Nonetheless, Kyle’s bad day didn’t seem so bad anymore.
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “You’re welcome. You know someone who served?”
Usually, the only people who thought about thanking veterans were those with family or friends in the armed forces. It was just a fact. Regular people enjoyed their freedom well enough but rarely thought about the people behind the sacrifices required to secure it.
Johnny nodded, his eyes wide and full of grief. “My dad. He was killed in the first Gulf War. I was still a baby. I never got to know him.”
Ouch. That was the kicker. No matter what else, Kyle and this kid had a bond that could never be broken.
Kyle simply held out his hand and waited until Johnny grasped it. “That’s a shame. I’m sorry for your loss. I stood in for great fallen men like your dad and helped continue the job he started. I’m proud I got to follow in his footsteps.”
The younger man shook his hand solemnly, and then there was nothing more to say. Some things didn’t need words.
* * *
Kyle hit the shower when he got back to the house. When he emerged, Liam and Hadley asked if they could take the babies for a walk in their double stroller before dinner, and would he like to come?
A walk. They might as well have asked if he’d like to fly. He’d have a hard time with a crawl at this point. After the fishhooks Johnny had sunk into his heart, he’d rather be alone anyway, though it killed him to be unable to do something as simple as push his daughters in a stroller. He waved Liam and his new wife off with a smile, hoped it came across as sincere and limped into the family room to watch something inane on TV.
There was a halfway decent World War II documentary on the History Channel that caught his interest. He watched it for a few minutes until the doorbell rang.
“That was fast,” he said as he yanked open the door with a grin he’d dare anyone to guess was fake, expecting to see Liam and Hadley with chagrined expressions because they’d forgotten their key.
But it was Grace. Beautiful, fresh-faced Grace, who stood on the porch with clasped hands, long brown hair down her back, wearing a long-sleeved sweater with formfitting jeans. It was a hard to peel his eyes from her. But he did. Somehow.
“Hey, Kyle,” she said simply.
His smile became real instantly. Why, he couldn’t say. Grace was still a bundle of trouble tied up with a big old impossible knot. But where was the fun in leaving a tangle alone?
They’d agreed to forget about the past and start over. But they hadn’t fully established what they were starting, at least not to his satisfaction. Maybe now would be a good time to get that straight.
“Hey, Grace.” He crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame, cocking his busted leg to take the weight off. “What can I do for you?”
The sun shone behind her, close to setting for the day, spilling fiery reds and yellows into the deep crevices of the sky. As backdrops went, it wasn’t half-bad. But it wasn’t nearly as spectacular as the woman.
“We had an appointment. Earlier.”
Kyle swore. He’d totally forgotten. Wasn’t that just dandy? Made him look like a stellar father to blow off his daughters’ caseworker.
Fix it. He needed Grace’s good favor.
“But you were off doing cowboy things,” she continued. Her voice had grown a little breathy as if she’d run to the door from her car. But the scant distance between here and there sure didn’t account for the pink spreading through her cheeks.
“Yep. Someone advised me I might want to find permanent employment if I hoped to be a daddy to my girls. Sorry I missed you.” He raised a brow. “But it’s mighty accommodating of you to reschedule, considering. ’Preciate it.”
Good thing she hadn’t wandered down to the barn so she could witness firsthand his impressive debut as the boss.
“No problem,” she allowed. “I have to do the requisite number of site visits before I make my recommendations and I do want to be thorough.”
Maybe there was room to get her mind off her recommendations and on to something a little more pleasant. Before she made any snap judgments about his ability to recall a small thing like an appointment with the person who had the most power to screw up his life. Well, actually, Grace was probably second, behind Kyle—if there was anyone who got the honor of being an A1 screwup thus far in this custody issue, it was him.
“Why don’t we sit for a minute?” He gestured to the porch rocker to the left of the front door, which had a great view of the sunset. Might as well put Liam’s revamp of the house to good use, and do some reconnaissance at the same time. Grace had to provide a report with her recommendations. He got that. But he wanted to know more about the woman providing the report than anything else at this moment.