Next Door Daddy by Debra Clopton Read Free Book Online

much.”
    His expression said for her to drop it, that she’d stepped where she shouldn’t. Then suddenly the emotion was gone. The clouds she’d glimpsed in his eyes vanished, as if the sun had come out. She wasn’t fooled. She’d been there…she knew behind the dark, impersonal eyes she was looking into now that emotions were raging. She recognized a protective device when she saw it. She’d used it herself many times over the past two years.
    For a moment she couldn’t say anything, the recognition so acute that she felt her heart clutch inside her chest.
    Gil’s anxious voice calling out to Pepper broke the moment, followed by the sound of scraping and shuffling. Nate heard it, too, his head whipping around. The call had come from above them, drifting in from outside through the open screen door.
    Gil was on the roof!
    They reacted together. Bounding through the house and onto the porch, they raced down the steps and jogged clear of the roof line. Polly’s heart thundered. Surely the sound of Gil’s voice had just drifted out to them from an open window. But she knew she was wrong before she spotted her son. And Pepper.
    The bird was perched on top of one of the three dormers on the tiny second-story ledge, though it wasn’t Pepper Polly’s gaze locked on. It was Gil.
    Her son was creeping toward Pepper on the steep roof, talking soothingly to the terrified bird. Polly’s first thought was at least they weren’t on the third story—but the second story was scary enough for her. It was nothing more than a thin lip.
    â€œGilly,” she called before regaining her faculties and registering that startling him wasn’t the best option. It wasn’t Gil who reacted badly to her shout, but Pepper. The scared bird flew straight up as if shot from a cannon, then frantically swooped downward a foot before flying over Gil’s head and out into the open, aiming straight for the woods at least two hundred yards behind the house.
    â€œMom, whad’ya go and do that for?” Gil shouted, spinning around to watch his beloved bird disappearing. Polly’s heart dropped when he teetered momentarily.
    â€œGilbert Marcus McDonald!” she shouted. “What do you think you’re doing? Sit down right this minute before you fall off that roof and break your neck!”
    Gil stared down at her, his little face bright as the orange spots on Pepper’s cheeks. “ Mom, it’s only a roof. Pepper’s gone and it’s all my fault. I left the window open.”
    Polly worried for Pepper. The bird was terrified of the outdoors and with good reason—he had no idea how to survive. But her priority was getting her little daredevil out of his latest escapade. Without freaking out!
    Nate touched her arm, then took a step forward, his eyes locked on Gil. “We’ll get Pepper back, Gil.” His voice was calm, but with enough firmness it drew Gil’s attention. And Polly’s.
    One look at his eyes locked on her son and the rising swell of panic eased inside of Polly. Like the lull in a storm, it gave her a moment to get a grip. She thanked the Lord that he was here.
    â€œBut first, Gil,” he continued, “you have to turn and walk back to that window. Can you do that?”
    â€œSure I can.”
    Polly would have laughed at Gil’s insulted tone if she hadn’t been so scared. Instead, she held her breath, watching and moving along with him as he walked the roof without wobbling. She should have grown used to his “adventures.” There had been enough of them, but she hadn’t. Every time she found him doing something like this she worried. Just like she’d done with Marc. He’d loved living life full throttle, out on the edge. Dirt bikes, speed boats, drag racing…skydiving. Anything that went fast held Marc in thrall.
    She pushed the thoughts away, her gaze riveted to Nate as he took every