Fatherhood Lessons Read online

  “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  A gentle smile lifted Merritt’s mouth, and her charming dimples appeared. “Then that’s a different story entirely. Anyone can learn.”

  “Would you stay to help? I can pay you—”

  “I don’t want your money, Knox.” Her smile disappeared, but her features were still soft. “But I will stay, if you really want me to, and help you learn what you need to know.”

  “You’d do that for me?” He hadn’t thought Merritt would want to help him after what happened with her sister.

  “I’d do it for all of you.” She tilted her head toward the door where Addy had disappeared. “Those girls need you, more than anything else. More than a good nanny, presents or even this ginormous house. They need their daddy, and if you want to be there for them, I would love to help you do that.”

  Warmth filled his chest at her words. Her selflessness was not what he had anticipated. He couldn’t assume that Merritt was like her sister.

  Yet he wouldn’t let his guard down, either. He’d been hurt too deeply to trust anyone again—especially a Lane sister.

  Gabrielle Meyer lives in central Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi River with her husband and four young children. As an employee of the Minnesota Historical Society, she fell in love with the rich history of her state and enjoys writing fictional stories inspired by real people and events. Gabrielle can be found at www.gabriellemeyer.com, where she writes about her passion for history, Minnesota and her faith.

  Books by Gabrielle Meyer

  Love Inspired

  A Mother’s Secret

  Unexpected Christmas Joy

  A Home for Her Baby

  Snowed in for Christmas

  Fatherhood Lessons

  Visit the Author Profile page at LoveInspired.com for more titles.

  FATHERHOOD LESSONS

  Gabrielle Meyer

  Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

  —Isaiah 43:19

  To my son, Asher. Your curiosity, determination and confidence never cease to amaze me! I can’t wait to see what God has planned for your life. I love you.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dear Reader

  Excerpt from The Adoption Surprise by Zoey Marie Jackson

  Chapter One

  If things had gone the way she’d planned, Merritt Lane would be on her honeymoon, vacationing on the island of Aruba right now. Instead, she was sitting on a dock in central Minnesota, her feet dangling in the cool lake, watching her four-year-old nieces play in the water.

  Things had definitely not gone the way she had planned.

  “Five more minutes,” she called to Blair and Addison, trying to shift her thoughts away from her heartbreak. It had been two weeks since her fiancé had called everything off, but if she was honest with herself, she knew he had started to pull away months ago.

  The twins’ blond hair glowed in the sunshine, and their blue eyes turned to her in appeal.

  “Ten more minutes, Auntie,” Blair said with a big, convincing smile. “Please.”

  “Please,” Addison added, her identical smile as bright as the noonday sun.

  It was almost painful to see how much they looked like Merritt’s sister, Reina. Just thinking about her sister brought up more unhappy memories that she had to force aside.

  “Okay,” Merritt agreed, wondering how she would ever say no to these two, even with six years of experience as a kindergarten teacher. “Ten minutes, but not a minute more.”

  “Yay!” they both exclaimed and kicked their feet to spin the floaties they were playing on.

  Merritt allowed herself to smile as she moved aside so the water didn’t splash her. She had only arrived in Minnesota yesterday, not even twenty-four hours ago. The girls’ nanny had called in desperate need for someone to come and stay with the girls while she went to her daughter’s aid after a car accident. Merritt had been happy to leave South Carolina and the repercussions of her canceled wedding. It was exactly what she’d needed to start the healing process—if healing was possible.

  She’d only been to Minnesota twice before—the first time for her sister’s wedding to Blair and Addison’s father, Knox Taylor, and the second time after the twins had been born. But it had been almost five years—and she hated to admit she hadn’t seen the girls since they were two weeks old. Thankfully, Blair and Addison had not been shy when she arrived, and Merritt’s work as a kindergarten teacher had gone a long way in helping her relate to the girls.

  “Auntie,” Addison said, turning her floatie to face Merritt. “Is my daddy coming home?”

  A bird twittered in a nearby tree and the waves pushed gently against the dock posts as Merritt tried to form an answer. She had no idea where Knox was currently working. Mrs. Masterson thought it was Japan, but she had tried, in vain, for days to get ahold of him. That’s why she had called Merritt.

  “Of course he’s coming home,” Merritt told her niece.

  “My mommy didn’t come home,” Blair said to Merritt, as if Merritt didn’t know.

  Reina, Merritt’s half sister, had left the girls when they were three weeks old and had never come back.

  What could Merritt say to Blair? She didn’t really know the twins’ father, Knox. His engagement to Reina had been a whirlwind affair, and there hadn’t been any time to get to know him. She assumed he’d come back to the girls, but if Mrs. Masterson’s occasional emails were any indication, Knox was only home a few times a year. There was no telling when he might show up again.

  “I’m sure your daddy will be here as soon as he is able.” Merritt stood and wiped her feet on one of the plush beach towels they had brought down to the lake. The Taylors’ black Lab, Darby, stood at the same time, her tail wagging as she looked up at Merritt expectantly.

  “Good.” Addison kicked her feet, turning the floatie in the water. “I asked him to come home.”

  “You asked Daddy?” Blair stared at her sister.

  “I called him and asked him to come home.”

  “When did you call him?” Merritt asked the little girl.

  Addison shrugged.

  “And you talked to your daddy?” Merritt was doubtful that the girl was telling the truth.

  “I left a message.” Addison spun on her floatie again, a giggle on her lips.

  A boat sped by on the large lake, pulling a skier. Waves from the boat’s wake lapped toward the girls. They laughed as the water pushed them up and then rolled them over the waves.

  Messages seemed to be the only thing that people could leave for Knox. Merritt had tried to call him once, yesterday, when she’d arrived, but hadn’t gotten through. His voice mail box had been full.

  Where could he be?

  Hopefully nothing serious had happened. If so, the girls would basically be orphaned. Their mother had given up full custody during her divorce almost five years ago and had all but disappeared. Merritt hadn’t spoken to her for months, which was probably for the best, since they had never been close.

  “Time’s up,” Merritt told the girls a few minutes later. “Let’s get some lunch.”

  The girls grumbled but left the lake. After drying off, the three of them plodded toward the house, Darby following close behind.

  It was a magnificent home, built on the shores of Tucker Lake, just outside Timber Falls, Minnesota. Merritt had been impressed upon seeing it for the first time when Reina had married Knox—and she was even more impressed now after her sister had done extensive renovations. In the middle of June, the lake, the house and the lush landscaping were picture-perfect. Everything looked magazine-ready, and Merritt was amazed she’d been offered the opportunity to spend time here with the girls. How much time, she wasn’t sure—but at least until Knox could be reached. Mrs. Masterson thought it could be weeks—or months—before her daughter was well enough for her to return.

  The house was cool as they stepped through the side door and into the lavish kitchen. Everything was top-quality, exactly how Reina had left it. And though Merritt and her sister were as different as night and day, she couldn’t deny that Reina had an incredible sense of style.

  While the girls climbed onto the counter stools and Darby went to her dish to lap up some water, Merritt went to the commercial-style refrigerator and opened the door. At the same moment, a man entered the kitchen, and the door almost hit him.

  He grunted in surprise, and Merritt yelped, her heart rate escalating.

  She slammed the door closed and came face-to-face with Knox Taylor.

  “Daddy!” Addison called as she jumped down from the stool and ran toward her father.

  Knox stood rooted in place, his gaze locked on Merritt, questions warring with the confusion and shock in his
gaze. “What are you doing here?”

  Merritt hadn’t seen him in five years, and those years—though unkind for various reasons—had left him more handsome than she remembered. Which was no surprise. Her sister would never have married a man who wasn’t extremely good-looking. Or rich. Or intriguing. Knox Taylor had been all those things, and more. He fit Reina’s type—and for that reason alone, Merritt had not liked him.

  But that didn’t mean he didn’t make her pulse race.

  It took her a moment to pull herself together. “I came to watch the girls so Mrs. Masterson could be with her daughter.”

  Addison stopped in front of Knox and smiled up at him. “You came.”

  “Hello, sweetheart.” Knox lifted his daughter and gave her a hug.

  Blair watched from her place at the counter, making no move to join them.

  Addison wrapped her arms around Knox’s neck and looked like she wasn’t about to let him go anytime soon. “You came, you came, you came.”

  Knox smiled as he hugged her back and glanced at his other daughter. “Hello, Blair-bear. Don’t I get a hug?”

  Blair frowned and shook her head. She jumped off the chair and ran out of the room—in the opposite direction as her sister.

  Merritt stared after Blair, surprised at the way she had responded to her father’s arrival. But could she blame the girl? Mrs. Masterson had said Knox had been gone for over eight weeks on this particular business trip.

  With Addison still clinging to him, Knox turned his dark blue eyes to Merritt. He was tall and muscular—his very presence overwhelming the room. He was the kind of man who couldn’t be overlooked—unlike Merritt, who had learned how to blend in from the moment she’d fainted from fear during her middle school Christmas concert.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, frowning in confusion at Merritt. “Why are you here?”

  “Mrs. Masterson’s daughter—” Merritt swallowed. Was he mad she had come? Surely he had no wish to see any of Reina’s family ever again. Would he think she was overstepping? “She was in a car accident and is facing months of rehabilitation. Mrs. Masterson needed to get to her side and help with her grandchildren.”

  Knox continued to frown. “So she called you? Why didn’t she call me?”

  “She did, but she couldn’t get through.”

  “And you were available to drop everything and come?” He studied her. “Wasn’t there someone else who was closer?”

  Merritt shrugged and shook her head. “I assume she asked everyone she could think of before she called me—including your parents.” Surely Merritt hadn’t been her first choice—not given the history between the Taylor and Lane families.

  Knox finally nodded, his confusion turning to concern. “I hope it didn’t inconvenience you.”

  What could she say? She’d been eager to accept the offer, to get away from the embarrassment of her canceled wedding and the reality that after six years of waiting for Brad Harrison to marry her, he had eloped with another woman. “Not in the least.”

  “And your husband—” Knox frowned again, apparently trying to remember Brad’s name. “You were engaged last time you were here—right? Brian—or—”

  “Brad.” She could hardly say his name without a lump forming in her throat, threatening to make her cry.

  “He’s okay with you being here?”

  Merritt swallowed hard. “Brad and I are not married.” She tried to smile but failed miserably. “I don’t know where he is, nor does he care where I am right now.”

  Knox had the decency to look away and nod in understanding.

  She needed to change the subject. “Why are you here if you didn’t get Mrs. Masterson’s messages?”

  It was Knox’s turn to swallow as a look of deep sorrow and guilt washed over his face. He put his hand on Addison’s back. “I came home when I heard Addy’s message. It was the last one before my inbox was full.” He looked back at Merritt, his eyes searching hers. “Is it ever too late to start over?”

  Merritt shook her head, hoping and praying with all her heart that the answer was no.

  * * *

  Knox hadn’t been home since Easter, and he hadn’t planned to come back to the lake until closer to the Fourth of July. But the heartfelt message Addy had left on his phone had changed everything. Just the fact that she was old enough to call him and plead with him to come home had made Knox realize how quickly time was passing—and how much he had already missed.

  The girls would be five years old at the beginning of August. How was it possible that it had been almost five years since his miserable marriage had ended and Reina had walked out on all of them for good? He’d run away for a long time, but he couldn’t run forever.

  Silence hung in the air as Merritt Lane stared at him, her soft brown eyes filled with so much pain and anguish, he had to look away. She didn’t answer him but simply shook her head.

  “Addy,” Knox said as he tried to disentangle his daughter from around his neck. “I brought you and Blair some presents from Japan. They’re in the brown bag by the door. Why don’t you find her and show her what I brought?”

  Addison’s big blue eyes grew wide with interest and excitement. She let him go and raced out of the kitchen, Darby on her heels. Addy’s little pink flip-flops pattered as she went.

  Knox stood to his full height and faced Merritt. He’d never thought he’d see her again. The two brief times they’d been together had been overshadowed by his wedding and then the birth of the twins. He didn’t know much about her, other than her love for cooking and watching old movies. Those two facts had surprised him, since Reina had hated cooking and only watched reality television shows.

  But what else did he know about Merritt Lane? She was Reina’s half sister. And if they were anything alike, he knew all he needed to know.

  “I feel like I need to catch up,” Knox said as he crossed his arms and studied Merritt. She didn’t look anything like Reina, which was easy enough to understand, since they had different moms. “What happened to Mrs. Masterson?”

  “Her daughter was in a car accident.” Merritt spoke slowly and deliberately, as if she was explaining something to a child—she was a teacher, wasn’t she? “It was really serious, and her daughter is facing months of rehabilitation. Mrs. Masterson needed to leave as soon as possible to help with her grandchildren. She called me two days ago, and since I am currently—” She paused and looked down at her sandals. “Currently unemployed, I didn’t have anything holding me back from coming.” She looked up again, the dimples on either side of her mouth popping out as she pressed her lips together.

  “Thank you for coming.” It was the least he could say, wasn’t it? She didn’t have any obligation to help. The only time the Lane family had reached out to him in the past five years was to send birthday cards to the girls with a bit of money tucked inside. Granted, he hadn’t made any effort to contact them, but he wasn’t even sure it would be welcomed.

  “It’s my pleasure,” she said.

  Knox moved away from Merritt and took a seat on the stool Blair had been occupying. He ran his hand over his face and through his hair, exhausted from the thirteen-hour flight from Tokyo to Minneapolis and then the two-hour drive from the airport to Tucker Lake. Even though it was noon here, it was the middle of the night in Japan, and he was still on Tokyo time.

  He could hardly keep his eyes open.

  “I suppose, now that you’re here...” Merritt left the sentence dangling as she walked away from the refrigerator and went to stand near the door Addy had just exited. “You won’t be needing me anymore. If I leave now, I could probably catch a flight to Charleston this evening.”

  Leave?

  A surge of panic hit Knox at the idea of being alone with Addison and Blair. He’d never cared for them by himself. Mrs. Masterson had always been there to oversee the daily details. He hadn’t shopped for them, cooked for them, cleaned for them—or been there when they learned to walk, potty train or ride a bike. Mrs. Masterson had been both a caregiver and a housekeeper in his absence. And he had paid her well for that service.

  But if she was going to be gone for the summer—and Merritt was leaving—that would mean everything fell on Knox’s shoulders. He could manage the cooking and cleaning—after all, he’d been a bachelor for most of his twenties—but he didn’t know the first thing about childcare.