Read Online Daddy by Surprise by Debra Salonen - Free Book Online Page B

and weaved until they reached the outskirts of town. Since there was no traffic behind them, he pulled to the shoulder and stopped to look around.
    Pointing toward the large purple-and-yellow billboard a few feet away, he asked, “What’s the Mystery Spot?”
    “Sentinel Pass’s one and only tourist trap. My friend Jenna owns it with her mother. Her father was the mastermind behind it. He was also a scientist who taught at the School of Mines during the school year. He died a few years ago. The Spot is sort of hokey, but in a good-spirited way. My sons love it. In fact, Tag—the one you met—was going to work for Jenna this summer, but it didn’t work out.”
    “How come?”
    “Too much driving on my part.” And considering the price of gas…“He’s still mad at me.”
    “My mother wouldn’t let me work when I was a kid, either. Because of my asthma. I don’t remember how old I was, but it seemed like everybody I knew had a summer job—even the girls. I felt left out.”
    That had been one of Tag’s arguments, too. “When he has a car of his own, he can work wherever he wants.”
    “But he won’t have as many choices and he won’t have had this experience to put on a résumé.”
    She sat back with a snort. “Why do people who don’t have kids always have the strongest opinions about how to raise them?” she asked. “He won’t be nine for another couple of months. This so-called job was really my friend’s attempt to help me out with child care this summer while giving Tag a chance to earn a little spending money.”
    “Oh. I see.” His chuckle sounded conciliatory. “Sorry. You’re right. Not my business. But I do remember giving my mother a hard time for depriving me.” He said the word mockingly. “Fortunately, I discovered swimming that summer and my asthma got better. Plus, I was living in a city where I had access to public transportation. So, I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on, okay?”
    She nodded, embarrassed by her outburst. She wasn’t usually so quick to take offense. Ever the peacemaker, her mother used to say.
    “Let’s cruise through town,” she suggested. “I’ll point out all the historic spots. Like Seymour, our dinosaur. And the post office where Libby worked as postmaster.”
    “She’s married to what’s-his-name…the talent-show guy?”
    “Cooper Lindstrom. He and Lib are so much in love it almost hurts to see them.”
    He put the bike in gear and slowly made the turn. Kat sat up a little straighter, hoping to see someone she knew. How often did a mother of two get to ride behind a handsome guy on an awesome new Harley?
    “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why does it hurt to see them together?”
    She hated the way he not only listened, but actually heard what she said. She wasn’t used to that. “Um…well—” how honest did she want to be? “—because seeing Libby and Cooper together makes you wonder if that all-encompassing, only-in-romance-novels kind of love is ever going to come your way or if you’re going to be a freakish statistic that throws off the bell curve your whole life.”
    He didn’t say anything for a moment, but stopped the bike in the visitors’ parking just the other side of the fire station. He turned off the engine and removed his helmet. Kat did, too, even though her cheeks were on fire.
    “I want to meet these people,” he told her when they were both standing.
    “Are you making fun of me?”
    He shook his head, but he was smiling, so she wasn’t certain he meant it. “I’ve never seen that kind of love and I want to.”
    She was still trying to make up her mind whether or not he was kidding when a voice called, “Kat? What are you doing here?”
    Kat spun around so fast she almost dropped her helmet. “Char. Why aren’t you at the tepee?” They hadn’t talked since Char brought a happy, exhausted Jordie home the day before.
    “I had to mail a bunch of stuff. Thank God for Internet sales, that’s all I can say.”