Explosive Alliance (Wingmen Warriors 9)

"It's not 'cause of the move." She set the puppy back on her knees, flopping long ears back and forth with exaggerated concentration. "My daddy didn't die of the polio."

Paige straightened from her slouch against the mop, the conversation suddenly about far more than future dates. Part of her longed to burst out onto the porch and scoop up her daughter, but she feared an interruption would stop Kirstie cold.

Please, please, Bo, handle my baby with care.

He reached to flop the puppy ears, too, which also happened to bring his scarred hand over Kirstie's smaller one. "I know, Cupcake."

"He, uh," she whispered, clearing her throat and starting again, "he died in jail because he was a bad man."

"So did my dad."

Whoa. Hold on. They'd spoken about his father, and Bo never mentioned this. Why?

Something to ask him about later, but right now she needed to focus on her daughter.

"Your daddy died in jail? How come?" Kirstie asked the question hammering in Paige's mind.

"He stole cars." Muscles rippled along his shoulders with tension under the thin cover of his well-washed cotton T-shirt. "The last time he did it, he killed someone so the police sent him back to jail for good."

"Did somebody shoot him, too?"

"He had a heart attack."

"Oh." In profile, she squinted her brown eyes behind her glasses, canting closer to him.

' You don't look like your daddy was a bad guy."

"Neither do you."

"Thanks."

"And thank you."

Kirstie went back to flipping Honey's ears with extra focus as if weighing her words. "My mama used to say I got my daddy's nose, back when she used to talk about him. What if I got other parts of him, too?" Her voice went soft again as her hands fell away from the puppy. "The monster parts."

Pain knifed through Paige like a contraction in her midsection where she'd once carried this child close to her heart. She propped the mop against the wall before she dropped it.

Her feet pulled her closer to comfort her daughter, even as she knew she should stay back.

"Trust me. You don't." His voice stayed gentle, but surety rang through that even a kid couldn't miss. Paige stopped at the screen door behind them, her hands pressed to the mesh.

"How can you be so sure? Grown-ups tell lies, you know. My daddy said he loved me.

But if he really did, then he should have loved me enough not to do stuff that would make him go to jail. He shouldn't have hurt those other people."

"You're right," Bo answered with surprising frankness.

"I am?" Kirstie's cupid mouth dropped open as she looked up at Bo. "You're not going to tell me my daddy really loved me and I shouldn't worry about grownup stuff?"

Like Paige had said for a year. Her forehead fell to rest against the metal frame of the screen door.

"The way I see it, Cupcake, you already have to deal with grownup stuff, so I'm going to explain this to you in a grownup way. Think you can handle that?"

She nodded, eyes wide and somber. Side by side, Kirstie and Bo sat, looking so much like a father and daughter it hurt Paige's eyes to see their twin shadows stretch down the steps.

"The way I figure it, there are two kinds of love. There's the kind where, sure, people say they love you, and they do. Except, what they want is more important to them than what you need."

How strange that it stabbed, hearing Kurt hadn't the first clue about being a real father.