The Protector's Promise

He’d thought plenty about them. Especially Honor. If he hadn’t been so busy, he might have given in to temptation, stepped through the shrubs that separated their property and knocked on the bungalow’s door.

“What are you doing out there, Lily?”

“Looking for a horse.”

“Well, you’re not going to find one here.” Grayson strode to the door and pulled it open, the blast of icy cold air nearly stealing his breath.

“Are you sure? Because I was thinking maybe you had one inside your house. It’s a big house. Really big enough for a horse to live in.” She stared up at him, her eyes a deep shade of blue, her cheeks pink from cold.

“Sorry. I don’t keep horses in my house.” He grabbed a jacket from one of the fancy coat hooks his ex-fiancée had insisted be installed.

“But Mommy said you had to have one.”

“Did she? And did she say you were allowed to come over here to look for it?” He slid on the jacket and put a hand on Lily’s shoulder, steering her toward the back of his property as he spoke.

“No.”

“Does she even know you’re out here?”

“Lily? Lily Mae Malone, you’d better come out from wherever you are. Right now!” Honor’s shrill voice carried across the cold backyard and answered Grayson’s question. Obviously, she hadn’t known her daughter was outside, and obviously Lily was about to catch some major trouble.

He glanced down at the little girl, almost feeling sorry for her. Almost, but not quite. The world was a dangerous place. A kid like Lily should never be wandering around in it alone.

“She’s over here,” he called out to Honor. They were still fifty yards from the back edge of his property when the thick shrubs parted and she raced into view, dressed in what looked like red nurse’s scrubs. Her straight black hair gleaming in the sunlight, her skin glowing pink from exertion or cold, she ran across the yard and pulled Lily up into her arms.

“Thank goodness you’re all right. Candace and I were worried sick. What were you thinking leaving the house by yourself?” The words flew out in quick, frantic pants of breath, fear flashing in her eyes as she met Grayson’s gaze.

Green eyes. Much brighter than he’d remembered. Flecked with blue and gold. Rimmed with black lashes that were striking against Honor’s creamy skin. For a moment, Grayson felt caught in her gaze, pulled deep into a world he’d stayed away from for months. When he looked in Honor’s eyes, he forgot why.

“I’m so sorry, Grayson. I hope Lily wasn’t bothering you.” Honor’s voice shook slightly as she spoke and her arms were tight around her daughter as if she planned to hold the little girl close forever, keeping her safe from the ugliness that existed in the world.

If only life were that simple.

If only a person really could keep a loved one safe by sheer force of will. “She wasn’t.”

“I’m not sure I believe you. Lily has a one-track mind about certain things. Though I have to say, she’s never pulled a stunt like this before.” She paused, looking her daughter in the eyes. “And she never will again. Will you, Lily Mae?”

“I just wanted to see if he had a horse, Mommy. A white one. Like you said. Remember?”

Honor’s brow furrowed and she frowned. “I remember. Just as I’m sure you remember our rules about going outside without permission. Don’t you?”

“Yes.” Lily lisped the response, her face a mirror of Honor’s. Both were pink-cheeked with freckles dotting their noses. Lily’s hair was a few shades lighter than her mother’s, her eyes blue rather than green, but she possessed the same heart-shaped face and high cheekbones. And the same indefinable quality that would make people want to take a second look.

They made a pretty picture as they frowned into each other’s eyes, barely aware of Grayson. If he’d had a camera with him, Grayson would have snapped a picture. It was the kind of moment he’d thought he’d see a lot of as he watched his wife and children blossom in the large house his exfiancée, Maria, had insisted on…before she’d informed him that kids weren’t in her plans for at least another five years.

He frowned, wondering why he was thinking about something he’d decided months ago to put out of his mind.

“If you knew the rules, then why did you break them? You could have been hurt, or gotten lost. Anything could have happened. We’ve talked about this before. You know how important it is never to go out alone.” Honor’s words broke into his thoughts, and he was glad for the distraction.

“I’m sorry, Mommy. I just needed to know.” There were tears in Lily’s eyes, and Grayson felt his heart melting.

“What did you need to know?”

“If he was a prince. A real one with a white horse. Because if he is, he can slay the dragon. And then everything will be okay.”

“Sweetheart, we’ve been over this a hundred times before. There are no princes in Lakeview. And there are no dragons, either.” Honor spoke with weary resignation, and Grayson wondered how many times and in how many ways she’d said the same thing.

“But, Mommy—”

“Lily, enough! Just for a while, let’s stop talking about it.” Honor brushed a hand over Lily’s cheek, shivering a little as she set her daughter on the ground. The nurse’s scrubs she wore were short sleeved and her feet were bare. She must have run from the house without thinking of anything but finding Lily. That kind of desperation, that kind of fear was something Grayson understood only too well. When he’d received the call about Jude, he’d left the house unlocked, left the lights blazing, left cases that were going to trial. He’d driven to New York with nothing but his wallet and the clothes he was wearing. And he’d stayed there until his brother was on his way to recovery.

“Here.” He shrugged out of his jacket and dropped it around Honor’s shoulders. For a moment she met his eyes again, the worry and fear in her gaze making him want to tell her that everything would be okay. That her imaginative little girl would stay safe. That the world would be as kind to Lily as it should be.

Then she looked away, the contact between them gone, the moment spent. “Thank you, but now you’ll be cold.”

“I’m wearing a sweater. I’ll be warm enough.”

“My mother would call you a true gentleman.”

“Yeah? And what would you call me?”

She eyed him carefully, her gaze touching hair he knew needed a trim, the beard that he hadn’t taken time to shave, the thick sweater his sister Piper had bought at a county craft fair a few months ago and given to him because, she’d said, it matched his eyes. “Trouble.”

Her answer surprised him, and Grayson laughed. The first honest-to-goodness laugh he’d had in weeks. Maybe longer. “I guess you get points for honesty.”

“And I guess you get points for not denying the truth.” Honor took her daughter’s hand. “We’ve got to get back home, Lily Mae, or Candace will have the police out here looking for you.”

“But, what about the dragon? We need to find a prince to slay him before he gets us.”

“There is no dragon, so there’s no way he could get us.”

Really, Grayson should stay out of it. Go back inside the house, close the door and let Honor and her daughter work things out without an audience. Unfortunately, staying out of things wasn’t something Grayson had ever been good at. “Listen, Lily, I don’t have a white horse. I don’t have a horse at all, but if a dragon does show up, I’ll do my best to slay it. I promise.”

Honor stiffened, shooting Grayson a censorious look. “Promises are a dime a dozen, Grayson. As easily broken as they are made. Besides, there are no dragons. And if there were, I would figure out a way to slay them myself.” Obviously, he’d touched on a sore point, but Grayson didn’t plan to apologize.

“I’m sure you would, but a little help wouldn’t be amiss in a situation like that.”

“Besides, Mommy, the princess never slays the dragon. Only a prince can do that.” Lily had broken away from her mother and was spinning around in circles, her tutu as bright as the flowers that had bloomed last spring.

“Who says princesses never slay dragons?” Honor continued walking across the yard, Grayson’s coat falling past her thighs. She looked smaller than he’d remembered. More delicate.

“All the books, Mommy. Every single one.”

“And we know how true those books are, don’t we?” There was amusement in her words and in the fond gaze she settled on her daughter.

“They are true. They really are.”

“Oh, Lily, what am I going to do with you?” Honor spoke so quietly, Grayson almost didn’t hear.