Indomitable Spirit by Bernadette Marie Read Free Book Online Page B

kiddo.”
    Jacob nodded, but John knew he was battling the tears, he too was fighting off.
    “I miss Mom. But when I’m at the karate school I can make that all go away because I feel strong there.”
    “You look strong too.”
    Jacob turned his head and looked up at John. His eyes shimmered with the tears that didn’t fall.
    “I did?”
    “You did.” He smiled thinking about how proud Kym was of him too. It had shown in her eyes—those green, piercing eyes.
    John kissed the top of his head and gave him a pat on the back. “I’ll let you finish this and I’ll go get their bath ready. Maybe we can all make it to bed before ten tonight.”
    He turned to leave the kitchen, but turned around to watch his son.
    John had worried that losing his mother at six was going to ruin Jacob. A single man with four little kids—he was bound to ruin one of them. But even at eight, Jacob seemed to have found his path, at least for now. John would help keep him training if it was what Jacob wanted. And he couldn’t deny having a little help around the house wasn’t so horrible.
     
    With Jacob’s help, they were all in bed by nine—including John. He almost couldn’t believe he was lying in his bed—the house silent—and he was alone in his room.
    Jacob had read Cody a book while John finished giving Mason a bath. By the time John went back to put Cody to bed, he’d been tucked in tight and was already asleep.
    Mason had been playing quietly with his Batman figure when John turned off his light and Abby had given him the biggest hug before she snuggled in for the night with her aunt’s old American Girl doll.
    Jacob took a few minutes to look over his homework before he hugged and kissed his father goodnight—which he’d stopped doing some time ago.
    And now John lay in bed enveloped by dark and silence. The perfect opportunity for his mind to wander—and it wandered right to Kym.
    That school didn’t have a lot of students, but she was willing to train his kids for free. Why? He’d never been nice to her—or anyone. That’s why it was so surprising that she’d take that on. After all, they had to have told her he was their father; she hadn’t been surprised when he’d walked in.
    Then again, maybe it was because he was their father that she wanted to do this for them. Maybe she thought she could change the next generation of Larsons since he was so socially inept.
    But that would mean Kym O’Bryne had ulterior motives and John didn’t think she had it in her. She was just a good-hearted woman—even he could see that.
    John tossed and turned until he found a comfortable position in the old mattress and then he pounded his pillow into the right shape.
    Since Abigail had died, John had never thought of another woman. He hadn’t gone out on a date. He hadn’t spent more than an hour with anyone but his mother, sister, and Wil. But now there was Kym and something about her had him thinking about her too often.
    She was small—oh so small, but there was a strength that resonated from her. The posture in which she carried herself would make any six-foot man take a step back.
    The way she looked at him with his wrench in her hand as he slid down the ladder the other day still burned in him. He could have killed her—or given her a huge bump on the head. But she was quick, prepared, and humored by his clumsiness.
    He rolled over onto his side and punched his pillow again. He didn’t want to think about Kym O’Bryne. She had to be years younger than him and he came with too much baggage. No one in their right mind wanted a grumpy old man, who was only in his mid-thirties, with four kids. By the time Cody was old enough to move out John would be able to find a date on the old man’s dating website.
    The thought made him chuckle, but then he flipped onto his back and laced his hands under his head.
    There was something different about Kym O’Bryne.
    He untucked one hand from under his head and ran it over his face.