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I dragged in a breath, but before I could step back, he retreated. And just like that, he went into dad mode, leaving me off balance as usual.
He crouched in front of his sleeping daughter. “Hey, sweetheart. Ready to go see Grumps?”
Dani tucked her hand under her cheek with a grumble. “Sleeping.”
He tugged on one of her pigtails. “Come on, kiddo. We took up enough of Macy’s time today.”
Trick burrowed further into the space behind Dani’s neck. “Looks like neither of them want to get up.”
Dani giggled at the wriggling cat. “Can I have a cat, Daddy?”
“We’ve talked about it.”
“I swear I’ll take care of it.”
He sighed. “We’ll see.”
She sat up and gathered the cat into her lap. “That means no.”
“No, it means we’ll see.”
She pressed a kiss to the top of Trick’s head. “Can I come see her again?”
“Sure,” I answered before there was a meltdown.
Gideon looked up at me. “Don’t make that promise. She’ll never let you forget it.”
I shrugged. “She likes the company. I mean, if you want.”
“I want.” She lifted Trick as she struggled to get her butt out of the hole she’d made in the beanbag chair. I took Trick from her before the cat got pissy.
Trick settled into the crook of my arm where she liked it best, and Dani gave me the big cow eyes I hated. She stood on her tiptoes and gave the cat a kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Might not be tomorrow, squirt,” Gideon said with a wince.
“What if Karen is still sick tomorrow? Am I staying with Grumps?” She hissed as she stepped on her ankle.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“She’s fine at the café if you get in a bind.”
Gideon stood. “Are you sure?”
I shrugged. “She created a whole children’s reading hour today. There may be a riot if she doesn’t come back.”
“Is that so?” He ruffled Dani’s bangs.
She batted his hand away. “Better than crying kids. Besides, she’s got good books.”
Brewed Awakening had become a bit of a local library since my patrons had been using it as a dumping ground for old books. I didn’t mind. I’d stolen a few books off the shelves myself for the nights when sleep wouldn’t come.
So, that would be a damn lot of books lately.
Between the stress of The Haunt and my own inability to turn my brain off, sleep was non-existent. I yawned as if on cue.
Gideon scooped his daughter up, somehow managing the crutch too. “Looks like you might need a nap before tonight.”
“Yeah, about tonight.” Trick wiggled out of my hold and zipped across the room. I didn’t know what to do with my hands now.
