The truth was, he liked spending time with Dani. She was funny and bright and drew him out of his work-oriented routine. She was also gorgeous, a fact he was finding increasingly difficult to ignore.
Not that he intended to do anything about it. His focus was on his career, not his social life.
He gathered his thoughts and started to sign off his computer for the night, his stomach already rumbling in anticipation of another of Dani’s incredible dinners, when there was a knock on his office door.
“It’s open,” he called, not looking up from the monitor.
“Considering how much time you spend here, bro, I thought your office would be a lot nicer. A few plants, some comfy furniture, maybe some mood lighting and a bar fridge.” Tag ambled into the cramped office, looking around with mock horror.
“Oh I have all that. It’s just hidden behind the secret panel I had installed behind the bookcase. Got to keep up appearances, you know,” Dave retorted, then grinned at his brother. “So, what do you want? And don’t tell me you’re only here for a visit because we both know better.”
Tag sat down in a well-worn chair and gave a lazy shrug. “With that kind of warm greeting, is it any wonder no one comes to visit you? You really need to work on your people skills.”
“You’re not people, you’re family. Big difference. So what’s up? If you had called I’d of saved you a trip. I was about to head to Leo’s to grab something to eat.”
Tag shook his head. “I’m not going there tonight. After this I’m picking up Jo and headed to some parenting class she signed us up for.”
Dave chuckled. “Tell her to take videos for us, will you? I want to see you trying to diaper a doll.”
“Like you’d do any better than I would, asshole.”
“Who do you think changed your diapers, huh? By the time you and Nicky were potty trained, I was a fucking expert.”
“Expert, huh? Does this mean you’re volunteering for babysitting duty?” Tag asked with a grin.
Dave knew Tag was ribbing him, but there was nothing joking about his answer. He meant every word. “I’d be honored to watch over your baby, Tag. Anytime.”
His younger brother looked at him for a second before nodding. “That’s good to know. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how you were feeling about the whole uncle thing.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I may not have any kids of my own, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like them. Hell, I plan on hel
ping Mom and Dad spoil the next generation. I’m going to be the favorite uncle, the one that lets them eat candy before bed and gives them the coolest presents. I’ve already got it planned out.”
“That’ll only work until you have kids of your own. Then I’m going to get even. And don’t give me that shit about you never dating again. I’ve heard it and I don’t believe it. You’ve been in a blue funk since the day that bitch left you, but it won’t last forever. One day some woman is going to come along and knock you on your ass, and I’m going to be there to laugh.”
“You mean the way we laughed at you the day you lost your mind over Jolena and kissed her in the middle of the yard? Or the time Benji threatened to break your nose for flirting with Kelly? Never going to happen. I’m leaving the caveman routine to you and the rest of our brothers.”
Tag leaned forward in his chair and set his hands down on the edge of the desk. “I still don’t believe you. One day, bro…” He trailed off without finishing his statement.
“You sound like our mother. It’s disturbing as fuck, so cut it out. I’m assuming that you didn’t come here to talk about my love life, so what is it you want?”
“I need a favor.”
“One that requires you to ask in person instead of over the phone. This is going to be a hell of a favor, isn’t it?”
His brother scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. “That depends on how you feel about spending a few days watching out for a mutual friend while Jo and I elope.”
“What?” Dave sat up and stared at Tag. “Run that by me again. I must have misheard you the first time, because I swear you said you were considering doing something that would send Mom into high altitude orbit from which she will rain down destruction and guilt on your sorry ass.”
“Yeah, we’re eloping. At least, we’d like to. Jo doesn’t want a big wedding, and God knows I could happily skip the whole crazy planning stage and cut straight to the important stuff. The thing is, we want to do it in Vegas. Take a few days away, relax and enjoy ourselves before the baby comes.”
