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“No.” This was hard. What if he didn’t understand? She wasn’t sure she understood. How could he? “Daddy, can I hold Puff?”

“Of course, Bluebell.” He reached across the bed and grabbed her friend. “Here you go. Can you tell me the words that upset you?”

Puff was soft against her cheek. With her Daddy and her dragon, she could be brave.

“It wasn’t your words, Daddy. It was my ears. I don’t like disappointing people. In the house I grew up in, disappointing people got you yelled at and punished. So now I am constantly listening to people’s words and the tone of their voice. If I pick up on the fact they are unhappy with me, I can do something about it before they get upset. People aren’t nice when they get upset.”

She waited for him to scold her. He had every right to tell her how silly she’d been and how much she’d scared him.

But then he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. The steady thump of his heart was comforting. The warmth and acceptance washed over her, cleansing her spirit.

“I’m sorry you had to live in that house. And I’m glad you called it your house and not your home because a home isn’t like that. Now, look at me, Tildi.”

She obeyed, no longer worried about what she would see in his eyes.

“I will never be disappointed in you. You are a beautiful soul, and you are valuable because of who you are, not what you achieve or accomplish. I may be disappointed in your actions from time to time, but never, ever in you. I don’t expect you to be perfect. And I’m warning you right now that I’m not even close to perfect myself. So, Bluebell, you’re going to be disappointed in me sometimes, too. But I promise if you’ll talk to me when that happens, I’ll do everything in my power to make it right. Deal?”

It took her a second to process all that he’d said. Things like that weren’t ever said around her, much less to her. Until now. Until Boone. Beaming up at him, she nodded. “Deal, Daddy. And I call no takebacks.”

He grinned before kissing her forehead again. “No takebacks from you, either.”

She owed the universe an apology. All those times she’d thought no one was listening, she’d been wrong. The universe just needed to get her in the right place at the right time so she could have a Daddy like Boone. At least for now.

He scanned her face and must have been reassured by whatever he saw. “Dutch made breakfast, and he gets his tighty whities in a wad when people don’t eat what he cooks while it’s hot. What do you say we save him that discomfort and fix ourselves a plate?”

Her stomach growled, answering for her. With a bark of laughter, Boone stood and carried her from the bedroom intowhat he called the helm station. There was a large square table to the left, surrounded by a U-shaped sectional. On their way, they passed through the galley, where she saw a man wearing camo pants and suspenders without a shirt cooking something on the glass-top stove.

Boone sat down on the sectional, keeping her on his lap. No sooner had they taken a seat than the man from the kitchen showed up with two plates. One had pancakes stacked a mile high, two eggs, bacon, and sausage, while the other had three pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse, complete with blueberry eyes, a strawberry nose, and an oversized smile of piped whipped cream.

He placed the huge plate of food in front of her and the Disney pancakes in front of Boone. She stared at them for a second, then back up at the man.

He pretended to jump and said, “Oh, my bad,” before swapping the plates around. With a grin and a wink, he said, “Hey there. My name’s Dutch.”

“You got something in your eye, Hallowell?” Boone grumbled out, frowning.

Dutch continued to grin. “Nope.”

“Thanks for the food. Now get gone,” Boone ordered.

Dutch’s grin grew to a smile. “Gotcha,” he said. With one more wink, he headed back toward the galley.

“That man’s gonna lose an eye if he keeps that up,” Boone said.

Leaning over to kiss his cheek, Tildi told him, “Don’t be a grouchy pants, Daddy. He was just being nice.”

Boone gave a non-committal grunt and began eating. Tildi wolfed down her pancakes in no time, only breaking when Boone fed her a bit of his eggs or a slice of his bacon. She’d never tasted anything better in her life.

They spent the morning exploring the ship. It was incredible. When it was Boone’s turn to take the helm, he sat in the chair with her in his lap. He even let her steer.

She was so excited, she couldn’t hold back her, “I’m doing it, Daddy. I’m doing it! See me?”

“I see you, Bluebell. You make a great co-pilot.”

“Uh-huh, we make a good team.”

“That we do, little one. That we do.”

By early afternoon, her eyelids began to droop. That she was able to hide from her Daddy, but when she was attacked by a yawn so big she couldn’t cover it, he swung his eyes her way. “Sounds like someone needs a nap.”