My Daddy is a Hero 4

By Dahlia Rose

Captain Simon Brevard loved the Air Force and flying fighter jets, until his world was turned upside down. His sister and her husband were killed in a car accident, and now he was the guardian to his one year old niece, Emma. Without a question, he accepted the role to being her father and changed his life completely. While dealing with the grief of losing the only family he had, he was determined to make sure that Emma would lack for nothing, including love. So now he was living on a small farm in Indian Springs, Nevada, and instead of flying he was teaching. In the midst of all the changes in his life, there was Leila Hayes, Emma’s pediatrician and his sister’s close friend. Together they shared the sadness of loss and found the first strands of love. Simon never knew love before he met Leila, and when he finds out the secret that she kept, it could join them together as a family or break them apart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dahlia Rose
• Release date: Jul 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781936668755

Dahlia Rose

Dahlia Rose is the best-selling author of contemporary, military and paranormal romance with a hint of Caribbean spice. She was born and raised on a Caribbean island and now currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her five kids, who she affectionately nicknamed “The Children of the Corn,” and her biggest supporter and longtime love. She has a love of erotica, dark fantasy, sci-fi, and the things that go bump in the night. With over six dozen books published Dahlia has become a reader favorite. Not only because of her writing but her vivacious attitude in talking to her fans online and at various events. Books and writing are her biggest passions, and she hopes to open your imagination to the unknown between the pages of her books. http://hearttoheartwithdahliarose.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/author.dahliarose www.twitter.com/dahliarose1029

Book preview

My Daddy Is A Hero 4

Captain Simon Brevard

By Dahlia Rose

Published by Dahlia Rose at Smashwords

www.authordahliarose.com

Copyright © July 2012, Dahlia Rose Unscripted

Cover art by For The Muses Designs © July 2012

ISBN: 978-1-936668-75-5

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Chapter One

It takes only a few seconds for a person’s life to completely change. That was his thought when his life was turned upside down. Captain Simon Brevard was a veteran at being a fighter pilot. He’d been deployed multiple times including the very first incursion into Iraq and Afghanistan and flown in some of the worse battles. Regularly the commander of the air craft carrier called him in to show the young guys who liked to hot dog how it’s done.  He was in the middle of showing them all up and laughing at it. One minute he is in a training flight with some new flyboys of the Air Force. Next he was being called in to land and shown into the commander’s office on the USS John F. Kennedy. The news floored him, he couldn’t comprehend it for the longest time. His sister, her husband both dead in a head on collision with a drunk driver and his niece, that he only knew from pictures, was now alone except for him.

Knowing how he grew up with only him and his sister living with an evil aunt who terrorized them until she died. There was no way he was going to let Emma be raised by anyone else but him. Spurred on by that knowledge and in the midst of grief, he sprung into action. He was offered leave time because of his Captain bars and because he very rarely took any vacation. Now for the next three months he would be making a home for Emma and he was transferring to being a flight trainer at Creech Air Force Base. In only a matter of hours after he heard the news he was picking up his niece from social services.  She was so tiny in his arms, one year old and looking up at him with so much trust and love in her eyes. So alone, he thought and then shook his head. No not alone. She had him and he would never fail her. His sister Angie was fair skinned, almost alabaster, and Emma’s skin was tanned or olive. It was probably because of her father’s Mediterranean heritage; Stefan was of Greek descent and grew up in the Greek islands for most of his life.  There would be paperwork and other things to take care of but he knew Angie and Stefan had given him guardianship of Emma in their will in case the worst happened.

There was a rush of activity as he planned a funeral and tried to settle into his sister’s farmhouse that was now his home. There were crops: corn, soybeans, tomatoes and potatoes on the fifty-acre farm. There was a head farmhand named Jim that he met when he took Emma home. He knew the run of the place and after a discussion, Jim would run the farm aspect and Simon would take care of the books, payroll and the like.  He liked the older guy who talked about his sister like she was an angel and his brother in law like a best friend. He and the farmhand would be good friends. He barely had time to do anything but take care of things that his brother–in-law left.

But at night when the house was quiet, he held Emma as she fussed her for mom and dad. She may have been only one and while she couldn’t verbalize it, the baby was feeling the loss of her parents. They probably had a routine and now everything was different for her. He walked her up and down the house all night until she settled and he finally crashed on the couch with her sleeping on his chest. When the grief of loss took hold of him and crushed his heart like a fist, he hugged the baby tighter and tried to feel his family through her. He’d stayed away too long and missed out on so much. He hadn’t even spoken to his sister for six months before she passed.

The funeral was a somber affair. Spring rain fell, misting the flowers and the matching coffins that stood in the center of the crowd. He held Emma in his arms and kept her dry under an umbrella. It seemed everyone in the small farming town knew Angie and Stefan. Even the farm hands showed up looking clean and neat. One woman kept looking at him and Emma throughout the graveside ceremony. She was dressed a sleek black dress and carried a small umbrella. Tears streaked her ebony cheeks and her chocolate brown eyes were filled with such loss.   Her lips trembled and even in his sadness he felt as if he should hold her, console her somehow. She was a gorgeous woman. Even in the midst of all their sadness he couldn’t help noticing that aspect. After it was over and he accepted condolences, she was the

Reviews for My Daddy is a Hero 4

[arecafe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My Daddy is a Hero: Master Chief Marrone by Dahlia Rose is a fairly short story with a fast paced plot. The story features an interracial couple. Fabian is no stranger to dating women of color and in fact his ex-wife is black. Taryn has no problems dating a white man and she’s loved him in silence for years. Despite being a short novel, there is much attention to details in developing each character and creating a complex plot with many angles. It begins on a happy note with Fabian looking forward to returning home and then bam! His world is turned upside down by the kidnapping of his daughter.

Master Chief Fabian is glad his days of active duty are over and he can’t wait to start his life stateside. Fabian’s daughter, Cae, is growing up without either parent since his ex-wife decided drugs were more important than her family. Cae’s caregiver, Taryn, has been by Fabian’s side as a friend and substitute mother to Cae and he’s decided to make them a real family if Taryn will have him. Disaster strikes when his daughter is kidnapped by her strung out mother. Taryn is wracked with grief because Cae is stolen while in her care. Both characters are very realistic in their approach to the situation. It seems normal though unfair for Fabian to blame Taryn and for this intense and emotional time to be the moment for Taryn’s true feelings to come spilling out. The suspense heightens as they search for his daughter. The chemistry between Fabian and Taryn seems to flow naturally and clearly it makes perfect sense for them to take their relationship to the next level. This is a great short read with a fun plot.

~ Susan for AReCafe