Free The Single Dad's Second Chance by Brenda Harlen Page A

went to the school in response to a call from the principal after Maura had given one of her classmates a bloody nose. After listening to the principal’s spiel about his daughter’s inappropriate behavior, Mrs. Patterson had taken a different tack.
    The teacher assured him that she empathized with how difficult it must be for the single father of a little girl, and she’d suggested that he should ensure that Maura had appropriate female influences in her life. The subtext was clear, and Andrew had politely—but quickly—extricated himself from the situation.
    “Have you been beating up Tyler Buckle again?” he asked his daughter now.
    “I didn’t beat him up,” she denied, with a put-upon sigh. “I punched him—once. And he deserved it.”
    “It doesn’t matter if you think he deserved it.” Although privately, Andrew had agreed with her—and had been impressed by the impact of her right hook. “You don’t solve disagreements with violence.”
    “He called me an orphan,” she reminded him.
    “Which only proves that he doesn’t know the definition of the word.”
    “But I don’t have a mommy...and I don’t even remember her very much anymore.”
    “I know, honey.” And that knowledge made his heart ache. Although he’d made sure to keep photos of Nina around the house, those pictures were a poor substitute for the real thing.
    “Do you think I’ll ever get a new mommy?”
    He probably should have anticipated the question after she’d come home from school a couple of weeks earlier with the news that her friend, Kristy, was getting a new daddy. And though he’d held his breath for a moment, when she’d said nothing else about it then, he’d thought the subject was done. He should have known better. Maura had a habit of hitting him with the hard questions when he least expected them—and this one was harder than any other question she’d ever asked.
    “I don’t know,” he finally said. “It’s not as if you can pick one out as easily as you would a carton of ice cream at the grocery store.”
    “I know,” she agreed. “You hafta find a girl you think is pretty and marry her.”
    He smiled at the simplistic explanation. “ Pretty is good.”
    “Do you think Mrs. Patterson is pretty?”
    He tried to picture his daughter’s teacher, but it was Rachel’s image that filled his mind. Her hair was brown, but it was a blend of so many shades, dark and light, and silky to the touch. Her eyes were deep blue and sparkled with life, and the sweet curve of her soft mouth was irresistibly tempting.
    “Not as pretty as Rachel.”
    “Who’s Rachel?”
    He hadn’t meant to speak the thought aloud. He certainly hadn’t intended to mention Rachel to his daughter, but he’d been thinking about her so often that her name just slipped out. “Just someone I know.”
    “Do I know her?”
    He shook his head.
    “Are you gonna marry her?”
    “There are a lot of things that have to happen before a boy and a girl marry.”
    She nodded, obviously wise beyond her years. “You hafta go out on some dates and kiss her first, and then you get married.”
    “How do you know all this stuff?” he asked.
    “Kristy Sutherland. Her mom used to go on lotsa dates and kiss lotsa boys.”
    “Kristy told you this?”
    Maura nodded again. “Did you go on a date with Rachel?”
    “We went to a basketball game yesterday, when you were at Grandma and Grandpa’s,” he admitted.
    “Did you kiss her?”
    “I’m not sure this is an appropriate conversation to be having with my six-year-old daughter,” he said.
    “I’m almost seven,” she reminded him.
    “It’s still not appropriate.”
    “You kissed her,” Maura decided.
    He sighed. “I think it’s time to get you back into bed, Little Miss Nosy Pants.”
    She giggled at the nickname, and the sound squeezed his heart. Her recollection of Nina was fading, and he wished there was something he could say or do to help her hold on to the few memories that