Her Secret, His Child

Ashley nodded. "Mmm-hmm."

"And what about Debbie and Dana? Where's their daddy?"

' 'Their mommy divorced him. But he still comes to school and gets them sometimes. He's really tall. Kayla says he's big enough for his head to touch the ceiling, but I don't think so. Men can't get big enough to touch the ceiling, can they, Mommy?"

"Not usually, sweetie." Jamie brushed at curls, still damp from the bath, on her daughter's brow.

' 'Mommy, if a tall man jumps really, really hard and even jumps from a tall, tall ladder, could he at least peek into heaven?''

Afraid she knew right where this was going, pained that her daughter found it necessary to struggle so adamantly for her identity, Jamie slowly shook her head. "I'm afraid not, honey."

"Don't cry, Mommy."

"I'm not crying, Ash."

"But if I ask about my daddy, you'll cry, huh?"

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

"No, honey. We can always talk about anything, you and I. I thought you knew that."

'"Cept my daddy. We never, ever talk about him."

"You never asked."

"Miss Karen has pictures of Kayla's daddy. Where are my daddy's pictures?"

"I don't have any." The words almost choked her.

"Did my daddy die fighting for our country before you could take pictures?"

Hugging the child against her, Jamie forged on. She'd have prayed for guidance if she'd thought there was any chance her prayers would be heard. But the only God she'd ever learned about couldn't hear people like Jamie Archer.

"No, sweetie, I just didn't have a camera."

"'Cause you were poor?"

She hadn't been rich. But she'd had enough money. She'd worked hard for it. Sold her soul for it. "'Cause I didn't think there'd be anyone I wanted to take pictures of."

Wriggling closer, sliding her pudgy little arms around Jamie's neck, Ashley said, "But now you gots me for pictures, huh?''

"Yep." Jamie smiled. "Now I do. As soon as I knew you were on the way, I went out and bought a camera."

"That's when I was in your tummy?"

"Mmm-hmm."

Ashley was quiet for so long Jamie assumed she'd fallen asleep. And though they hadn't resolved a

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

darn thing, Jamie was relieved. She just didn't know where to go with this one. And was finding herself damn stupid for not foreseeing this eventuality. When she'd let the town think what they wanted about her husband, she'd never thought about this tiny baby of hers growing up. Hadn't considered the fact that while she could ignore the curiosity of a town, she couldn't refuse to answer her own child.

"Where was my daddy when you bought my cam'ra?"

Damn. So much for sleeping. "He was, um, already gone."

"Gone away forever?"