Her Secret, His Child

Ashley froze. Her whole body felt like wiggling and she had to go potty really bad and she was afraid if she made a noise the nice man would disappear, just like in her dreams when her daddy came. She stared at him and stared at him and he didn't go away. He smiled, instead.

"You…you're my daddy?" she finally got brave enough to ask, but then covered her ears really quick in case he changed his mind.

It didn't matter that she couldn't hear him. He nodded yes.

Ashley wanted him to hug her up really big, just like Kayla's daddy did when he came home. She'd just known that when God finally heard her and

TAR A TAYLOR QUINN

brought her a daddy, he'd hug her up big like that. But he didn't, and that made her afraid.

' 'Do you love me like Kayla''s daddy loves her?''

Daddy's eyes got really big and Ashley felt all better inside.

"Oh, yes, sweetheart. Maybe even more."

Of course more, Ashley thought. Just like God gave her the best mommy, He'd given her the best daddy, too. She just knew it.

And because he was a new daddy and maybe didn't know all about it yet, Ashley wrapped her arms around his big old neck to teach him what daddies did. He was really smart, because he picked her right up and squeezed her so tight she just about couldn't breathe.

Ashley was so excited she did a horrible, horrible thing. She wet her pants. And started to cry.

Daddy didn't get mad, though. He just hugged her more. And then helped her play with the queen and king and their boat the whole time Ashley was in her bath getting cleaned. He made up the best stories Ashley had ever heard.

She listened to every word, except when she took a time-out to thank God for hearing her and sending such a good daddy. Even if it took Him a while.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Karen was so envious she wanted to die. Yet she couldn't help smiling every time she thought of Jamie's good fortune. She'd been a little hurt that Jamie hadn't told her right away that the new English professor was Ashley's father, but she understood, too. Kyle Radcliff had the right to know first.

And now they were living a fairy-tale ending. One Karen couldn't even hope to emulate. She still hadn't told Dennis about the baby. He probably just thought she was getting fat, becoming a dull, frumpy housewife. For all she knew, he could already be falling out of love with her. And how could she blame him? What did she have that could possibly hold him?

Holding her man was not a problem Jamie would ever experience. Not only was Kyle obviously besotted with her, she was beautiful, smart, successful. She was a fantastic mothe

r, a loyal friend.

The only thing Jamie had in common with Karen these days, besides their daughters, was something Karen couldn't figure out. Jamie wasn't happy. As a matter of fact, there were times Karen would swear that Jamie needed a friend even more than she did.

Which made no sense at all.

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Spring was teasing Larkspur Grove. March brought days that began with tantalizing sunshine and warmth, to be followed only hours later by a severe snowstorm. Three times that month Jamie sent Ashley to school wearing only a sweater and had to pack her winter coat in the car to bring her home.

The weather seemed to reflect her relationship with Kyle. Though, in all honesty, she had to admit the fault was hers. She was as inconsistent as the month of March, wanting to believe that what she'd once been didn't matter, that the woman she'd become was the only woman Kyle needed to know about. And acknowledging, the next instant, that she was, by omission, lying to him. Acknowledging, too, that a relationship built on lies would never survive.

She couldn't blame him for getting a little impatient with her, a little frustrated with the mixed messages she was sending. But neither could she quit sending them. She was in an untenable situation. For Ashley's sake and in fairness to Kyle, she had to facilitate meetings between them, all the while knowing their easy contentment existed on borrowed time.

They played the happy family so often during the weeks following that Friday night Jamie occasionally found herself believing the fantasy they were creating. They ate together a couple of evenings a week, went to movies, played in the park, visited the ice-cream shop, even went grocery-shopping

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

once when Kyle stopped by as Jamie and Ashley were on their way to do that weekly chore.

There'd been a bit of gossip about town when word got out that Ashley's father wasn't dead after all. But Kyle covered up any awkwardness with his five-long-years-of-searching story—and a refusal to answer any other questions. Even Dean Patterson was left to draw his own conclusions. None of which seemed to hurt the way any of Jamie's acquaintances felt about her. She'd been prepared for cold shoulders and averted eyes, but none of them treated her any differently. Except maybe to smile at her more. Everyone liked being in on the happy ending.

Ashley was acting like a little imp these days, exploring her boundaries with her daddy, seeing what rules she could circumvent with him as an ally. And soon discovered that she couldn't get around any of them. In fact, the more time they spent with Kyle, the more rules tended to appear.