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“Yeah, that definitely looks like a rock,” he told her.

“Daddy! It’s meant to look like the sun.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “Then why did you ask me if it looked like a rock?”

“Because I wanted to see if you knew what it was, Daddy.”

Oh hell. Had he upset her? Her lips were moving. Was she about to start crying?

Then a strange noise came from her, and she burst into laughter, falling onto her back.

“Oh, Daddy, you should see the look on your face. Of course, it’s a rock. It’s not the sun. The sun’s yellow. Silly Daddy.”

He moved over her, tickling her gently. She let out a few cries, her legs kicking back and forth. “Daddy, Daddy, no, no, stop, stop. You have to stop!”

“This is what you get for trying to trick Daddy.”

“You looked so horrified, Daddy. I’m really not that bad at making clay things.”

She really was that bad at making clay things, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.

“Mercy, Daddy, mercy! Before I have to pee.”

He stopped tickling her immediately. “Do you need to pee?”

She seemed to think about that. “No, I’m good.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Daddy, I’m sure. I know whether I need to pee or not.”

Hmm, that wasn’t always true.

“You know, now that I think about it, it’s quite lucky that I usually need to pee before we get in a vehicle,” she said as she started to play with some different clay.

He wondered what she was creating now. It looked like a tree, but it could just as well be a dog.

“Why is that?” he asked.

“Because if I hadn’t needed to pee, then I wouldn’t have been able to sneak up on that gunman with the plank of wood, now would I? Because I would have walked down the pathway with you.”

“Right, but I would have taken the main path and the gunman would have had his back to me, so I would have been able to get the jump on him before anything happened.”

She froze. What had he said? What had he done? Suddenly, she burst into tears.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” He grabbed hold of her, drawing her onto his lap. “What’s the matter? Is it your bottom?” Oh God, had he spanked her too hard?

“No! You’re saying it’s my fault that Webb got shot?”

What the hell? He’d never said that. “Of course it’s not your fault that Webb got shot. What are you talking about?”

“Well, if I hadn’t had to pee, then you would have come down the normal path, and you just said he would have had his back to you, and that you would have been able to jump him, and that meant that Webb wouldn’t have gotten shot, so it’s my fault he got shot because I had to pee,” she wailed.

It took him a moment to understand what she was saying. Fuck. He was an idiot. He grasped hold of her chin and leaned her back, staring down at her with a stern look on his face. “You listen to me. It is not your fault Webb got shot.”

“Yes, it was.”

“No. Who knows what could have happened? The gunman probably would have heard us because you walk rather loudly, and you were chatting away. So, in all probability, he could have turned and shot both of us before anybody got to him. It’s most definitely not your fault.”