Page 83 of The Sandbar saga

Chapter 33

Callie sat with herfeet in the chair in front of Race's desk, looking smaller than any child he'd ever seen. Her upturned bare knees hid half her face.

Instantly, Race hated having her in the cottage, in his office. It was no place for a child her age. She barely had the maturity to sit still, never mind the ability to hold a meaningful conversation.

She certainly wouldn't want to hear a stranger, a man, talk. He was probably scaring her to death.

"Do you like to run in the grass?" he asked.

Callie nodded.

He stood. "Let's go outside in the yard. I bet we can find something interesting to look at."

Walking around the desk, he stopped to wait for her to follow him, and she scrambled off the chair and slipped her hand in his as if she trusted all adults.

Awed by how tiny her little fingers were in his palm, he took her outside. She ran forward and stopped at the sprinkler head.

She fell to her knees in the grass. "What's that?"

"A sprinkler. When I turn the water on, it pops up and waters the lawn." Struck with how to entertain her, he looked around. "There are more in the yard. I'm not sure how many. I wonder if we could count them."

"I can only count to twelve, and then I forget." Her little eyebrows lowered, and that little frown, that little sign of frustration gave him a glimpse of himself.

He rubbed the wrinkle between his brows. "I could help."

"We do it together." Callie ran ahead of him to look for more.

He followed her, marveling at the coordination in such skinny limbs. She only came up to his thigh, yet moved like a graceful cat.

"Found another one." Callie dropped to her knees. "That's two."

"Good job." Watering his yard would never be the same for him.

Callie ran over by the hedges and stopped. He caught up with her. "I think we'll find more in the grass."

She moved the foliage in front of her. "Water."

He bent over and at her height, found she could look directly at the pool on the other side of the privacy hedge. When Katie had told him Callie was his daughter, he hadn't thought of the dangers of having a pool in his backyard. He'd need to put a fence around the area. Hell, he'd fill it in with dirt.

Callie sat down and pulled off her shoe. He squatted beside her, unfamiliar with children as young as his daughter.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I..." She grunted, getting the other shoe off. "Go swimming."

"Whoa...hold on." He scratched his jaw. "I don't think your mom wanted you to go into the pool. You're only here for an hour."

She scrambled to her bare feet. "I'm going to ask her."

"She's not here."

Callie's lower lip came out, and her chin trembled. He took in the way her gaze darted around as if not believing him. Katie told him she would wait in her car. He could walk Callie around the house and let her talk to her mom, but his daughter needed to understand that the hour they were together would be only for them.

Besides, at four years old, his daughter probably couldn't swim. He couldn't imagine Katie, with her fear of the sandbar, letting her daughter near a pool until she was much older. Even when Katie was a teenager, she preferred to sit out by the pool or lounge in the water rather than swim.

"How about we ask your mom when she comes to pick you up if you can go swimming next time you visit?" He walked over and held out his hand.

She slipped her fingers into his palm and sniffed. He noted her non-answer as accommodating him.