He took a breath and turned his head to the referee. “What happened?”
“As I was trying to tell you,” the man stressed, pointing at the ground. “Mr. Barr attacked me after his daughter nearly crippled Olivia Dodd!”
“She did not, and get this psycho off me, Reed!” Barr said as he struggled like a tipped-over tortoise under my boot.
The deputy turned back to me. “Could you let him up?”
Once I did, I moved so I was standing beside Emery, ready to shield him if the deputy got weird again.
“And you are?” Reed asked me once he had Mr. Barr back on his feet.
“Brann Calder,” I answered, squinting at him. “The sheriff might have told you about me as he was informed I’d be here.”
It took him a second, and then his face brightened. “Oh, yes, the bodyguard.”
Not quite, but I’d take it at the moment. “Yeah.”
He cleared his throat nervously, adjusting his duty belt. “Sorry about this, Calder. It’s nice to meet you, and clearly it was lucky you were here.”
It certainly was, I thought, but said nothing, knowing my propensity to add a sarcastic remark wasn’t always appreciated. “Mr. Barr needs to be cuffed and taken to jail, unless no one’s pressing charges,” I directed the deputy.
He looked over at the referee, who nodded.
“Really, Jonas,” Barr jeered at the referee. “You fu—”
“I’m serious about any words you’re thinking of using,” I warned Barr, my voice sharp, cutting. “I’ll put you back on the ground in front of all these people.”
Thankfully, he shut up and allowed Reed to cuff him without any further incident. It didn’t escape my notice, though, as Reed led Barr away, that he hadn’t said a word of apology to Emery. As I turned to him, Emery shook his head before telling Olivia to go with me. She leaned away from her father and toward me, arms open.
Taking her gently, I smiled as she wrapped her arms around my neck, and I carried her back to the sidelines.
“Oh, Ollie,” Lydia cooed over her, touching her cheek and back. “Are you hurt?”
Olivia laid her head on my shoulder and just held on to me, tight, as I patted her back, and only then did I notice that April was sitting in her chair, head down, shaking, and the woman I’d seen earlier had her sketchbook and was leafing through it.
Never, ever, had I been diplomatic in the least.
Stalking over to the woman, I snatched the sketchbook out of her hands. “The hell do you think you’re doing? That’s private property.”
Her gasp was loud. “How dare you take something out of my hands!”
“How dare you take something from a little girl!” I fired back, loudly, which caused her to take a step back and for Olivia, still in my arms, to squeeze my neck. I patted her back gently to reassure her, and it was sweet how she returned the motion, seeking to comfort me as well. “Did you steal anything else?” I barked even louder.
“I didn’t steal any—”
“The hell you didn’t!” I roared, and that time she retreated several steps, because if she thought she could be loud, she’d never yelled over open ground downrange in a firefight. I could get my voice to really carry when I wanted.
“What’s going on?” Emery demanded as he was suddenly there, stepping between me and the older woman.
“Who is this man?” she snapped, pointing at me.
“He’s the nanny,” Emery explained, sounding absurd, as I pivoted and strode back over to April to thrust the sketchbook out to her.
She lifted her head, and I saw how red and puffy her eyes were. Seeing the sketchbook, she took it from me gently—didn’t snatch it like I was expecting—and then continued to stare up at me, almost confused.
“Next time just come to me, and I won’t let anyone take anything from you, all right?”
“Really?” she asked quietly, her voice strained and timid.
“Yes, really,” I snapped so she’d know—from how irritated I was at her second-guessing me—that I was telling the truth.
“Okay,” she murmured, then added, “Brann.”
Taking a breath, I stood beside her chair, guarding her, glancing around, making sure no one even thought about coming near her or Olivia, who was still squeezing my neck tight. “Check through your book and make sure it’s all in one piece.”
She was quiet for a few moments, leafing through the pages. “I think it’s fine.”
“Good.”
Emery came up beside me moments later.
“Sorry,” I muttered under my breath as I continued to rub Olivia’s back. “It’s quite possible that I don’t have the right temperament to be a nanny.”
He coughed softly. “Perhaps not,” he agreed, “but you certainly have the protective instincts.”
I had no idea if that was good or bad.
Five
After Mr. Barr’s daughter was thrown out of the game, the opposing team had to forfeit because they didn’t have enough kids, so we got to go for pancakes earlier than expected.