Ignite (Cloverleigh Farms #6)(2)

That was enough for me.

“Listen, girls.” I yawned loudly. “Moving into the new house is exciting, but I promise it’s still going to be that way once the sun comes up, so let’s try to get a little more shut-eye.”

Hallie scrambled into the bed too, forcing me to move to the middle to accommodate them both. “Can we sleep in here?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

“Then I guess you can. But go turn off the hall light first.”

Hallie dutifully got out of bed, switched off the light, and hurried back under the covers.

“And you have to actually sleep, okay? No talking,” I ordered.

“Okay.”

Stretching out on my back, I closed my eyes, knowing the silence wouldn’t last. Sure enough, not ten seconds went by before Luna spoke up.

“Daddy, can we please ride in the truck today?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s no time. You guys can stay with Aunt Bree and your cousins while Uncle Justin and I get the big stuff moved in.”

“What about after the big stuff is moved in?” Luna asked hopefully.

“We’ll see. Go to sleep.”

It would have been easier to make the move when I didn’t have the girls, but the timing shook out this way, and I refused to give up any of my days with them. My work schedule—twenty-four hours on and three days off—and the custody arrangement meant that I only got them two days a week, and those two days were always shifting around.

Naomi was willing to be flexible, but since she had to arrange her client appointments at the salon based on my work schedule, I’d promised her I wouldn’t ask for changes once the calendar was set for the month—although that never stopped her from trying to see them during my days or nagging me about things she didn’t think I could handle, like Luna’s nut allergies or Hallie’s compulsive tendencies or any kind of scheduled appointments.

“We’ll bring our stuff and stay the night in our new beds tonight, right?” Hallie pressed.

“Yes.” Frowning, I remembered there was something else I was supposed to do tonight—make an appearance at an engagement party for Chip Carswell, my best friend from high school.

If it was anyone else, I’d have blown it off, but I hadn’t seen Chip in several years, and he was only in town for one night. He pitched for the White Sox, and time off during the season was severely limited. I’d have to bring the girls to the party with me, but maybe that would be good because it would give me an excuse to get in and get out fast. Parties weren’t really my thing.

But I’d told Chip I’d be there, and I didn’t take my word lightly.

“Daddy?” Now it was Hallie.

“Hm.”

“I was wondering.”

The girl was always wondering. She asked more fucking questions than anyone I’d ever known and never accepted an answer she didn’t like.

“It’s too early for wondering,” I told her. “No wondering before six a.m. That’s the rule.”

“You can’t just turn off wondering, Daddy. It’s not like a TV.”

“Can I at least mute it?”

“What I was wondering about,” she went on, pretending she hadn’t heard me—a particular skill of hers, possibly learned from her mother—“was did you have to wear boots at boot camp?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why it’s called that?”

I yawned again. “Sure.”

“Was it like summer camp?”

“No. Except that it was hot.”

“What did you do there?”

“A lot of push-ups.”

“Is that how you got your muscles?”

“Some of them.”

“And you held your breath under water a long time, right?”

“That was SEAL training.”

She was quiet a moment. “When Mommy first told me you were a Navy SEAL, I pictured you in a dark blue seal costume.”

Eyes closed, I cracked a smile. “Yeah?”

“Yes. And your whiskers were light blue. And I imagined you worked somewhere like Sea World. Swimming in a tank and doing tricks for people, and they’d clap for you.”

“That would have been more fun than what I did.”

“What did you do?”

“Lots of things.” Mostly I’d just tried to keep my team alive and our gear intact. Which wasn’t that different from being a single dad, really.

“Mom says she never knew where you were or what you were doing.”

“That’s because I couldn’t always tell her.”

She lay back and settled under the covers again, turning onto her side to face me. “You were gone a long time.”

“I know.” As always, I felt torn when faced with the truth. I was proud of my career, but it had come at a price—my marriage, seeing my kids born, watching them take their first steps, hearing them say their first words. Three years ago, when I’d come home for good, Hallie hadn’t wanted to hug me—she knew I was her daddy, but I was unfamiliar to her in person. And little Luna screamed her head off when I held her. She had no idea who I was.