His Daughter's Prayer (Love Inspired) by Danielle Thorne

Author:Danielle Thorne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-08T23:00:00+00:00

* * *

It was by far the best all-nighter Mark could remember having in a long time. He and Callie worked as a team, cutting, staining and replacing the boards while taking turns running with Hadley, who played hide-and-seek upstairs until she fell asleep on the couch.

Callie stood back a few feet, admiring their work. Her hair was up in a high ponytail with strands that had worked their way loose throughout the night. Makeup had faded, giving her face a natural, outdoorsy look, except for the dark smudges under her eyes from lack of sleep. When she spoke, her voice sounded raspy.

“That looks amazing. It’s hardly noticeable.”

Mark pushed the plastic sheeting with brushes and stain cans away from the drying floorboards and leaned back on his hands. “When it dries, the stain will be lighter. No one will ever know.”

Callie leaned back and folded her arms. “How long do you think I should wait until I seal it?”

He glanced back to study her. She looked much calmer than she had yesterday when she’d rushed into the shop on the verge of panic. “I’d wait about two days,” he suggested. “Don’t you think?”

She nodded in agreement, then joined him, collapsing onto the floor beside him. Her black trousers were ruined, with a small hole above one knee and several sticky swipes of dark maple-colored wood stain. “I can’t thank you enough for this. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to get this repaired in twenty-four hours. He asked the impossible.”

Mark shook his head, staring at the floor. “Maybe he didn’t realize how much damage there was.”

“Or maybe he doesn’t know what it takes to lay floors.”

The house fell silent. They’d turned off the music they’d sang all night to keep themselves awake. He reached down and patted her hand, and she caught his fingers with her own, so he left it there. He cleared his throat. “We got it done. I can’t think of any reason they can’t show the house today if they have a request.”

“Yep, except it still smells like pizza in here.” She broke into exhausted giggles.

He sniffed. “I can’t believe we ate two pizzas.”

She kept laughing, then fell backward, sprawled out on the floor and put her hands over her face as the laughter spilled out. Tears trickled down her temples and into her hair.

That made him start laughing and after a while he reached out and tapped her leg. “Stop it. You’re going to put us both out of our minds.”

“Sorry, I’m sleep deprived,” she gasped between giggles. She tried to regain control but only managed sniffs and swallows before breaking into guffaws again when their eyes met.

Wiping her eyes and taking deep breaths, Callie managed to sit up as far as leaning on her elbows. “You’re at your shop as much as I’m at the office.”

“Actually, Lois covers on Saturdays, and I don’t open on Sundays.”

“Why is that?”

He shrugged. “That’s the way my parents did it.” He took a breath. “That’s something I’ll never change.

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