Gambling On a Heart Read Online Free PDF

strode across the kitchen to her. He patted her on the shoulders and looked her in the eye. How could she be an inch taller than her father, even without her shoes, but still feel insignificant?
    “Yes. I suppose it is, but I also think that advice could be taken for a lot of things. Not just concerning Cartwright. Are you really happy, Tracy Caroline?” Before she could process an answer, he kissed her on the cheek. “All I want is for you to be happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for both of my children. Sweet dreams, Pixie.”
    She watched him leave through the swinging door into the hallway.
    The last time he’d called her by the pet name had been when she’d clung to him before he boarded a plane headed to the first war in Iraq twenty-two years ago when she was twelve years old.
    * * * *
    Zack pulled the extended cab Ram truck into the two-car garage he’d built onto the log and limestone house. The old homestead had seen six generations of Cartwrights come and go. Cutting the engine, he looked over his shoulder at his daughter sleeping in her booster seat. It wasn’t incredibly late, but she and Tracy’s boy had played long into the evening.
    He got out and opened the back door. After unbuckling the belt over Mandy’s seat, he lifted her into his arms.
    “C’mon, baby girl,” he murmured and held her close to his chest. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
    The house was dark and quiet as he carried Mandy down the hall to her bedroom. He pulled off her sodden shoes, laid her down onto the frilly pink comforter, and left her to fetch a damp washcloth from the bathroom.
    When he returned, he wiped the worst of the grime from her face, arms, and legs. Her black hair tangled around the limp sleeves of her blue dress. The scuffed and wet white patent leather shoes were unsalvageable. He didn’t have much hope for the filthy frilly dress either.
    While the adults had been enjoying traditional dances and the whole garter and flower throwing silliness, Mandy and Bobby had played in the water of the lake at the edge of the front yard. If he hadn’t wanted to escape after he’d caught the blue garter Dylan deliberately tossed to him and after Tracy had caught Charli’s bouquet, he might not have found the two kids to get them the hell out of the water.
    Besides her newfound friendship with Bobby, Mandy had attached herself to Tracy in a way he’d never seen her do with any other woman. Not that Mandy had much opportunity to become close to women outside of his family. Other than her babysitters and Deputy Dawn Madison, Mandy wasn’t around too many females.
    With the worst of the dirt off her and on the washcloth, Mandy awakened enough to help him remove the dress and slip a nightgown over her head. He took her hand and led her into the bathroom across the hall where he helped her brush her teeth, then attempted to untangle her snarled hair with a brush.
    Giving up on the hair, he carried her back to her bed and tucked the blankets around her small body. She yawned and folded her hands over her chest. With her eyes closed, she murmured the age-old bedtime prayer recited by children everywhere. “Now I lay me down to sleep...”
    He sat on the edge of her bed and smiled as she asked God to take care of every member of her family, including her pony and horse.
    “And let Momma know I love her, and me and Daddy miss her.”
    He prepared for the twist in his gut when she asked God to send her mother home soon.
    “And finally, Baby Jesus, keep Miz Tracy and Bobby safe. Amen.” She opened her eyes and smiled lazily up at him.
    He swallowed past the thickness in his throat.
    “I thought I should stop asking God to send Momma back to us, since I know now she can’t come home. It might make her sad because she can’t. But I thought it would be nice to add Miz Tracy and Bobby to my list.”
    His smile grew stiff. He remembered their conversion over the wedding dinner. The little wheels in Mandy’s