Jaxon rubbed her back. “They should be. You're right where you belong. Speaking of which, it's time for bed.”
“Nooo,” Tazzy wailed, though she didn’t put her heart into it. It was almost midnight, and she was tired. “Can we stay up a little bit longer, pleeeeease?”
“Okay, babygirl, till the stroke of midnight, but no longer.”
Sitting on the couch talking made the time pass quickly.
“Okay, it's past time for bed, Darkling. The only reason I let you stay up late tonight is that tomorrow's Sunday, so the coffee shop's closed, and we can sleep in.”
“Okay, but can we look at the stars one more time before we do that?”
Jaxon stood, carrying her to the front door for some fresh air. He stepped onto the porch first, like he always did after dark, and froze.
Tazzy felt the sudden tension in his body. “What is it, Daddy?”
He bent and picked up a plain, unmarked envelope from the welcome mat. There was no stamp or address. Just her name written in neat block letters on the front.
Jaxon slid it into his back pocket without opening it. His jaw tightened, but his voice stayed calm when he spoke to her. “Nothing you need to worry about, babygirl. Let's go back inside.”
Tazzy searched his face. She saw a fire brewing behind his eyes, but didn’t ask. He closed the door behind them with no explanation of what was bothering him.
She let him. For now.
Later, in bed, she lay with her eyes closed but her mind wide awake. The soft buzz of his phone made her sit up. Middle of the night calls were never good news. Jaxon took his phone from the bedside table. He responded quickly and hit send.
She caught the words on the screen before he slipped the phone away.
Jaxon:
Need to talk soon.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, hating the fear in her voice.
“Something came up, and the guys just had a question. Let’s just get some rest, and I’ll tell you about it later. There’s no need for you to worry, Darkling. I’ll take care of it.”
Tazzy lay back down. She didn’t believe him. There was definitely something to worry about. But for the first time in eight years, she had a Daddy who would take care of it. With that thought, she lay her head down on the pillow and fell asleep.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next day, Jaxon was relieved when Tazzy chose not to bring up the late night call or what had disturbed him on the porch the night before. He needed more information before he could discuss it with her. She understood the danger well enough to be careful without the additional stress that note would create.
Apparently, she’d been preoccupied with her own thoughts as they finished up their late breakfast. She asked him about something entirely different.
“Daddy, the Musketiaras are getting together down at the square this morning. As vice-president, they’re counting on me to be there. Can I go?”
“I don’t know, Sprite. I’m concerned about your safety right now. It might be dangerous.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. All their Daddies will be there, too.”
He hadn’t heard about anything special happening today. Maybe they were all so focused on the General that they forgot to mention it.
When he arrived at the town square, he realized that he should have asked more questions. Half the damn town had squeezed itself into the small town square. You’d think it was a festival. There were vendors selling t-shirts and buttons. He even saw Gideon “Bones”Preston and some of the hospital staff handing out bottles of water and small packets of sunscreen.
Now Jaxon was standing nose to nose with his Little Darkling, who was currently waving a ridiculous glittery sign like she was leading a full-scale revolution.
She carried a picket sign that read, “DADDY’S DARKLING DEMANDS CHOCOLATE EGGS BEFORE BROCCOLI!”
The damn thing sparkled so hard in the mid-April sun that it hurt his eyes. Tazzy’s voice rang out bright and bratty as she pumped her fist with the rest of the Musketiaras, crying out, “What do we want? CANDY FIRST! When do we want it? NOW!” Over and over.