He knelt, holding Pearl’s hands while she found her footing. Banshee ran up, sniffing her up one way and down the other. Pearl thought this was hilarious—even when she ended up sitting in the grass.
“Banshee.” Tandy’s tone was soft. “Gentle.”
Banshee looked at Tandy and sat, then resumed staring at Pearl.
“He’s smart.” Click was impressed.
“Da-gee,” Pearl said, pushing herself back onto her feet and pointing at Banshee.
“He is,” Tandy agreed, watching his daughter and the dog. “And he loves the attention.”
Click’s lungs emptied at the smile Tandy gave his daughter. Warm and real, sweet and carefree. The way Tandy should look.
“Since you’re here, lend a gal a hand?” Scarlett asked. “It’s heavy.” She nodded at a large box in the back of the truck.
He nodded. “You moving out here?” he asked, inspecting the cabin with a critical eye. It leaned to the right, the whole damn building. Hell, a strong wind would probably knock it over. He pulled the box to the edge of the truck and lifted it onto his shoulder.
“Me? No,” Scarlett said, hurrying into the cabin.
He hesitated. Pearl was following Banshee in a circle, but with his hands full, he couldn’t carry her and the box.
“I’ll keep an eye on her.” Tandy’s voice was soft, but her smile was gone.
He closed his eyes, wishing there was a way to ease the tension between them. “Thank you.” He carried the box inside the cabin and placed it on the floor. Renata was sprawled across the bed, a towel folded over her eyes. Other than the even rise and fall of her chest, she wasn’t moving.
“Recovering?” Click asked Scarlett.
“She’s just trying to get out of work,” Scarlett said.
Renata giggled. “It’s working, isn’t it?” Then she groaned.
He peered around the cabin. If the outside had been bad, the inside was worse. “Who’s moving in?” He bit back the “and why” he wanted to add.
Renata sat up, the towel sliding from her face. “Tandy. You and Tandy are going to be neighbors.”
“I’m pretty sure my dad is up to something,” Scarlett said with a sigh. “I’m just not sure what. Yet.”
He’d stopped listening after You and Tandy are going to be neighbors.
Lynnie’s lawyer was headed out that evening, to go over the particulars of Lynnie’s will. He didn’t know how long he and Pearl had before they’d be back on the road, looking for a home base. He’d hoped they’d have longer than this—time to get sorted out. Having Tandy for a neighbor was bound to complicate that. “She’s moving out here?” he asked, shifting so he could see out the open front door.
Tandy was kneeling next to his daughter, tickling Pearl’s face with a flower. The sight took his breath away and turned him to stone. That, right there, was all he’d ever dreamed of. The two of them and the family they’d created. But his dreams were based on a different baby girl. Amelia. The baby girl who had kicked and rolled inside Tandy’s belly, reminding them she was coming whether they were ready or not. They’d wanted her so bad...loved her so much. He’d held her once, blinking back the tears so he could etch every detail of her too-still features into his mind.
She’d been perfect—a mix of him and Tandy and pure love. Letting her go had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. Tandy’s sobs still woke him, frantic to ease her.
But he couldn’t make it better—for either of them. Their baby girl was gone.
He gripped the door frame until the grief subsided.
“Click?” Renata asked.
He ran a hand over his face, swiping away all traces of his heartache before they saw them. “Yeah?”
“You okay?” Scarlett asked.
He nodded. “Yep.” He pushed off the door frame and headed outside. He smiled at Tandy and crouched by his daughter. “What’d you find, Pearl?”
Tandy was so caught up in his daughter, she forgot not to smile at him. “A feather. A flower. And this smooth rock.” She offered the rock to Click.