“She’s gone missing again,” she said immediately, not as calm as he’d have liked. “Just like the other times, but—”

“How long has she been gone?”

“Thirty minutes.”

Fuck. “And Sierra?”

“Sitting right here in the office with me eating a Popsicle.” She lowered her voice. “I thought it would entice her into talking because it’s clear she’s not stressed in the least, which in the past has been the signal that her sister is perfectly safe.”

Not good enough for Mark. “Check the tree in the yard. I’m on my way.” He disconnected and inhaled a deep breath, feeling the overwhelming sensation of being a single parent and not the best one at that. He had no idea what two little girls needed, none, though he gave it his all. Still, he knew damn well he fell fucking short.

The principal’s assistant called back five minutes later. “Found her. She was in the tree.”

“My ETA is twenty.”

He made it in ten. When he pulled up, he realized it was a half day for some sort of teacher thing and the bell had just rung. He called the office and told them he was in the parent pickup line and to not put the girls on their usual bus.

Her mother’s temperament was making an appearance in every line of her body as Sam trudged angrily down the sidewalk toward him, dragging her backpack behind her, scuffing a path through a blanket of leaves that had fallen in the day’s wind gusts. When the disobedient backpack declined to keep up, she jerked it angrily along with her, huffing and mumbling, sending leaves flying in her wake.

Mark watched them both approach with a mixture of deep relief and bad self-directed temper that completely destroyed his equilibrium. What was he doing wrong that one daughter couldn’t handle school and the other hadn’t spoken in a year?

He exited his vehicle. The girls had been walking single file, Sierra in front happily skipping, Samantha behind her, head down, torturing her backpack. Sierra was as put together as she had been when they’d left for school. Samantha was without her sweatshirt, her T-shirt was dirty, and her jeans were torn in one knee, revealing a bloody scratch.

Sierra beamed at the sight of him. He scooped her up for a hug and she put her hands to his cheeks, patting lightly. An unspoken signal for “go easy on her.” He brushed a kiss to her forehead and deposited her into the backseat before turning back for Samantha.

“Sam,” he said and she jerked her head up, her bad temper gone in a blink, replaced by sheer joy. “Daddy!” She leapt at him and he caught her, holding her tightly to him. She smelled like oak tree and maple syrup and a little bit like him, and he held on tight, thankful when she squeezed him right back. She laid her icy cheek against his and he turned them, shielding her from the wind.

“Daddy,” she murmured again.

Her moods were pure and mercurial, but she loved with a fierceness that pushed everything else aside. And like always in these uncomfortable, unfamiliar moments with the girls that were his entire life, he was forcibly reminded that he was indeed grateful to Brittney for something after all.

“You’re cold,” he said. “When you take off like that, you need to plan ahead.”

She looked away, avoiding eye contact. Another throwback from her mother, which meant she was thinking and thinking hard about how to get away with not telling him something he needed to know. “Talk to me, Sam.”

At this, she leveled her big, dark, soulful eyes on him and gave him the full pitch. “I gave my sweatshirt to Julio. He doesn’t have a sweatshirt and he’s always cold. Don’t tell Grandma.”

“Grandma would be proud of you,” he said.

“Maybe for the sweatshirt, but Sierra and I also gave him half our lunches. We always do.”

“Baby.”

Her eyes swiveled his way, her outrage clear. “He’s hungry, Daddy. And he was the only one who made Trevor stop being mean to us on the playground.”

Sometimes Mark was certain his heart no longer worked, and then at other times, like right now, the organ swelled so that it felt too big for his rib cage. “We’ll double the size of your lunches.”

She beamed at him and he felt a burst of pride that he’d been able to soothe some of the always-just-at-bay guilt that gnawed at him for not being the best parent at times. He’d never intended to raise sweet yet savvy little hellions, but somewhere along the way they’d adapted to his life and become his Mini-Mes. “Now tell me about this Trevor,” he said.

“He teased Sierra about not talking and he told me I’m a loser who chased off my mommy. But I didn’t chase Mommy off, she left all on her own.”

Jesus. He wasn’t going to survive parenthood. He pulled her a little closer and brushed a kiss to her temple, wondering just how much jail time he’d do for killing a juvenile punkass kid. “I’m sorry he said those things to you,” he managed evenly. “But I’m glad you know that nothing of what happened with your mom was your fault.”

“I know, Daddy.”

But God, could she really? Praying that his sins weren’t going to come back to haunt his girls, he dumped her into the backseat, making her giggle. She crawled over Sierra and he leaned in to make sure they were buckled properly, tickling Sierra until she laughed out loud. He stroked a thumb lightly below the scrape on Samantha’s knee. “From your tree-climbing expedition?”

“Yes. Don’t tell Grandma that either, okay? She says climbing trees isn’t becoming.”

He snorted and got behind the wheel. Five minutes later, he pulled up to the winery. He helped the girls out and watched them run up the path, waving wildly at everyone just sitting down to lunch on the other side of the fence.

Everyone waved back and the twins vanished inside, appearing in the yard two seconds later. He strode up the path, smelling the food even from this distance. He felt some of the tension he had been holding off since getting the call about Samantha ease away.

Lanie was there. Both tables were completely full, and as he could’ve predicted, she was sitting on the very end, looking inside a brown bag.

She’d brought her own lunch again, even as she looked at the growing food spread with longing. She still tended to hold herself back even after all these weeks, but she did smile easier at whoever approached her.

Pretty much the story of his life with her as well. She held back, but when he approached and pushed just a little to get past her barriers, she welcomed him in with that devastating smile.

And that one memorable night under the stars last week, she’d also welcomed him in with open arms.

“She’s special,” Mia said.

Mia had come up at his side. His baby sister smiled at him. “But you already know that, don’t you?”

He pleaded the fifth.

“I know, I know,” she said. “Mom’s on a mission to mend your broken heart and you’re on a mission that’s counterproductive to that, to never be happy again—”

“Mia, don’t.”

She lifted her hands. “Hey, I’m not judging. I’m the one who wants to find someone.”

“You find too many someones.”

“I’m working on being more selective. Now I’m looking for The One. He needs to have intelligence, charm, and a sense of humor that is insanely fucking naughty.”