The Firefighter Daddy

As the others started toward Sarah’s house, Liam hung back. He missed the guys from the fire station in Dallas. He hoped the Single Dads’ Club would fill the void he’d experienced since coming to Buffalo. Even with Aunt Betty’s assistance, he was alone, raising two girls who hadn’t come with any instructions.

Chapter Two

When Sarah entered her childhood home, Gabe barked then loped toward the kitchen, where his food, water and bed were located. She showed Liam and his nieces into the kitchen while Gabe settled himself in his doggy bed. She checked the garage and wondered where Mom and Nana had gone. It was probably for the best her mom wasn’t here. One look at Liam and she would try to figure out how to match them up. Her mother wanted grandchildren. Sarah wanted children. She’d been pregnant almost five months—until she miscarried after the car accident.

“Have a seat at the table. I have lemonade or iced tea. Which would you like?” she asked as she closed the door to the garage.

“Lemonade,” Katie said while Madison replied, “Iced tea.”

Sarah glanced at Liam, sitting across from the girls, a look in his golden-brown eyes—perhaps sadness—that made her wonder why he’d given up everything to move to Buffalo instead of taking his nieces to Dallas. It couldn’t be easy becoming the guardian of two girls and also dealing with his brother’s death and a new town and job. “How about you?”

“Thanks, but I’m fine. We can’t stay long. I need to make something for dinner.”

“Sure. I’ll get their drinks then go find the photo.” She turned to the refrigerator for the lemonade and iced tea.

Liam McGregory had the same color hair—dark brown—as the girls, but the similarities stopped there. Their eyes were a crystalline blue, his a warm brown. His facial features were angular and hard, while theirs were soft and delicate. She peered back at him, intrigued by what little she’d learned today.

A minute later as Sarah set their glasses in front of the girls, she caught Liam studying her. She hurried from the kitchen before he saw her blush. Since coming home to Buffalo, she’d avoided her mother’s attempts to fix her up with a son of one of her friends. Sarah wasn’t interested in dating, especially when memories of Peter bombarded her everywhere she went in town. She hadn’t thought about that when she’d quit her job at a high-end salon, left her friends and returned home. Maybe that was why she felt a connection with Liam. He had to be going through some of the same problems she was, since he’d done the same thing when he’d come to Buffalo.

When Sarah found the photo with Gabe, she made her way back to the kitchen and put the frame on the table between Madison and Katie. The photo was of her Lab standing in eight inches of snow next to her. “Mom took that six weeks ago during the last winter storm. Gabe loves to play in snow.”

“Me, too.” Katie gulped down half her lemonade. “But I like swimming more.”

“Yep, it’s only...” Madison held her hand up and said, “April, May—” a finger popped up for each month “—two months to summer vacation. I can’t wait.”

“Not until I know you two can swim.” Liam slid the picture frame across the table, looked at it and then gave it to Sarah.

She took it. “Did you know that the high school has an indoor swimming pool? In the evening, they have it open for swimming classes through their community outreach program.”

Liam’s gaze snared hers. “At this time of year?”

“Yes, especially now. A friend I grew up with runs the program. I can give you her name. You can check to see if there are any openings left. Her next eight-week session starts in two weeks. I help her out two nights a week. I love to swim. It’s better exercise than running.”

Katie bounced up and down in her chair. “Can we? Can we?”

“I’ll look into it when Sarah gives me the number, but you two know my crazy schedule.”

“Ask Aunt Betty to take us.” Madison drained her glass.

“We’ll see. We don’t even know if there are openings.”

Although Madison didn’t say anything else, her mouth tightened, and she stared down at her lap. For a couple of seconds it appeared as though Liam wanted to say more, but when he didn’t, Sarah rose. “I’ll write the number down for you.” She moved to the desk under the wall phone and jotted the contact information on a piece of paper.

Madison clapped her hands. “Oh, goody. I know how to swim, but Katie doesn’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t.” Madison glared at her.

The noise of the garage door opening sounded as Sarah returned to the table and passed the paper to Liam. Now she would spend all evening answering questions about Liam McGregory. She contemplated trying to hurry the trio out the front door before Nana and Mom came in the back, but dismissed that strategy because if it wasn’t Liam, her mother would home in on someone else. She just wasn’t ready yet. She needed to get that point across to her mother.

“It won’t hurt for both of you to take classes,” Liam said as the door from the garage opened into the utility room. “Finish your drinks, girls. We need to leave.”

Her mom’s gaze latched on to Liam then drifted to Madison and Katie. A gleam lit her eyes. Sarah could almost see the hundred questions flying through her mom’s brain right now.

Sarah faced the two women entering from the utility room. “This is my mom, Tina Knapp, and my grandma, Carla Knapp.” She gestured to the trio. “This is Liam McGregory and his nieces, Madison and Katie. They live down the street and—” she swept her arm toward Gabe waking up and rising from his doggy bed “—they found Gabe. They put up posters. I saw one tacked to a telephone pole today.”

Her mother grinned, put her purse on the counter and shook Liam’s hand. “That’s great. Sarah has been so upset about Gabe being gone. We need to fix that hole in the fence better. Obviously what we did last time didn’t work. I declare that dog of yours is like Houdini.”

Katie scrunched up her face in a thoughtful expression. “Hou—denny?”

“One of the best escape artists, child,” Nana said, her purse still hooked over her forearm. “My mother used to tell me about the time she saw Harry Houdini escape from a water container while handcuffed in a straitjacket and then lowered into it upside down. She said he was amazing.”

“How did he do it?” Madison asked.

“By holding his breath three minutes while under water.”

Madison’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Nana nodded then took off her hat, something she insisted on wearing whenever she left the house. Sarah inspected her grandmother’s legs that still showed a faint reminder of where the dyes splashed her. But the tennis shoes she wore were shiny white as if they’d just come out of their box.

“I took Mama to get a new pair for work. The others were ruined,” Sarah’s mother said as she sat at the table.

Liam smiled at her mother next to him. Sarah had visions of her launching into her interrogation before he had a chance to escape. Sarah started to say something, but he stood.

“Girls, it’s time to go. We still have to make something to take to the meeting.” Liam turned to Sarah’s mother and grandmother. “It was nice to meet you both. I’m glad Gabe is back home.” Liam corralled his nieces toward the hallway so fast Sarah’s mom could only blink.

Katie paused, signaled her uncle to bend down. She cupped her hand near his ear and whispered, loud enough that everyone heard, “I’m not glad. I’m gonna miss him.”

“Shh, Katie. He isn’t our dog.” Liam was the last to disappear from view.

But Sarah heard Madison say, “We shouldn’t have made those posters.”

Sarah’s mother laughed. “He has his hands full with those two. I’ve heard some stories from Betty about her grandnieces. So that’s Gareth’s older brother. Betty has brought them to church, but I haven’t seen much of him.”

Here come all the questions. “Liam is a firefighter and has a crazy schedule.”

“Ah, yes.” Her mom tapped the heel of her hand against her forehead. “I remember Betty telling me that.”

“I’m going to my room,” her grandmother muttered as she shuffled toward the hallway.

Sarah’s mom waited a minute after Nana left, then said, “I had to take her back to the shop and make sure there was enough food for Sammy on the stoop. She was worried he would get hungry.”

“That cat has to weigh twenty pounds.”

“And Mama put most of those pounds on him.” Her mother crossed to the fridge and poured herself some iced tea then retook her chair, peering at Sarah.

She sat across from her mom. Dark circles she insisted were from allergies highlighted the weariness in her mother’s eyes. This was why she’d come home. She needed to remember that rather than get frustrated at her mother’s attempts to play matchmaker. That first week back in Buffalo she wouldn’t have stayed if she’d felt her mom hadn’t really needed her. Not only had her health suffered, the salon had, too.

She sipped her tea. “It’s a shame he can’t join his nieces at church more. Gareth was there every Sunday.”

“I think Liam feels a little overwhelmed with everything that has happened, being a single dad, new job and town.”

“That’s why he needs a woman.” Her mom eyed Sarah. “Someone like you who is organized and a hard worker. Loves children.”

Sarah held up her palm. “Stop right there, Mom. You’ll get grandchildren when I find the right man, with no help from you.”

“I’m not going to say another word about Liam McGregory today,” her mother said. “I know it hasn’t been easy coming back to Buffalo, but I appreciate your assistance.”

Today was the only word Sarah really heard. What about tomorrow or the next day?

“Hon, I’m gonna need you to fill in for me on a committee I’ve been on the past five years. I don’t think I would be very creative and helpful with all that has been happening with Mama these days.” Her mother pushed to her feet. “In fact, let’s order pizza. Right after dinner I’m going to head to bed.”

“Nana had a bad day.” Thankfully Sarah hadn’t seen in the past eleven weeks she’d been home too many of that type of day. “Did she give you any problems at the shoe store?”

Her mother put her glass in the sink then turned, her mouth twisted into a frown. “Other than insisting on buying a pair of heels for work? No.”

“I remember when I was a kid she always wore heels to the salon.”

“But in the past few years she’s worn tennis shoes. She’d break her neck if she worked in heels. Can you fill in for me on the committee? It meets at noon at a restaurant downtown. For April and May once a week, or until everything is taken care of. The fund-raiser is June 4.”

“I’ll get the dates from you and make sure I don’t have any clients scheduled at that time.”

“We’ll figure something out. The next meeting is this Tuesday.”

“What’s it for?”

“It’s for the day camp at our church. It gives needy children in the area who can’t afford the cost a chance to go. The fund-raiser kicks off the camp, which the kids can attend for June and July. Money is tight. For many working parents it’s a lifesaver.” Her mother headed for her room. “Will you order the pizza, please? I need to get off my feet.”

Sarah watched her leave, not surprised her mother was on a committee planning for a fund-raiser for children. Sarah was an only child, not because her mother hadn’t wanted more children, but because she couldn’t have them. She knew the kind of longing her mom felt because she did, too. She loved children and would love to be a mother.

* * *

Running fifteen minutes late for his second meeting with the Single Dads’ Club, jokingly referred to by some of the men as the Lone Wolves, Liam had to stop at a restaurant to purchase shredded barbecued beef on the way to Colt’s ranch. They had stayed longer at Sarah’s than he’d realized. There had been no time to cook. He remembered one of the firefighters at his station, Brandon Moore, had requested his homemade macaroni and cheese after Liam had served it for lunch last week. He’d intended to do that.

“We’re late,” Madison said from the backseat. “I hate to be late.”

“So do I. See, we have that in common.” Using the rearview mirror, he glanced at her and, as usual, she gave him a frown.

He sighed and kept his attention focused on the road leading out of Buffalo. When he’d first come to take care of them, Madison wouldn’t even talk to him. At least now she did, although sometimes he wished she didn’t, especially when she would point out that he wasn’t her dad. He’d tried not to let those words hurt him, but they did.

“I like to be on time, too,” Katie said right behind him.

“We have that in common, then.” In the mirror he smiled at the six-year-old, who was missing one of her front teeth.

Why couldn’t Madison be more like Katie? Earlier, when she hadn’t wanted to give Gabe back to Sarah, had been one of the first times she had been difficult. The sisters argued all the time, but Katie hadn’t argued with him. In fact, when he’d arrived to be their guardian, she’d latched onto him and had hardly left his side for the first month.

The main gate to the Remington Ranch came into view. Another car disappeared through it. Good, he wasn’t the only one running late. As he turned into the ranch, a truck drove up behind him.

“It looks like others are late, too.” He followed the Jeep in front of him, the road winding in an S with tall pecan trees on each side lining their path.

As they emerged from the green canopy, a large white house appeared, a veranda running the length of the front.

Madison whistled. “This is a big house.”

“We’re having a picnic out back, and then the kids can ride horses.”

The sounds of cheers and claps filled the car.

“I guess you all want to ride?”

“Yes,” they both said together.

Liam parked next to a white SUV and grabbed the food.

The girls hopped out before he had a chance to open his door and raced toward a group of kids. The last time they’d discovered several friends from school, so he’d hardly seen them the whole evening.

At a slower pace, he walked toward the food table.

Brandon came up behind him. “Macaroni and cheese?”

Liam set his dish with the others. “Nope. Didn’t have time. The owner of the dog we found the other day showed up for him.”

“How did the girls take it?”

“Considering they thought the Lab would be theirs forever, not bad. But I have a feeling they’ll be bugging me every day about getting a new dog.”

Brandon clapped him on the back. “Welcome to the club. My oldest son has had a string of pets over the years. If I let him, he’d open a zoo at our house.”

Liam scanned the kids for Brandon’s eleven-year-old son. “Where is Seth?”

He waved toward the rancher surrounded by six of the children. “He’s bugging Colt to let the kids ride before dinner. I see your nieces found their friends.”

Madison and Katie were in the middle of a group of girls. Colt’s nine-year-old daughter stood next to Madison. The girl with Down syndrome grinned and nodded.

Colt stuck two fingers into his mouth and whistled. The loud sound caught everyone’s attention. “I told the kids we’ll eat right now, so the ones who want to ride can afterward.” When a few children ran toward the food table, he added, “Let’s say grace first.” The three boys halted and bowed their heads as Colt blessed the dinner, ending with, “Give us the knowledge to do what is right, Lord. Amen.”

When Colt finished the prayer, all the children hurried for the food, juggling for their places in line behind the fathers of the younger ones who went first to fix plates for their toddlers.

Fifteen minutes later the kids sat at a long table, the older ones a buddy for the young children. The dads settled in lawn chairs, close enough to make sure everything went all right while far enough away to talk freely about any problems they needed help with. Liam was between Colt and Brandon.

“Who wants the floor first?” Colt, the founder of the Single Dads’ Club, asked the group. When no one said anything for a long minute, he smiled. “I’m not afraid to get this started. I freely admit I don’t have all the answers, but I hope between us—” his gaze skimmed the faces of all eleven men present “—we can figure out what to do. Beth came home the other day crying. There was a birthday party last weekend, and everyone in her class was invited but her. It’s hard seeing your little girl’s heart broken.”

“Confront the parents of the kid with the birthday,” a man across from Colt said.

“No, you shouldn’t do that. Have Beth ignore the child,” another suggested.

For the next ten minutes different options were voiced. Liam listened to the men talk over a wide range of solutions, some he would never have thought of. “What did you do, Colt?”

“I held her then tried to take her mind off the birthday party. I’m not sure that worked. But y’all have given me something to think about. Anyone else have something they want to discuss?”

At the first meeting Brandon had told Liam about Colt’s wife walking out on their marriage not a year after Beth was born. She couldn’t handle their daughter having special needs. She’d disappeared with their son.

Liam was at least thankful he hadn’t had children when his wife divorced him, but then, that was the reason why she ended their marriage. The last he’d heard, she was married and had a baby on the way. That was what she’d always wanted, but it hurt knowing he hadn’t been enough for her.

“I feel out of my depth with two girls.” Liam finally said what he’d been feeling for the past six months. “They’re different from boys. Do you find that a problem for you?”

Michael Taylor, a dad with two boys and one girl, chuckled. “Like day and night. What’s going on at your house?”

“They insist on keeping their hair long. But you should see me trying to get it untangled in the morning before school. I suggested cutting it, but you would have thought the world was coming to an end. They were tardy for school that day.”

“Do you have a detangle brush?” Nathan asked.

“I guess not. I don’t know what that is. Where do you get it?”

“In the hair product section of the supermart. It was a lifesaver for me. Another dad with two daughters told me about it.”

More problems and solutions were tossed back and forth until the children stood around looking at them because they couldn’t go to the barn without their dads.

Colt rose. “I guess that’s all for tonight. Feel free to call any one of us for help.”

Suggestions for different situations filled Liam’s mind. The first time he’d attended a meeting, he’d left numb with so much discussed and debated. This time hope bloomed inside him as though he might have a chance to make them into a real family.

All he needed was time and patience.

* * *

At noon on Saturday, Liam stuck the chicken casserole in the oven at the station house, set the timer for forty-five minutes and then refilled his cup with freshly brewed coffee. He headed for the patio behind the building to sit and enjoy his drink after a hectic morning.

When he’d returned from that multiple car wreck on the highway, he’d immediately started lunch while some of the guys had finished up cleaning the equipment and trucks. He’d become the cook on his shift after the others realized he knew how to prepare not just an edible meal but a delicious one, too.

Two other firefighters were outside on the patio. Brandon was stretched out in a lounge chair, catching some sun, while Lieutenant Richie Dickerson worked a crossword puzzle at the picnic table. He looked up as the door closing disrupted the quiet.

Liam took a seat across from Richie. “After we eat, I’ll need to go to the store to stock up for next week. Earlier you said something about coming along, too.”

The lieutenant put his pen on top of the New York Times’s puzzle. “Yep. I’ve gotta pick up some other items for the station.”

“Are there any other errands to run?”

“Nope. That should be it today except for our refresher course in CPR at three. Of course, this schedule could be a moot point if an emergency comes up.”

For the past two days both Madison and Katie had been moping around the house. Nothing Liam suggested for them to do was met with an enthusiastic response ever since Gabe’s owner had retrieved him. And yet with him gone for twenty-four hours at a time, he was concerned about getting a pet for them.

“I do have a job for you. The captain suggested you could help Brandon with the fund-raiser for the kids’ summer camp. Every year we’re one of the sponsors of the event, and we send two firefighters to be on the committee overseeing it.”

Liam glanced at his friend, probably pretending to be asleep. “When are the meetings?” he asked, hating to have to ask Aunt Betty to babysit any more than she already did.

“That’s the great part about it. It’s during the weekday at lunch. If it’s a day you’re working here, you’ll go as part of our community outreach.”

“What if we are called out?”

“Usually, I can spare one, possibly both of you, depending on the emergency. On your days off, I still need you to attend the meeting. You’ll get together once a week in April and May. The fund-raiser is scheduled for Saturday June 4.”

“That’s fine, since the girls will be in school. I think it’ll be fun.” Liam started to say more, when his cell phone rang. Hmm... Aunt Betty calling. Not good. She only called him at work when something was wrong. “Liam here.” He steeled himself for what his nieces had done this time.

“I went out into the backyard to get the girls for lunch. They were playing in a fort they built out of blankets. But they’re gone.”

“You know how they love to play hide-and-seek.”

“Liam, I promise I looked everywhere before calling you. They aren’t at my house, and I even went over to yours, but they aren’t playing in the yard there, either.”

His brother had installed a gate between the two properties when, at three years old, Madison had tried to climb the fence to see Aunt Betty on her patio. “I’ll be right there. You might talk to your neighbors and ask if they saw anything.”

“I just went inside to make lunch. I brought it out to have a picnic. I knew something was wrong when it got so quiet.”

With his nieces, that was usually an indication they were up to something. When he hung up, he turned to the lieutenant. “Madison and Katie aren’t where they’re supposed to be.”

“You go. I’ll follow with a couple of the men.” Richie strode toward the bay area of the station while Liam made his way to the parking spaces at the side and jumped into his red car, his heart racing.

What if someone had kidnapped them?

Eight minutes later he arrived at his house and noticed the girls’ pink and purple bicycles weren’t leaning against the back of the fence where they’d put them last night. The sight of them gone calmed him a little as he loped toward his aunt’s yard. If someone had taken them, their bicycles wouldn’t be missing.

At least he prayed that was true. He wanted the Lord to show him where they were, but he doubted he would hear from Him. He couldn’t blame God. Liam hadn’t had the strongest faith, and when his wife had walked out on his marriage, his life had fallen apart. Since coming to Buffalo, he was trying to change that because of his nieces.

Aunt Betty rushed out the back door. “A fire truck pulled up out front.”

“A few of the guys are going to help us look for the girls.”

“Should I call the police?”

“I don’t think anyone took them. I think they went riding on their own.” Liam rounded the side of his aunt’s house toward the front with her following. He spotted his lieutenant and waved. “I’m going to drive my car around the area. The girls’ pink and purple bikes are missing. They love the park two blocks away. Can you and the guys search there while I go up and down the streets?”