The Firefighter Daddy. Margaret Daley

started dinner. How could two little girls manage to cover the whole counter on one side of a big kitchen with various ingredients in such a short time?

      When his brother had died in that work-site accident, Liam’s life had changed completely. Sure, he was still a firefighter. But everything else was different—new town, new family, new friends, new problems. When Gareth had asked him to be Madison and Katie’s guardian if anything happened to him, he’d readily agreed, never thinking anything would.

      Liam grabbed a wet washcloth and began wiping up the sugar-flour-milk mixture. When he peeked into the bowl, on closer inspection, he found a partially cracked egg in the middle of the concoction. He took the bowl to the sink and dumped it in the side with the garbage disposal.

      Chimes rang in the air. The doorbell. Liam quickly checked on Madison and Katie then headed for the entry hall. When he opened the door, a petite woman with long blond hair framing an attractive face stood on the porch with a poster about the lost dog in her hand.

      “Can I help you?” he asked, drawn to her dark brown eyes with their long, black lashes.

      She smiled, and his attention zeroed in on her mouth and a dimple near its left side. “I hope so. I saw this on my way home from work, and I’m sure this is my dog. He’s been missing for three days.”

      “Come in. I think I can help you. I’m Liam McGregory.” He pushed the screen door open, and she stepped inside.

      “I’m Sarah Blackburn.”

      She held out her hand, and Liam shook it. Her hair—a cascade of curls—instantly reminded him of his ex-wife. He stepped back, thankful she looked nothing like Terri.

      He’d started to tell the woman about the dog they’d found, when the sound of the back door opening followed by running feet and a couple of deep barks announced his nieces as well as the black Lab heading this way.

      Liam turned toward the hallway that led to the back of the house. The dog appeared and made a beeline straight for the woman next to him.

      The black Lab lunged for her, propped his front paws on her shoulders and licked her. She had the biggest grin on her face.

      “I thought I lost you.” Sarah Blackburn hugged the Lab.

      Madison halted by the entrance to the hallway. “Uncle Liam, we didn’t mean to let him inside. He barged past Katie before we could catch him.”

      “I tried. Buddy is super fast.” Katie, followed by Madison, moved to Liam.

      He glanced at his nieces, who flanked him, staring at the woman hugging the dog. Tiny lines grooved their foreheads as they assessed what was going on. “I’m assuming from your welcome, he’s your dog,” he said, bracing himself for a protest from Madison and Katie.

      The lady peered at him and nodded. “I didn’t think I was going to find him. The few times he’s gotten out of the backyard, he’s always been on the porch when I came home from work.”

      Liam braved a glance toward his nieces. Katie’s mouth hung open, while Madison’s eyes glistened. “Girls, this is Ms. Blackburn, and the dog we found is...” He peered back at the woman.

      “His name is Gabe. I live down the street on the next block,” she said, gesturing in that direction. Then with her hand stroking the Lab, she calmed him and knelt next to him so she was more on the level with his nieces. “Have you two been taking care of him for me?”

      Katie crossed her arms over her chest.

      Liam prepared for her outburst, but instead Madison stepped forward and patted the Lab on the head. “Yes, we have. Are you sure he’s your dog?”

      “Here, let me show you.” Sarah walked a few paces away and swung around to face Madison next to the dog. “Gabe, come.”

      The Lab walked to her.

      “Sit,” she said, and when he did, she ran him through some commands, which he performed.

      “He knows tricks. We didn’t know that.” Madison crossed to them. “Can I try one?”

      “Sure.”

      “Bud—Gabe, shake my hand.” The dog held his paw up, and Madison shook it, grinning from ear to ear. “Cool.”

      “His name is Buddy.” Katie stamped her foot, her lower lip sticking out.

      Liam moved to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Honey, we don’t want to confuse Gabe with another name.”

      “Buddy is friendly with everyone. We don’t know for sure you’re his owner.”

      “Katie, you knew this was a possibility. I talked to you about it.” When he’d trained in Dallas to be a firefighter, he’d never received a course in dealing with a six-year-old losing something she had quickly bonded with, especially on top of losing her father six months ago.

      “I tell you what. You all can walk with me to my house, and I’ll show you a photo of Gabe and me. Will that prove to you I’m his owner?” Sarah asked in a calm, patient voice, as though she knew exactly what Katie was going through.

      “I think that’s a great suggestion, Ms. Blackburn.” Liam caught the woman’s gaze and, for a brief few seconds, a connection sprang up between them.

      “Please, I’m Sarah. You have saved me hours of worrying about Gabe.” She stuffed her hand into the large pocket of her light jacket and pulled out a leash. “I brought this to take him home with, but I see he managed to slip out of his collar again. It had all his information on it. Even when he wasn’t on the porch, I thought for sure I would get him back right away.”

      “Then you can’t walk him home. Without a leash, he might run off.” Madison planted herself next to Liam.

      “He’ll be fine. He’s well trained. He’ll heel if I tell him,” Sarah said, again in that even tone.

      Her eyes narrowed, Katie lifted her chin. “What’s that?”

      “He walks on my left side right next to me.”

      Madison yanked on Liam’s T-shirt. “Can we have a dog and teach him tricks like Gabe?”

      He peered into Madison’s pleading expression, meant to wrap him around her little finger. “I’ll think about it, but first let’s walk Sarah home. It’s been a long day for all of us.” Definitely an understatement for him with six different calls during the twenty-four-hour shift at the station that had ended at eight this morning. Two of their runs had been serious with one cutting a man out of a wrecked car. “Let’s go, girls.”

      Madison hurried to be on one side of Gabe, sandwiching the dog between her and Sarah. Katie tried to walk right behind her older sister but kept running into Madison, who immediately swung around and pushed her back.

      When Sarah stopped, her dog sat, and she looked at Katie. “Would you like to be over here with Gabe? You can be the one to tell him to heel if he tries to walk too fast or slow. I’ll be right behind you with your dad.”

      “He’s our uncle,” Madison immediately said, frowning.

      “Yeah and a firefighter. He helps people.” Katie took Sarah’s place by Gabe.

      Madison glanced at him. “And he helps animals.”

      In that second all weariness from his last shift evaporated. Sarah and his nieces had reminded him of why he worked crazy hours. But, mostly, it reconfirmed why he’d left everything he had known and come to Buffalo. The girls needed time to adjust to him before he moved them to Dallas. He’d told his captain he would return in a year with his nieces.

      * * *

      There were times he felt he’d made several strides forward with Katie but not necessarily with Madison when it came to their accepting him as their guardian. He was afraid losing the dog would set their relationship back. The death of his younger brother had hit them all hard.