Daddy for Keeps by Pamela Tracy

Author:Pamela Tracy [Pamela Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2009-01-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

N atalie looked out the window for the tenth time. Any minute now, per their agreement, Lucky would drive up and load Robby into his truck, into the car seat he’d borrowed from Mary, and off they’d go to church. Natalie would be in the house alone for the first time since her father’s death. She could work on Web pages uninterrupted. She could sit in a comfy chair and read uninterrupted. She could maybe clean out a closet or two uninterrupted.

It was going to be a long, boring day, uninterrupted.

As if affirming her assumption, Robby crawled on the couch next to her and peered out the window, too. “Here yet?”

“Not yet.”

“You come?”

“Not this time.”

“Okay.”

It was that easy for Robby to accept Lucky and a boys’ day out.

Not that Lucky Welch could be described as a boy. No, he was a man, bigger than life, who was upsetting the applecart as her dad would say.

“Church fun,” Robby remarked.

“I’m glad you think so.”

Lucky’s truck bounced into sight right then, and Robby was off the couch and tugging on the front doorknob before Natalie had time to smooth her hair and make sure her shirt was tucked in.

“Morning,” Lucky called, stepping down from his truck and heading up the walk.

Yup, bigger than life. He wasn’t a cowboy this morning. No, in a black suit, white shirt and gray tie, he was definitely a Sunday-go-to-meeting man. Natalie couldn’t say why she was surprised. Maybe because on Wednesday night, he’d been relaxed in jeans and a flannel shirt. Looking down at Robby, she rethought his black jeans and blue sweater.

Lucky must have read her mind because when he got to the front porch, he said, “Robby looks fine. I’m all dressed up because this morning the preacher’s wife called. Seems Tate’s not feeling too good. They asked me to preach.”

“Then Robby will be in the way. I can keep him home, and you can take him some other time.” She’d meant to sound helpful instead of hopeful, but no such luck.

Lucky chuckled. “Mary’s still in town. She’s been bribing Rachel all morning with getting to see Robby again. She’d have my head if I showed up at church empty-handed. Robby will sit with them during the beginning minutes of service, then there’s a children’s hour.”

“A children’s hour?”

“Kids ages two to ten have their own service, down in the basement. There’s puppet shows and singing.”

Again, Natalie considered that the church Lucky was describing was not the church she remembered. It was more a church she wished she remembered.

Robby held out his hands, and Lucky picked him up. “You weigh as much a baby bull,” Lucky teased, hoisting the little boy high into the air. Then, he did something Natalie didn’t have the strength to do. He flew Robby in the air all the way to the truck. Robby chipped in by making plane sounds. A moment later, Lucky deposited Robby in the child’s seat and then started fumbling with the buckle.

“I do it,” Robby offered.

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