Free The Power of Love by Serena Akeroyd Page A

me to come do errands with you, Daddy?”
    Josh raised a brow. “You don’t want to come?”
    “No! I mean, yes! I do. I really do.”
    Gia smiled at Luke, and for the first time in an age, he returned it. It was impossible not to. They knew that of them all, Lexi spent the least amount of time with Josh. It was something Gia tried to rectify, but it was hard with Josh’s schedule. Nix that, it was impossible.
    “Good, I’m glad to hear it,” Josh told her, his attention reverting to the paper. Gia realized he had no idea how happy he’d made his daughter. She almost despaired for him but then stopped. He’d figure it out eventually, and while he didn’t spend a lot of time with Lexi, there was no doubt, from any quarter, how much he loved their little girl.
    “What errands?” Gia asked, curious as to where he was going on a Sunday. He wasn’t dressed in his BDUs for once, which meant he wasn’t intending on going to the base.
    He peered over the broadsheet. “Errands, that’s all.”
    “Are you going to the store?”
    “No.”
    Gia looked at Luke, wondering if he’d picked up on their husband’s caginess. From the scowl on his face, he had. “If you’re not going to the store, then where are you going?”
    Josh clucked his tongue. “Out, for God’s sake. What is this? The Inquisition?”
    Lexi immediately piped up, “What’s the Inquisition, Daddy?”
    “Now see what you’ve started,” he growled at the adults in the room. “It’s a saying, sweetheart. It doesn’t matter.”
    Gia snorted. Like that would fob their daughter off. “It was a war, love. A very old war.”
    “There are lots of wars, aren’t there? Daddy’s been to war, Papa too. And Grandpa Robert.” Lexi sighed. “It’s sad. If people get hurt like Papa, then I don’t like it. It isn’t right. Did you go as well, Mommy?”
    “Nope, I’ve never left America.” She took a bite of her muffin and then said, “When bad people do bad things, the good people need to stop them. That’s all it is.”
    Another sigh escaped her, this one so large it made her narrow shoulders heave. “If you say so.”
    “I do. Daddy and Papa are the good guys, love. All they do they do to protect us.” Gia reached over to cup her little girl’s cheek. “It’s not all bad, love.” When Luke huffed, she shot him a quick glare. It was the first time she’d done anything other than be careful with him, and he looked suitably chastened at the silent reprimand. “It isn’t,” she assured Lexi with a chirpy smile.
    “Where are we going, Daddy?”
    “Well, I need to do some things, but I thought we could round it off by going to the park.”
    “Do we have to?”
    He frowned. “Don’t you want to?”
    She wriggled in her seat. “Not really.”
    “Why not?”
    Gia cleared her throat. “It’s dirty, isn’t it, Lexi?”
    The answering nod was immediate, and all the more worrying for it. She’d tried to tell the pair of them how bad Lexi was getting where dirt and germs were concerned; they simply hadn’t believed her.
    “Getting dirty isn’t always bad,” Luke murmured. “Think of all the fun you’ll have.”
    “It isn’t if my skirt gets covered in mud,” came the gloomy response.
    Josh twisted around to peer out of the window. “Unless I’m mistaken, there’s been no rain for the past two weeks, honey. There’s no mud to be had.”
    “There will be if I go to a park,” Lexi retorted, folding her small arms and pursing her lips into a mulish pout.
    A chuckle escaped Gia, but she quickly stifled it by pressing her knuckles to her mouth. “I doubt it, love,” she said. “Daddy’s right. If there’s no rain, then there’s no mud.”
    “I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to go, Daddy.” She used her most polite tone—one that worked on everyone save Josh.
    Luke shook his head. “Talk about an old head on young shoulders.”
    “She’s getting worse,” Gia mocked.
    “Well, I think I’ve changed my mind. I