Free Twilight at Blueberry Barrens by Colleen Coble Page B

don’t you? But she grabbed those iPads right out of the girls’ hands. I thought that was a little bold. They’ve been through a lot.” He’d tossed and turned a lot last night and awakened with the decision to find someone sweeter and gentler.
    She shrugged and tugged her camo jacket a little tighter around her shoulders. “That’s life. And if we give them a pass for every bump in the road, they’ll turn out just like so many self-absorbed teenagers you see every day. You want that for them?”
    “I don’t call losing both parents a ‘bump in the road.’ ” Not many kids had to face that kind of heartbreak. He wanted to see Phoebe sleep without a lamp on again. He’d give up every cent in his hefty bank account to hear Emma laugh again.
    His throat tightened, and he looked out to sea where a large yacht scooted past the rocks. Heath had loved sailing. They’d spent many happy hours on their family boat when they were growing up.
    Sometimes the pain of his brother’s loss was too much to bear. He had to find out what happened or he’d never have peace.
    His aunt touched his arm. “I’m not saying it wasn’t a tragic, horrible event, Drake. But if you’re not careful, you’ll ruin those girls. Do you think Heath would have wanted that?”
    He shook his head. “He was always strict with them and insisted on good manners. He started taking them to soup kitchens as soon as they were born, and every Christmas they took loads of presents to homeless people in Boston.”
    “Then don’t mess up now, kiddo. Take a firmer hand with them. It doesn’t mean you don’t love them. In fact, it means you love them enough to train them for living a productive life.”
    He studied her rugged face. She’d always been a no-nonsense sort of woman, and she made a lot of sense now. “Maybe you’re right. I’m just not sure about Kate.”
    She wagged a finger at him. “That girl’s had a tornado of events in her life, and she’s emerged still kicking. You want a strong mother figure for them, someone whose strength the girls can emulate.”
    He held up a hand. “Whoa, mother figure? No nanny will take Melissa’s place.”
    “Of course not. I should have said role model. That suit you better?”
    “It’s just for six weeks. I hardly think Kate or anyone else would have that big of an impact in such a short time.”
    “You’d be surprised.” Her voice was soft, and she turned to look out at the water.
    He counted back to how many days in total he’d been around his aunt and realized it wasn’t a whole lot more than that. He and Heath had come here for a week every summer starting when they were ten and until they were eighteen, and then a weekend here and there after they’d grown up. Maybe a total of sixty-six or seventy days. It wasn’t much more than the forty-five or so days a nanny would be with the girls. The impact Dixie had on him had been profound.
    He studied the topknot on her head and the sag of her shoulders. She’d been widowed when she was twenty-five and never had children, but that was about all he knew. “Why didn’t you ever remarry?”
    When she turned around to face him, a tiny smile lifted her lips. “I’m a slow bloomer, but I’m working on it. Walker Rocco didn’t work out, but there are still fish in the sea.”
    “You’re seeing someone now ?”
    “Drake Newham, I might be old, but I’m not dead.” Her penciled-in brows were drawn together, and she folded her arms across her ample bosom.
    He knew from her steely tone that his aunt wasn’t about to give him any more personal information. “All right, I’ll hire her. But if it ends up poorly, it’s all your fault.”
    Her grin up at him held a triumphal gleam. “I think my shoulders can bear the burden.”
    “I love you, Aunt Dixie.” Slinging his arm around her, he motioned for the girls with his free arm. “Dinnertime.”
    Seeing Kate’s pretty face every day wouldn’t be a trial, but he wasn’t sure it was