Hennessey's Handler (Protect and Serve #4) - Pandora Pine Page 0,2

start with. We were lucky the hospital had the flip-flops, otherwise, he would have been barefoot. I’ll be in touch tomorrow to see how he’s settling in. Looks like a snow day for sure.” With a tiny wave, she moved carefully back to the van and drove slowly away. The van skidded twice as it rounded the far side of the cul-de-sac.

I watched the van’s headlights disappear, feeling like I was in a state of shock. “His step-father did that?” In all my life, my parents had never come close to hitting me, not even when I was a complete asshole.

Dad wiped tears from his eyes. “We’ve done our best to keep the horrors these kids lived through from you, but I think it’s time you understand not every home is like ours. Your mother and I didn’t decide to open our home to children in trouble to inconvenience you or to make your life miserable; we did it to help kids who are stuck in bad or dangerous situations. I’ve never been a fan of parents who constantly tell their children how lucky they are, but I’m making an exception here. This little boy has been through more trauma tonight than you’ll ever know. Think about that the next time you want to throw a good deed back in our faces.” Without another word, my father turned and headed back toward the house.

In the time we’d been standing outside, another inch of snow had fallen. There were at least six inches on the ground already. My mind flashed back to Kevin in his pink flip-flops and blood-stained clothes. Feeling lower than I’d ever felt in my life, I trudged back to the porch in my warm boots and heavy coat.

Dr. Ross would have bandaged his wounds and told Kevin everything would be all right. Maybe I could do the same. I was going to do everything in my power to make Kevin feel better, even if I had to give him the shirt off my back and the shoes off my feet.

1

Hennessey

April, Present Day…

“Happy birthday, dear Lola! Happy birthday to you!” everyone chorused.

“Cha! Cha! Cha!” the newly crowned three-year-old sang at the top of her voice. I reached up to balance her crown, which was slipping down over her left eye.

“Do you need help blowing out the candles?” Lola was sitting in my lap. She’d somehow come to the unsolicited conclusion that I was her person. With my long blond hair pulled up in a man-bun, a long bushy beard, and my sleeve of tattoos, I’m not exactly favorite uncle material.

“Nope! My wish!” Lola shot me the stink eye, shoved her crown back from her eyes, and leaned forward to blow out the candles.

Our whole family cheered while I rushed to pluck the three smoking candles out of the cake. The one thing I’d learned about being an uncle to two small girls was that you have to move fast. These girls kept me on my toes in a way nothing had since I left the Coast Guard.

Lola and her older sister, Sophie, came into our family about six months ago. They are the biological nieces of Saxon James, my brother Dallas’s fiancé. When their mother died from a drug overdose, they came to live with Saxon. The McCoy family jumped right in, giving the girls the family they so desperately needed.

“Cake! Cake! Cake!” Lola demanded.

“Cake! Cake! Cake!” her sister Sophie joined in, perching herself on my other knee.

“I’ll get the cake sliced if someone takes a picture of these girls with Hen.” Mandy snatched the cake knife away from Lola’s grabby hands.

“Got it, Mom!” Kennedy was all smiles as he snapped pics of me with the girls.

They pressed closer and kissed my windburned cheeks while Kennedy kept taking pics. I’d never felt luckier in my life than I did at that moment.

“How does it feel being three?” I asked Lola.

“Shh, it’s a secret.” Lola put a finger up to her lips and giggled.

“A secret?” Hell, if there was a secret to aging gracefully, I wanted to hear it. “Maybe I could tickle it out of you!”

“No!” Lola shrieked when I clamped my arm around her and tickled her neck. “Stop tickling!” Lola laughed as she tried to move my fingers.

“Are you ready to talk?” I set her down on the warm grass next to my chair.

“Never!” Lola swore and ran off toward Sophie, who was helping Saxon hang the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game to the