Unexpected Daddy

“Thanks for sending in the reinforcements when I called you,” she chuckles at her aunt. “I thought you meant you were picking me up yourself.”

“I said I’d sort it out, Meg. And I did,” she advises proudly, her arms still hanging loosely onto her niece like she might get away if she lets go. “Sent the most honest man I could think of to fetch you. The most handsome one, too.” Nancy winks, giving Megan’s arm a squeeze as I step up onto the porch and drop Megan’s purse down by her feet.

“You do realize I’m standing right here,” I joke.

Nancy waves her hand dismissively. “Thank you for saving my Meg, Craig. I owe you a big old home-cooked meal.”

“You make it sound like he slayed the dragon and saved me like some damsel in distress, Aunt Nancy. My car broke down; it didn’t try to eat me.” Megan steals a glance my way, rolling her eyes. The humor alight in them makes my own grin widen.

“Anytime,” I say, meaning it. Nancy is one of the few people in town I would do just about anything for, so picking up her niece from the side of the road seems like a menial way to help her out. I turn to Megan. “I’ll tow your car to my shop and see what I can do to get it fixed for you, Megan.”

“I appreciate it,” she says, reaching down for her purse. “How much do I owe you for the—”

“I haven’t even done anything yet,” I laugh, shrugging. “Don’t worry about the money, since we don’t even know exactly what we’re dealing with. You just look after Nancy for now, and we’ll call it even for the tow call.” I shift my gaze to Nancy, giving her a wink, which delights the woman so much I’m surprised she refrains from clapping her hands together and blushing like mad. At least I know where her niece inherited the immediate blushing response from.

“You seriously don’t even want a credit card number or something?” Megan looks downright suspicious, frozen in place with her hand in her purse.

I laugh loudly then, a full, wholehearted sound from my lower diaphragm. “City girls,” I chuckle, shaking my head. “Don’t worry, I know where to find you.”

While Megan might look confused and shocked at my relaxed demeanor, Nancy is almost bursting at the scenes. She’s only hearing what she wants to hear—and what she wants to hear is that I’m telling her pretty niece that I will seek her out.

“We’ll be in touch,” I add, turning to head back toward my truck, knowing damn well Nancy is vibrating with enthusiasm and nodding her head. “You have a good day, Nancy,” I call out, waving my hand without turning back.

“You, too, Craig!” she shouts.

But she shouldn’t be thanking me at all, because I did something selfish. I purposely left Megan’s luggage in the back of her car so I’d have to see her again. I don’t know why I did it, or why I was compelled to even want to in the first place. But Nancy’s niece is going to need her belongings, and since I’m about to go tow her car to my repair shop, she’ll have to go through me to get to them.

Again, I don’t know why I did it. But the bigger question is on the tip of my tongue, and as I steal a glance back toward Megan, still standing on the front step with her aunt, her crystal blue eyes fixated on me, I ask it to myself.

I might have made sure I got to see Megan again by not grabbing her luggage, but why was she so interested in me that she didn’t even think of it herself?

Chapter Three

Megan

“You did that on purpose.” I follow Aunt Nancy into the kitchen and can already hear the kettle gearing up to whistle shrilly. She’s always believed that there’s a tea for every occasion, so I’m not surprised to see two mugs set out on the counter, teabags already placed in both of them, ready to be steeped.

My aunt turns to face me after unplugging the kettle. “Did what?” The devious grin on her face tells me she knows exactly what I’m referring to.

“Sending the cute mechanic to pick me up instead of driving out there yourself,” I explain.

“So you do think he’s cute.” She lets out a stifled squeal of excitement, pouring the hot water into the mugs. “Craig’s such a good man, Meg. I’ve told him all about you—”

“He mentioned that,” I interject, taking one of the mugs in my hands when she offers it to me. “And just what exactly have you been telling him? That I’m a university graduate with no job and more debt than I’ll ever dig myself out of? Or that I’m essentially homeless because I couldn’t bring myself to crawl back home to Mommy and Daddy and ask for help, so my amazing aunt came to the rescue to bail me out?”

“Oh, Meg.” Aunt Nancy waves her hand like what I’ve just said isn’t

true. But, unfortunately, it is. “You always were so dramatic, dear. You should be proud of your education. And I am hardly bailing you out of anything. I just put in a good word with Harold at the Chronicle, and the rest just kind of fell into place. You’ll get a handle on the debt once you start working. Things will work out, Meg, I promise.”

“Maybe,” I hiss when the hot liquid burns my top lip as I attempt to take a sip. “But only because of you. Thank you, Aunt Nancy. For talking to the guy at the newspaper, and for letting me stay here until I can get back on feet again.”

She reaches out and squeezes my arm affectionately. “You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you want, dear. The company will be nice.” She leans in to whisper, “And we can talk about boys.”

Despite my dreary mood from talking about my reasons for being here, I laugh. Leave it to my aunt to think we’re going to stay up late, braid each other’s hair, and giggle about the boys in town. “You mean you’re going to talk about boys, and I get to listen,” I correct her.

“Well, I’m going to talk about Craig,” she advises with a shrug. “It’s up to you whether you want to see how right I am about the two of you.”

“What about us?” I’m almost afraid to ask.