Page 34 of His Secret Wish

Chapter 8

Aloud boom of thunder woke Owen from a dead sleep. He cracked open an eye. Not that he could see much in the dark bedroom. It had to still be late because it was still pitch-black outside. The rain beat against the window like bullets.

He rolled over, reaching for Izzy. The bed was empty.

Sitting up, he pushed his hair out of his eyes, and switched on the bedside lamp. A glance at the clock showed it was just after three in the morning.

Another crash of thunder echoed outside, and he swore it shook the house. The storm was clearly directly overhead.

He rubbed his eyes and glanced up. The bedroom door was open a few inches. Izzy must have gone to the bathroom or something.

His heart slammed into his throat. Two sets of eyes peered at him through the space between the door and the frame. It took a moment for his sleep fogged brain to link the pieces together. Their across the hall neighbors had clearly been woken by the storm.

“Everything okay?” He tried to keep his voice low and even, maybe even soothing. No point in scaring them any further. He wasn’t too good at this stuff. Hadn’t spent a lot of time around little ones. His brother, Jake, had a little girl, but she was still a baby, and they’d moved out of state a bit ago. His brother Mason and his wife, Grace, didn’t have any kids yet, although he’d overheard a conversation that said they were trying to get pregnant.

He wasn’t going to lie, even to himself—the idea of Mason and Grace being able to have a baby when he and Izzy hadn’t been able to, rubbed him the wrong way. Although, on the other hand, he knew he was being unreasonable. It wasn’t like the rest of the world should stop having kids because he and Izzy had struggled. Shit, Jake’s daughter was the product of a one-night stand.

The only reason his brother even knew about his daughter was because the baby’s mother had been overwhelmed as a single mom, and had left the baby on the doorstep of the ranch. The situation had gotten ugly when the mom came back and wanted little Olivia back. Jake and his best friend, Claire, had pretended to be a couple to try to win Jake custody, and had somehow fallen in love. It had been a mess, and honestly, Owen was glad he’d managed to stay out of most of it.

The bedroom door squeaked open a couple more inches, and two little faces appeared. The older girl, Claudia, had her arm wrapped around the littler one, Marissa. Both sets of eyes were as wide as tractor wheels, and he was sure there were tear tracks on the little one’s cheeks. Neither one of them said anything, just stood there looking terrified.

“Do you want to come in here?” He didn’t really know what to do other than invite them in. Although, now that he thought about it, maybe he should send them back to their room. And where the hell was Isabella? She would know exactly what to do.

Claudia nodded, and they shuffled into the bedroom as one. They were wearing matching pajamas—pink flannel with yellow rubber ducks on them—and he had to admit, it was super sweet.

“Okay,” he said, slipping out of the bed. “You guys wait here and I’ll see if I can find Izzy. I mean, your Tia Isabella.”

Another crack of thunder sounded, followed by a bright flash of lightning.

Claudia squeaked, ducking her head. Marissa tore herself away from her sister and launched herself at him, wrapping her little arms around his leg. Her grip was tight, and she was trembling.

“It’s okay, little one.” He patted her head. “It’s just a storm. It will pass.”

Claudia stepped closer, her skinny arms wrapped around herself. The fear in her watery gaze nearly stopped his heart. For them to end up in foster care at such a young age was so fucking terrible. A mix of sadness and anger, the latter mostly directed at the universe, licked through him.

“Here’s what we’ll do.” He turned and patted the bed. “You guys get up here and I’ll go see where your Tia disappeared to.”

Claudia scrambled onto the bed, pressing herself into the far corner, her back against the headboard. She wormed her way under the blankets so she was mostly covered. Marissa didn’t budge, kept her death grip on his leg.

“Hey,” he said, peeling her arms off of him. “You go and sit with your sister, and I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”

She stared up at him, her big eyes full of too much depth for someone so young. An ache built at the base of his throat, and he cleared it and glanced away.

Thunder boomed again, another house shaker. A streak of lightning lit up the room.

Claudia squeaked again and buried herself under the blankets. Marissa froze, her eyes wider than he’d ever seen, her lower lip quivering. Any second she was going to burst into tears. What the hell was he going to do with her then?

With a sigh, he picked Marissa up and sat on the bed. She clung to him like a barnacle, her small head resting on his shoulder. He draped his arm loosely around her and sighed again. This was not how he’d pictured the rest of this night going. He’d been expecting to cuddle with Izzy until the sun came up, not babysitting.

“So, how about a story?” He glanced from the lump that was Claudia, to Marissa, and then back.

Claudia wiggled her way out from under the blankets so her face and shoulders were free. “A story?”

“Yup, and a good one.” He was totally bluffing because he didn’t actually know any stories. At least not ones that were appropriate for little girls. And then he remembered a story Mama used to read to them when they were little. It was one where a dragon kidnapped a princess, and while the knight in shining armor was posturing about how he was going to save her, she ended up outwitting the dragon and freeing herself.

He didn’t remember it word for word, but he could easily make up the forgotten bits. It wasn’t like they’d be critiquing his recall. They’d probably never heard the story before, anyway. He nodded. “Yes, a story about a princess and a dragon.”

Claudia’s eyes lit up, and she sat up a little straighter. Marissa snuggled closer and popped her thumb into her mouth.