Colin closed his eyes.
He’s not my daddy though.
He’d heard those words in Juni’s matter-of-fact voice from the front room. Heard Maren’s quietNo, sweetie. He’s not.And the tiny pause after, like Maren was giving Juni’s thoughts a chance to land for her.
It had landed for Colin, too—dead center in a bitter memory.
She’s not yours.
He’d been a Ranger long enough to know how to lock down a reaction in real time. Identify the threat. Assess. Contain. Move on. But lying on a couch in a dark room with nothing to do but think, the lockdown wasn’t holding.
He turned on his side and in his mind saw Juni’s head tilt at the gate.Are you my daddy?
Then the way she’d waved at him across the kennel yard, then looked him up and down.
Yup. You’ll do.
Dammit. She was picking at a lock he’d welded shut.
And then there was Maren. Under any other circumstances…
Stand down, soldier.
He rolled over. The couch made a small sound under his weight.
Maren’s voice readingCinderellahad drifted down the hall while he’d been pretending not to listen. Steady and warm and a little hoarse from exhaustion, telling a story about a girl who’d lost everything and still got her happy ending.
A man could get used to that voice.
You aren’t that man. And don’t you forget it.
Colin pulled the blanket up and willed himself to sleep. It didn’t take.
Mac’s knockon the door came at oh-six-hundred. Colin was already awake and dressed. He’d done a perimeter walk an hour before in the pre-dawn quiet. Once he was with Watchdog another year and completed his training, he’d have a dog patrolling with him.
Colin let Mac in and handed him the perimeter log without a word.
“Good morning. Quiet night?” Mac asked.
“Very.”
“Sorry, but you look like hell, friend.”
“I slept fine.”
Mac raised an eyebrow but didn’t push. “Go get briefed. I’ll hold down the fort.”
Colin grabbed his keys. “Coffee’s fresh.”
“Noted.” Mac grinned as he sniffed the air.
“You’ll need it. I thought I heard Juni stirring a few minutes ago.”
“Good. I picked up some coloring books and crayons on the way in.” He held up a grocery bag. “We can color quietly and let Maren sleep in.”
“You’re a saint,” Colin said, trying to keep the jealousy out of his tone.
“I’m Canadian. I’ve been told it’s basically the same thing.”
