Ignite （Cloverleigh Farms #6）
Melanie Harlow
One
Dex
“Daddy,” a small voice whispered.
I lay completely still and kept my eyes closed. My alarm was set for six and hadn’t gone off yet, but my daughters had been up for at least twenty minutes. I’d heard them talking through the thin wall separating my bedroom from the one they shared in my crappy apartment. Now they were playing their favorite game, which was to stand next to me while I slept and talk shit about me.
“Daddy.” The voice was a little louder now, and I recognized it—my five-year-old, Luna. “We heard you snoring.”
I continued playing possum.
（And for the record, I don’t fucking snore.）
“Daddy always looks so funny when he sleeps.” Luna got the game started. “Don’t you think?”
“Yes.” That was Hallie, my eight-year-old. “He makes grumpy faces.”
“And weird breathing noises.”
“Yeah. And he’s so hairy.”
“Daddy’s not that hairy,” Luna whispered defensively. “Just some right there.”
Since the blankets were at my waist, I imagined her little finger pointing at my chest, although they often made fun of my hairy legs and scruffy jaw.
“Yeah, but have you ever seen his armpits?” Hallie asked. “They’re super hairy.”
Just to mess with them, I flopped one arm over my head, putting one armpit on display.
“Ew.” Luna giggled. “You’re right. Gross.”
“I’m never getting tattoos,” Hallie announced. The girls were both fascinated and horrified by the ink on my biceps.
“Me neither.”
“Why would anybody let someone draw on them with a needle?”
“I don’t know.”
“You could just use a permanent marker and it wouldn’t hurt.”
“That’s a good idea,” Luna said enthusiastically. “Let’s do it on each other later.”
I was about to sit up and inform them there would be no fucking tattoos given with permanent markers on my watch—I could already hear their mother yelling at me for it—when Hallie said, “Let’s poke him.”
One of them poked my ribs with a bony finger.
“Grrr.” I growled long and low and opened one eye. “Who poked the bear?”
“She did.” Standing beside my bed, they pointed at each other.
The hall light lit them from behind, illuminating their messy hair and summer nightgowns—Hallie’s had owls all over it and Luna’s had a unicorn on the front. I couldn’t see their feet, but I knew Luna’s were bare and Hallie had socks on because she hated being barefoot, even in summer.
“What do you want?” I grabbed the covers and pulled them over my head. “I’m hibernating.”
“Hibernation is for the winter, Daddy,” said Hallie. “It’s August right now. You’re just sleeping.”
“Am I?” I said from beneath the blanket.
“Well, you were.”
“You know why?” Coming out from beneath the covers, I reached over to the nightstand and tapped my phone screen. “Because it’s not even fucking five a.m., and that is what normal human beings do at this hour.”
“Mom says you’re not supposed to say that word around us,” Hallie reminded me.
“Mom’s not fucking here.” Remembering not to curse was a tough job after twelve years in the Navy, something my ex didn’t seem to appreciate.
“Can we get up now, Daddy?” Luna tugged the blankets impatiently.
“No. I didn’t even get up this early in boot camp.”
“But we can’t sleep.” Luna hopped onto my bed, climbed over me, and got under the covers.
“Why not?”
“We’re too excited about the new house.”
“Oh.” I was excited about today’s move too—I’d never liked this apartment. And despite being called the Luxury Harbor Complex, the place was neither luxurious nor anywhere close to the harbor.
But I hadn’t had much time or choice when I was looking for somewhere to live after Naomi asked me to move out two years ago. All I wanted was somewhere close to the elementary school, somewhere I could afford, and somewhere not too far from the fire station where I worked. As soon as I moved in, I’d started saving for a down payment.
The new place wasn’t big by any measure—it was a two-story, attached townhouse. But it was an end unit, much roomier and newer than the apartment, and the surroundings were way better. There was a grassy area for the girls to play out back, a park within walking distance, and a pool. We’d have two full bathrooms, a garage, and I wouldn’t be able to hear anyone else’s arguments, toilets, or televisions through the walls.