Full-Time Father. Susan Mallery

      Erin leaned forward. “She’s in a preschool. Christie can’t wait to start elementary school. She wants to learn everything, don’t you honey?”

      Parker listened to the exchange, all the while eating his sandwich. Kiki didn’t have any trouble talking with the girl. She just asked the same sort of questions she would ask anyone visiting. Maybe there wasn’t a trick. Maybe he should just talk to Christie as if she were a regular person.

      Kiki stood up. “Parker, I’m sure Erin and Christie would like to see the gardens and maybe go down to the beach.”

      “Good idea,” he said, then popped the last bit of sandwich into his mouth. He wiped his hands on a napkin, then glanced at his daughter.

      She looked at him. “I love the beach,” she said seriously, as if her goal in life was to see his.

      Erin laughed. “You’ve only been to the beach once. How do you know if you like it?”

      “It was very nice,” Christie said, still serious.

      “You’re going to love this one,” he told her and stood up.

      Erin rose gracefully, then helped Christie out of the chair. Parker motioned for them to go through the living room and out the front. They turned left and circled around the house.

      “There’s no way to get from the terrace to the beach,” Parker said as he led them to a wrought-iron gate and pulled it open. “The stone fence is built into the house itself. This is the only way down to our private beach. It’s not very big, but it’s nice when the tide is out.”

      Erin glanced back at him as she walked by. “What happens when the tide is in?”

      “Depending on how high it is, the beach can go underwater. Not often, though. It’s pretty safe.”

      “Is there a lock on that gate?”

      Parker followed her gaze to Christie. “Yes. We haven’t been using it, but we can.” Of course the child was too small to be trusted down on the beach by herself. He made a mental note to mention locking the gate to Kiki as soon as they returned.

      Erin reached down and took her daughter’s hand. “It’s very lush here,” she said. “I’d expected windswept cliffs and a couple of redwood trees.”

      Parker glanced around at the trees and creeping vines lining the path. On either side, blooming flowers nestled against juniper ground cover. “I have a gardener who wages a battle against the salt air and bad soil. So far he seems to be winning.”

      She paused to finger a flowering crepe myrtle. “Very beautiful.”

      Christie stood on her toes and sniffed. “Smells pretty, too.”

      As Parker followed them to the wooden stairs that hugged the side of the cliff, he tried to remember the last time he’d noticed the garden. The house had nearly a quarter acre of cultivated grounds. He owned everything to the main road, but left most of it in its natural state. For the past couple of years he hadn’t seen anything past his office.

      Up ahead, the path made one last sharp turn before widening into a half circle that ended at the top of the stairs. Both Erin and Christie stopped to stare. He came up behind them and knew he’d been lucky to find this property when it was for sale.

      To the left was the tall three-story house. The path sloped down, so they were below the first floor. To their right was the wild rugged coastline of Northern California. Sea gulls circled overhead. In front of the path, the Pacific Ocean stretched out for miles before disappearing into the horizon.

      “Where does it go?” Christie asked.

      “Clear around the world,” he told her.

      She quivered with excitement. “Mommy, Mommy, we could get a boat and sail forever.”

      Erin gave him a wry glance. “I don’t think my stomach’s up to it. I was never a very good sailor.”

      “Me, either,” he said. “But cruise ships are fine.”

      “I’ve never been on one.”

      He had the strangest urge to offer to take her on a cruise. Just the three of them. He shook his head to clear it and ignored the impulse. “The stairs are a little steep,” he said, then looked at four-year-old Christie. It would take her forever to get down.

      “I can carry her,” Erin told him.

      “You’re not any more familiar with the stairs. Besides, Christie looks as if she weighs enough to knock you off balance.” He squatted down as he’d seen Kiki do. “How do you feel about a piggyback ride?” he asked Christie.

      She beamed at him and clapped her hands. “Yes!”

      She wrapped her arms around his neck. He reached behind him for her chubby legs, then stood up. She wasn’t that big, at least not to him, but he assumed she was the size of an average four-year-old. Erin watched for a moment to make sure Christie was balanced.

      “Look at me, Mommy,” the little girl crowed.

      “I see.” She turned her attention to him. “Do you want me to go first?”

      “Sure. Then we can follow slowly.”

      The sound of the waves crashing on the rocks got louder as they descended. Parker was used to the stairs. Two landings broke up the steep trip. He usually went down at a jog, but not with Christie on his back.

      Her small hands clutched his shirt and shoulders. The skin of her bare legs was warm against his hands. She clung to him as if she were a little monkey, and he caught a faint whiff of something unfamiliar over the scent of the salt air. She smelled of chocolate and sweetly of herself. A band tightened in his chest. Not an emotion as much as a reaction. A fierce need to protect her and be there for her.

      Erin reached the beach first. She smiled at Christie. “You doing okay?”

      “This is fun.” She leaned her face closer to his ear. “I want piggyback rides all the time.”

      “You got it,” he told her as he stepped off the last step.

      The tide was out, the small half moon of hard-packed sand was still damp. Their athletic shoes didn’t make any sound as they left faint imprints. The sun was warm and the sky clear. Erin came up behind him and lifted Christie to the ground. The girl ran to the edge of the water, then raced back.

      “There’s nobody here but us. And the birds. You can’t see the house.” She leaned her head back and stared straight up.

      Parker followed her gaze. “It’s the angle of the cliff. The house is built into the rock so it isn’t at risk of sliding during rainstorms.”

      Christie spun around and faced the water. She flung her arms out and ran in ever widening circles. “I’m a birdie, too.”

      In her lime green shorts and shirt and her pigtails streaming out behind her, she was an exotic creature. At least in his world.

      “She’s got a lot of energy,” he said.

      “More than usual.” Erin tucked her hands in her jeans front pockets. The action emphasized the swell of her breasts under her sweater. “We took two days to drive up from Palmdale. We took a lot of breaks, but that’s a long time for a child to sit still in a car. Besides, I’m all in favor of you tiring her out so she goes to bed early tonight.”

      “You mentioned you drove up with a friend?”

      “Joyce. Her fiancé is waiting for her in San Francisco. He’s on a business trip, then they’re going to spend some time together in the city.” Erin glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He noticed her eyelashes were thick and dark.

      “Having her along has been great,” she continued. “Not only did we get to split the driving, but she looked after Christie this morning and has given me moral support.”

      “What