Once in Every Life

Jack swallowed thickly, wishing he were the kind of man who could make glib statements of sentiment. He wanted to say, ached to say, Hi, Savannah, I missed you. But the words were a lump of regret in his throat. He knew they wouldn't be enough; not for Savannah, whose youthful eyes had seen too much, whose young heart he

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had broken. He had to show her, every day, in every way, that he was sorry. And most of all, that he loved her with all his heart.

"Hi, Vannah," he said quietly, using the pet name he hadn't used since she was a toddler.

She blinked in surprise. Her hold on the schoolbooks relaxed a little. "H-Hi, Daddy."

"I brought presents," he said lamely.

"You did?" three feminine voices said at once.

Jack stooped down and picked up the three brown-paper-wrapped packages. He handed little ones to Katie and Lissa, and a big one to Savannah.

All three of them hurried to the kitchen table and began ripping at the twine bows. The crinkling sound of folding paper and giggling girls filled the kitchen.

Katie sidled alongside Lissa in a wordless bond that caused a small ache to form in Jack's chest. The child's pudgy pink fingers worked feverishly on the thin twine bow and then yanked back the brown wrapping paper. Three bright red grosgrain ribbons lay tangled alongside a beautiful doll.

Katie squealed in delight and clutched the treasure to her chest. She hopped excitedly for a second, then twirled and threw herself into Jack's arms.

"Thank you, Daddy, oh, thank you."

Jack coiled his arms around her in a fierce, loving hug. "You're welcome, baby," he said in a thick voice. "Jack!"

At Lissa's awed whisper, he brought his head up and looked at his wife.

Lissa eased the beautiful silver and pearl necklace from the paper and held it up into the candlelight. "Oh, Jack, it's beautiful."

He smiled at her, then glanced nervously at Savannah. His eldest daughter was chewing on her lower lip and

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carefully unwrapping the package. She moved slowly, as if she were afraid of what lay beneath the thin paper.

She peeled the brown paper back, and immediately looked up at him.

Jack smiled at her, nodding.

A slow, excited smile tugged at her mouth. She bit down harder on her lower lip, as if she were afraid to show how much the simple frock meant to her. But she couldn't keep the emotion from her eyes. "Oh, Daddy," she breathed, holding up the short-sleeved muslin gown sprigged with tiny pink flowers. "It's beautiful."

"I thought you ladies might need something special for the dance tomorrow night."

Savannah gasped. "Really?" she said. "We can go?"

Jack knew then that he'd made the right decision. "Yeah," he said quietly. "We can go."

Chapter Twenty-one

That night, Tess dried the last supper plate and put it carefully away. As she was turning to leave, a shadow of movement caught her eye.

Intrigued, she went to the window and saw Savannah sitting on the tree swing. Just sitting there, head bowed, hands in her lap. Alone.

Tess tossed her damp rag on the riddle board and went outside.

"Savannah?" she said quietly, making her way cautiously down the shadowy steps.

Savannah sighed unhappily. "Hi, Mama."