Page 4 of The Dragon’s Accidental Manny

So who the heck was Ledger? And I was about to meet their father whose name I didn’t know.

“Are you Ledger’s friend?” Jack was examining one of his damaged wings and was about to fly off the back of the sofa again, but I coaxed him down.

“No.” I couldn’t say I was when I’d never met the guy.

The kids looked at one another.

“Ledger doesn’t live with us,” Isla announced.

Now I was really confused. He wasn’t their father or their manny. He didn’t live here, so what was going on? I thought back to the address Meara had given me. Was I in the wrong house? Maybe, but the kids did know Ledger, so the man existed.

I gasped. Oh no, the poor darlings. Perhaps Ledger was their dad but he and his husband were divorced and he didn’t have custody? I was tempted to gather the kids around me and give them a hug because that was hard. I had firsthand experience of being shuttled between two homes

“I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” Bea arched her brow.

Ummm, why had I said that? It was instinct, but now I’d inserted myself into their family dynamics.

“Well, ummm, it must be difficult not having him here.”

“Not really. Why are you asking about Ledger?”

Perhaps Ledger was a deadbeat dad, but then why had Meara sent me to talk to him, saying he was the manny? Unless that was his job but for another family.

“Meara sent me here to speak to him.”

Bea shrugged. “I don’t know who that is. Is she from the agency?”

“Yes! Finally we’re getting somewhere! Woo-hoo!” I clapped and jumped up and down but froze when three pairs of eyes were directed at me, probably because of my over-the-top response.

“Ummm, I’d better call Meara.”

“Why?” Isla collapsed on the sofa and picked up a sketch pad with a half-finished drawing of a dragon on the first page. She ran her finger over the sharp spikes, saying they didn’t look right.

Jack attempted to take the pad, but his sister yanked it back. “You said you’d draw Daddy’s dragon.” He pushed out his bottom lip. “But you didn’t.”

“Jack.” The little boy’s head jerked up at his sister’s tone. “Not in front of the manny.”

Daddy’s dragon. What was he talking about? I ran over the possibilities. Oh, they must have a pet lizard or something. Maybe it was in the courtyard. I wasn’t a fan of creepy crawlies, but this wasn’t where I’d be living.

“I can give some tips on how to use shading to complete the sketch.”

“Really?” Isla patted the sofa. “That’s so cool.”

I sat beside her and got up again. What was I doing? This facade had gone on long enough. I was in a stranger’s home with their young children, and I had to clear up the confusion. But a door at the back of the house opened and a husky voice called out that the manny had postponed their interview and they’d be here tomorrow.

Three heads swiveled toward me. Hey, this wasn’t my fault. Okay, maybe it was because I’d come to the wrong house. I wanted to blame Meara and her lousy handwriting, but that wasn’t going to get me out of this awkward situation.

An alpha in his late thirties with a salt-and-pepper beard strolled into the room, and I gulped. Not because I shouldn’t have been here—though I shouldn’t have—but because this man took my breath away. No, he really did. I put a hand to my chest and begged my lungs to keep working. My thoughts were zigging and zagging as his expression reminded me of Isla’s dragon sketch.

I braced myself for the questions, the uproar, and a possible call to the police. Meara would get an earful. Curling myself up to make myself as small as possible, I whispered, “Sorry, I’m apparently in the wrong house.”

The alpha’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared, again looking similar to his daughter’s drawing. He extended his arms and pushed the children behind him as fury blazed in his eyes and they changed color. I squinted, imagining flames replacing his irises.

But as I put my hands up in surrender and whispered that I wasn’t crazy or a burglar or a kidnapper, he took a breath and his expression changed. His furrowed brow relaxed, the tension left his shoulders, and he got this goofy look on his face.

“You.”