Finders Keepers by Catherine Palmer Read Free Book Online Page A

office, glanced shyly at each other, and began to giggle again.
    “Well, this is an unexpected pleasure,” he said, coming to his feet. “May I help you, sir and madam?”
    As the girl dissolved into uncontrolled laughter, the boy squared his little shoulders and marched forward.
    “Magunnery and I, Nick Hayes, have come to visit you,” he announced.
    “I can see that. Is Magunnery going to be all right?”
    Nick looked over his shoulder and then rolled his eyes. “Her mommy doesn’t know where she is. We’re not supposed to leave the backyard, and we might get into trouble. When Magunnery does something naughty, she always laughs.”
    “I see.” He fought a grin. “I’d hate for the two of you to get into trouble, so maybe you’d better tell me why you came, and then you can head back home.”
    “I came because I want you to be my daddy.”
    Zachary blinked. “Your daddy?”
    “Yes.”
    “Aha. Well.”
    “Would that be OK?”
    “Umm, what does your mom think about the idea?”
    “She says you’re a stranger. But I met you already once, and besides, you have green eyes and black hair.”
    Zachary tried to make sense of the trend of the conversation, but he wasn’t having a lot of luck. “Look, maybe you should start by telling me why you want me to be your daddy.”
    “Because I need one.” Nick nodded. “That’s the reason. I need a daddy.”
    “I have a daddy,” the little redhead piped in. She seemed to be regaining control of herself. “His name is Luke Easton. My daddy loves me.”
    “And so, because you have a daddy, Magunnery, that means Nick wants a daddy.”
    “No,” the boy said. “I want a daddy because I need one. You would be a good daddy for me.”
    “Well, that’s very interesting.” Zachary stuck his hands in his pockets and tried to think of a way out of this. “Why don’t you two sit down on that box there while I think about it. I’ll, uh, get you some paper to draw on. You could draw me a picture, how about that?”
    “I didn’t come to drawl.”
    “Drawl?”
    “Drawl pictures. I came to ask you to be my daddy.”
    The boy was as persistent as his mother. “Why did you pick me?” Zachary asked.
    “I like you.”
    “I like you too, Nick, but being a dad is a big job. For one thing, I’m not married to your mom.”
    “You could get married to her.”
    He’d walked right into that one. “I don’t think your mom wants to marry me.”
    “You could ask her.” The solemn green eyes gazed at him. “She would be a nice wife for you. She cooks really good food, and she hardly ever yells. I think you would like her a lot.”
    “She’s pretty, too,” the little girl piped in.
    “That’s very true,” Zachary said, his heart softening at the child’s earnest request. “I’ll tell you what. This is clearly a serious mission you two have come on, and I’m going to give it a lot of thought. In fact, I’d like you both to sit down here and draw me a picture of Nick’s mom so I can put it on my desk while I think about it. And in the meantime, I’ll give her a phone call, so she can come over and walk you guys safely home.”
    The two stared at one another, stricken. “If my mom finds out we came here,” Nick said, “she’ll get really mad.”
    “But you said she hardly ever yells.”
    “This would make her yell.”
    “Mmm. We wouldn’t want that.” He was having a hard time keeping a straight face. “Looks like I’m going to have to walk you two home myself.”
    The boy’s face lit up. “Really? Maybe you could ask my mom on a date and then you could kiss her and get married.”
    “I think we’ll need to take our time on that plan—”
    A sharp knocking drew the attention of everyone in the room. Well, it appeared they were going to get to see Elizabeth Hayes yell. Not that Zachary hadn’t seen her mad before. In fact, he was beginning to think he had a knack for bringing out her worst.
    “Come on in,” he called.
    The door opened, and