Free The Surprise Holiday Dad by Jacqueline Diamond

case. “In view of my family experiences, it’s good to hear that I’m not screwing this up.”
    “You aren’t,” she confirmed.
    His eyes met hers with a tingle of electricity. “That was hard for you to say, wasn’t it?”
    “Horribly.” He was very perceptive—scarily so. “Reggie means everything to me.”
    “That makes two of us.” Wade arose as his son pelted in.
    “Well?” Reg demanded, wiping his damp hands on his jeans. “You can stay here on Friday, right?”
    “Hey, sport, here’s the deal.” Wade fixed him with a stare. “Tomorrow night for your birthday I’ll take you and your aunt out for an early dinner and play with you till around eight. Then we’ll go to your sitter’s. On Friday I can stay over.”
    “Yay!” The little boy jumped in the air.
    It hurt to see him so eager to be with his father, and Adrienne had to fight the impulse to reassert control. Still, she recognized the inevitability of sharing power with Wade, like it or not. Besides, after their conversation, she didn’t dislike it as much as she had before.
    “There are conditions,” Wade went on.
    Reggie stopped jumping.
    “You have to help your aunt around the house and treat her with respect. Just because I’m here doesn’t mean she’s been demoted, okay?”
    “Okay,” Reggie agreed, although Adrienne doubted he knew what demoted meant.
    “I refuse to provide an excuse for misbehavior,” Wade concluded. “So do me proud. Show your aunt what a great kid you are, and you’ll be showing me, too.”
    “Yes, Dad.” Reggie laced his hands in front of him.
    Having a veritable stranger defend her rights as a parent felt strange. I don’t need anyone’s help, was Adrienne’s first reaction. Yet kids naturally tested limits, and it helped when both parents backed each other up.
    “Now, I have to leave,” Wade told his son. “Didn’t I hear someone mention setting the table?”
    “I will!” Reggie scampered toward the kitchen. That was impressive cooperation, Adrienne mused.
    Wade tilted his head. “Not even a hug for poor old Dad.”
    “One-track mind.” And a reminder that Wade wouldn’t always be—what had he called himself?—the shiny new toy.
    After arranging to pick her and Reggie up the next day at four-thirty, he went into the kitchen and said goodbye to his son. Then he was gone.
    As she punched in Stacy’s number to cancel Friday’s plans, Adrienne sensed that matters were slipping from her hands. But only a little. And that didn’t scare her nearly as much as she would have expected.
    * * *
    O N T UESDAY W ADE bought new clothes in preparation for his job. Aside from a sports coat and dress pants to wear to interviews, he’d neglected his wardrobe, if you could apply that term to a well-worn assortment of jeans, chinos, T-shirts and polos.
    At lunch he arranged to meet a trio of high school friends. After they reminisced about sports and teachers, the conversation shifted to their families. One fellow was divorced with a little girl, another happily married without kids and the third living with a woman with whom he had two children.
    They offered advice that ranged from the insightful—don’t rush closeness, children need a chance to bond—to the cynical—watch out for the woman, she’ll try to get her hands on your money. As if he had any. Wade departed little wiser than when he’d arrived. Still, he was glad to be back in town. Despite not keeping in touch with his friends since he’d left Safe Harbor, all those years of growing up together had forged a bond that would always be there.
    The discovery that he’d missed Safe Harbor forced him to reflect on how hard it would be on Reggie to leave. Still, the boy was only six. If necessary, they’d go...but Wade would prefer if this job worked out.
    And he couldn’t deny Adrienne’s role as a mother figure for Reggie. She bore little resemblance to her sister. More like Wade, she’d evidently been the responsible kid in a