The Heart of a Hero Read Free

girl?” a heavyset man called out as he came down the porch steps wearing slippers and no coat and carrying a tall glass in his hand. “Who’s that with you? You send him away and tell the fool we close at noon on Fri—”
    “Daddy, be careful!” Julia cried, bolting for the house when the man missed the bottom step.
    Nicholas dropped the bicycle and ran after Julia as her father stumbled toward a tree only to end up sprawled facedown in the snow—pulling Julia down with him when she tried to break his fall.
    In what was starting to feel like a comedy of errors, Nicholas found himself in a small tug-of-war when the man tried using her to pull himself up before Nicholas finally wrestled Julia free and stood her out of the way. “Let me help you,” he said, catching the man under the arms and lifting him to his feet.
    “I told that Christless girl to spread the stove ashes out here this morning,” the man grumbled, staggering forward to hug the tree he’d missed earlier. “And where in hell is she, anyway? She’s supposed to come straight home from school and cook me supper.” He pointed at Julia as she straightened from picking up her purse. “It’s your fault. Ever since you gave her that truck, she ain’t never home.”
    Julia shot an uneasy glance toward Nicholas, then walked to her father. “Trisha told you she had band practice this afternoon,” she explained just as a small SUV pulled up beside Nicholas’s truck. “There she is now. Come on, Daddy, let’s go inside and I’ll cook you some eggs and pork.”
    Her father batted her away. “I spilt my drink,” he growled, pointing at the empty plastic tumbler on the ground. He then glared up at Nicholas. “And I ain’t going nowhere ’til I meet your boyfriend.”
    “Jules,” a young woman said, rushing up only to grab Julia’s arm when she slipped on the ice. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
    “Both you girls are due for an attitude adjustment,” their father snarled, his eyes narrowed against the swirling snow as he pointed an unsteady finger at them. “And don’t you think I won’t do it, neither, just ’cause it’s been a while.”
    Nicholas forced himself to unball his fists as he stepped up to the obviously inebriated man. “Let me help you to the house, Mr. Campbell,” he offered, his grip—and likely his size—squelching any protest.
    “I expect a man wanting to date my daughter to ask me first,” he muttered as Nicholas maneuvered him up the steps.
    “I’m not dating Julia, sir. I just gave her a ride home from work.”
    The man yanked to a stop at the door and pulled free, the porch light revealing his bloodshot glare. “You think you’re too good for my Julia, is that it?”
    “Dad,” the woman under discussion protested as she opened the door.
    “Come on, Daddy,” her sister said, pushing on her father as Julia pulled. “Let’s get you inside before you catch a chill.”
    Mr. Campbell shrugged off both girls, then grabbed Julia’s arm and gave her a shake. “This is why you can’t get another man,” he growled. “And why you lost the good one you had. How many times I gotta tell you to show some gratitude when a man’s nice to you?” He pushed her in front of Nicholas. “I say driving you home in a snowstorm deserves a kiss.”
    Julia and her sister gasped in unison, and Nicholas stiffened at the realization the man was serious. And if Julia’s father had placed her in an untenable position, he’d put Nicholas in a quandary. If he simply turned and walked away, the drunken idiot would likely get angry at
her
.
    “And not some shy peck on the cheek, either,” Mr. Campbell continued, nudging his frozen daughter hard enough that she stumbled forward.
    “Daddy,”
her sister growled, grabbing Julia’s jacket to tug her back.
    Well, hell. Nicholas pulled Julia into his arms, lowered his head as he lifted her onto her toes, and kissed her—making sure to linger just long enough to satisfy the