Daddy on Demand / Déjà You: Daddy on Demand / Déjà You. Lynda Sandoval

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СКАЧАТЬ even more striking in person.

      “It’s so good to finally be face-to-face,” she said as Cass hugged her. She felt like a shrimp to Cassidy’s five-eight, and her figure was willowy, her big blue eyes wide set and intelligent.

      “You, too.” Pushing her to arm’s length, Cassie studied her with the eye of an unabashed analyst. “Oh, dear, you look far too tenderhearted for these two mighty mites. Ladies,” she addressed her daughters with a more formal tone, “This is Miss Sabrina, whom I was telling you about.” To Sabrina she added, “They’re better at their numbers than enunciation, as you’ll soon find out. Can you tolerate being called, ‘Miss Brina’?”

      “That’s much better than Unca Colon,” Collin drawled standing behind Sabrina.

      “Oh, let’s just make it Brina.“ She crouched down to be at eye level with the two little girls. “Let me see…” She remembered who loved her long tresses and who wasn’t a fan of her curls. “You must be Gena,” she said to the child with the enviable mane. “And Addison, that’s a very colorful sweatshirt.” It was bright orange and adorned with handprints in every other Day Glo color.

      “I made it myself for Halloween. Do you twick-ow-tweat, or are you too old, like Mommy?”

      Trying not to giggle that most of the child’s Rs came out as Ws, she nodded. “Yes, too old. But it’s fun to be the one to hand out treats and see everyone’s costume. What are you going to be, Gena?”

      “Either a princess or a bride.”

      “It depends on how much time we have to do her hair,” Cassie piped in.

      “But if there’s no time, I still get to wear a tara.”

      “Tiara. That’s right.” Cassie rolled her eyes at Sabrina. “Come in and please ignore our mess. Between my training and packing for all of us, things are upside down.”

      That was hardly the case, Sabrina thought, glancing around the house. Military-base living was modest, but nothing like what her previous apartment was like. And except for the girls’ open suitcases on the coffee table, and a few boxes stacked by the door, the place was clean and the walls bright with fresh paint—white in the living room, yellow in the kitchen, peach in the master bedroom and lavender in the girls’ room.

      “I hear you’ve done a fantastic job at Collin’s place,” Cassie said as they entered the girls’ room. “Thank you for working so hard to make them feel special. I know they’re going to love it.”

      “I hope so. It was fun to do.”

      Addison tugged at her jeans and asked, “Bwina, do you have little girls we can play with?”

      “I’m afraid not, sweetie. But I’m looking forward to you teaching me games you like to play. And we’re going to go to fun places like the park and zoo and do lots of surprise things for Mommy.”

      “Is Unca Colon gonna have fun with us?”

      Sabrina lifted her eyebrows at Collin. She wanted him to handle that question.

      “Well, I do have a job so I can pay for that fun, but I hope to join you ladies on weekends at the very least.”

      Whether it was for his formal address or the tickle on her belly, Addison laughed. “Wenotladies, we little girls.”

      “Wash up time.” Cass directed her daughters toward the bathroom. “We’re going to have lunch in less than fifteen minutes.”

      “You needn’t have gone to any trouble,” Collin said as the two diminutive blondes sped out of the room. “I would have gladly taken you all out somewhere for a treat.”

      “Believe me, the treat is firing up the grill and not caring if you get mustard or ketchup on your face and hands,” his sister replied. “Besides, I want to spend as much time picturing them as they are, and not having to be on their best behavior because they’re in public.”

      “They’re extremely well behaved,” Sabrina assured her.

      “Yeah, they’re pretty good, but when they’re overtired, they can find an earsplitting octave that you’ll want to restrict to once every full moon. Go flip those burgers and dogs, Unca Colon. I’m going to pass on more boring tidbits to Sabrina.”

      As soon as the door closed behind him, Cassie turned back to Sabrina, her expression relaxing to weariness and worry. “How was the drive down?”

      “Better than expected. It can’t help but get awkward every once in awhile considering our history.”

      “He likes to watch you when he thinks you won’t notice.”

      “I suppose I am becoming like a second kid sister to him.”

      With a badly faked cough, Cassie replied, “Right. That’s exactly the conclusion that I came to.”

      Feeling heat in her cheeks, Sabrina shook her head. “You don’t have to worry that I would—or he would, for that matter—behave improperly in front of the girls.”

      “I’m so not worried. In fact, I wish you would drive the old fossil a little crazy.”

      “Oh, please don’t start.”

      “I hereby quit. I’ll just point out that a complete stranger would notice you’re good for him.”

      “Thank you, but you know the chant better than I do. Your brother is ‘not the marrying kind.’ What about you?” Sabrina asked. “Do you ever have time for a life, let alone romance?”

      Cassidy glanced over her shoulder to make sure the girls were still down the hall. “Believe me, I could have a different man every night if that was what appealed, and I have to admit one or two have been tempting, but as you can tell, right now it’s the girls and the job that need to take priority.”

      “It must feel like a huge responsibility to fly something where everyone counts on you to get them home.”

      “It does, but I count on them just as much to do their jobs, so it’s a team thing.”

      The girls returned and Cassie effortlessly changed the subject to who wanted to drink milk and who wanted to drink spring water.

      “I try to keep soft drinks out of their diet as much as possible,” she told Sabrina. “They can thank me for their healthier teeth and digestive systems later. Oh, and for afternoon snacks, I always keep carrot and celery sticks. Add a little peanut butter and they’re good until dinner. They like apples with peanut butter, too. And bananas.”

      “I know Collin doesn’t have any peanut butter in the house, but I’ll get it. What about D-E-S-S-E-R-T-S? What is and isn’t permitted?”

      The spelling had Cassie smiling. “That won’t work much longer. Not only can they now spell their names, not just recognize them in print, they can spell cat and dog. But back to your point—it’s your call. I know the calendar is charging into the most sugar-intense time of the year on top of the kids craving comfort food for one reason or another.”

      “You’re making СКАЧАТЬ