Page 48 of A Home for Harmony

“Do you do that?” Luke asked, grinning.

“Shit yeah,” he said seriously. “No one is hurting my little girl. Though she would argue she can take care of herself.”

“Because you taught her that way,” Brooks said, nodding. He and Brooks had more of a similar personality than they did to Luke. “And if I have a daughter, that is going to happen too. Ivy had a nontraditional upbringing in foreign countries. She never learned to look out for herself, rather always having others do it for her. Any child of mine is going to be independent. That’s a given.”

“I think that is the way to do it,” Micah said. “Even when you want to swaddle and hide them away forever.”

“Oh my God,” Brooks said. “Barnes is getting sentimental. Well, it only took six months for that crack to appear. Who would have thought a child would do it?”

Luke laughed and slapped him on the back. “You’re not as tough as everyone says you are.”

“Don’t bet on it,” he said, his face not showing any signs of humor.

Brooks was smirking at him.

Luke kept grinning and walked away to get his stuff and leave for the day. Luke was a pretty laid-back guy on the surface, but as a sniper with his military background, Luke was one ofthe most dangerous men in his barracks. You just didn’t see it coming.

Which of course made him evenmoredangerous.

With Micah, you got what you saw.

Or at least his men thought that.

Maybe everyone did.

Everyone but Harmony.

She saw a different side of him that only his daughter got glimpses of.

He had to ask himself why he let that happen.

Their radios were going off at the same time. Active shooting in progress, local police requesting backup in a residential area.

Micah went back to his desk to pull men off the road and send them over to help now.

When the request came in for a negotiator and hostages taken, he was out the door. As the only one in his barracks with the training, he was the closest to offer assistance.

He was five minutes from the scene when his phone vibrated and he saw it was Scarlet texting him. His daughter must be at his house and heard it over the radio. She’d be following his phone and know he was on the way.

He hit the button quickly.

“Dad,” Scarlet said. “Are you going there?”

“Yes,” he said. He couldn’t say more.

“Please be careful,” she said.

“You know I will. I’ll send you a text when I can.”

“I love you, Dad,” Scarlet said. She rarely said it unless she was scared or wanted something. Sometimes that something was him.

“I love you too,” he said. He’d find out what was going on with her when he was done, because, as he’d said, there was nothing wrong with being a girl-dad.

16

NEED TO COMMUNICATE

“I’m running to Blossoms right now,” Harmony said, popping her head into Erica’s office. She didn’t always tell her sister her plans. “I’m going to pick up lunch on the way home if you want anything.”