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He frowned, and his lips became a thin line. “And you believed everything my mother told you?”
She looked away, shaken by the harsh reply.
“Kait.”
Slowly she glanced back to Ryan.
“I …” He inhaled then released a breath of air through pursed lips. “I’m sorry.”
Kait gave a short nod of acknowledgment. He was angry, and she supposed he had every right to be—more than he realized, in fact.
“Is this the first time you’ve been back since—”
“Yes,” she quickly interjected. “I have to empty out the old house before it goes on the market.”
“You’re selling the house? Your father …”
“My father left the house to me.”
Ryan flinched. “Seems I’m always shoving my boots in my mouth. I heard he was in and out of the V.A. hospital for treatment. But I didn’t realize.” He cleared his throat. “When?”
Kait swallowed and stared straight ahead as she struggled to say the words without emotion. “Six weeks ago.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
“Gotta be tough,” Ryan murmured.
She lifted her chin. “Time passes. Things change.”
“There’s an understatement.” He took off his Stetson and put it back on his head. “How long will you be in town?”
“Long enough to tie up a few loose ends.”
“Loose ends, huh?” A flash of pain appeared in his eyes before he quickly lowered his gaze. “So you weren’t going to even stop by and see me?”
She took a deep breath at the accusation.
What could she possibly say? Yes, Ryan. You’re the reason I’m here. The reason we’re here. I’d like to introduce you to your daughter.
Instead, she barely mumbled out an inadequate response. “I did plan to see you.”
Silence separated them. The same silence that had once been a comforting bond between two friends was now an insurmountable wall.
Ryan shuffled his boots on the cement. “Heard you moved East. Buffalo, right?”
“Philly.” She pulled open the restroom door. “Jenna, are you coming?”
“We’re washing our hands.”
“Maybe we could get together later, for coffee?” He suggested.
“Discuss old times?” The last thing she wanted was to discuss old times. There was nothing to be gained from reminiscing. Moving forward was her only hope.
“Yeah. Why not?”
“We were kids, Ryan.”
“Is that all we were?” he returned, with unexpected bitterness.
“A lot has happened in eight years,” Kait whispered.
“Yeah, it has, and it seems I missed it all, didn’t I?”
Her heart lurched. When she looked up, their eyes connected and held for a long moment.
“Kait, you left me a note. A note.” The words fairly exploded from his lips. He stood grim and angry, clenching and unclenching his hands.
As she opened her mouth to speak, a giggling Jenna and Faith burst out of the restroom.
Faith’s little fingers curled into the palm of his big hand. When she smiled up at her uncle, the tension in Ryan’s body slipped away.
Kait melted at the tender smile he gave the child beside him. Finally his gaze returned to her, and his control was back in place. “Thanks for helping me out here.”
“No problem.” She placed an arm around her daughter’s shoulder. “We … we should be going.”
“Sure.” He gave a quick nod. “But I meant it about getting together sometime. Seems to me we have unfinished business.”
She bit her lip and shook her head. “Yes. Yes, you’re right. We do need to talk.”
Ryan stood still for a moment, as though surprised at her sudden acquiescence.
“Ryan, I really did plan to see you.”
“I want to believe that.” He slowly nodded. “Where are you staying?”
“Out in Granby, at the old house.”
“Have you got a phone?”
“I have a cell.” Digging in her purse, she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote the number for him.
When he took the paper, their fingers brushed. Kait stilled for a brief second before pulling away quickly.
“I’ll give you a call.”
“Okay.” She looked to the child by her side.
Jenna stared curiously at Kait and then at the tall cowboy.
“Hey, there. I’m Ryan Jones. This young lady is my niece, Faith.”
Faith released a squeal of childish delight at being included in the conversation, while Jenna hesitantly accepted the hand Ryan offered.
Jenna’s soft-spoken words as she leaned toward Kait were loud enough that Ryan could hear. “Momma, is he—”
“We’ll talk about it later, sweetie.” Kait cut off the question and turned to leave.
“Kait.”
She glanced over her shoulder at Ryan, her emotions whirling.
“I’m glad you’re back.”
“He’s my daddy?”
Kait backed up the compact car and pulled away from the curb. She sensed the bubbling anticipation in her daughter. After all, Jenna had been waiting her entire life to meet her father.
“Yes.”
“Does he know he’s my daddy?”
“No.” Kait released the word with caution.
“How come?”
“Seat belt on?”
Jenna complied but remained undeterred. “How come, Momma?”
“I wish I could explain. For now, you just have to trust me. Everything is going to work out.”
Kait spoke the words and prayed she was right.
Jenna mulled the answer for a bit. Beaming, she turned to her mother. “Faith is my cousin.”
“That’s right.”
Without skipping a beat, Jenna continued. “Do you think he already has a family?”
“What?”
“Do you think Ryan is married? Maybe he already has a little girl. He might not want another one.”
Kait glanced at Jenna’s stricken expression and inhaled sharply. She reached across the seat to touch her daughter’s hand. “Oh, sweetheart, any daddy would love to have a beautiful and smart girl like you for his daughter.”
In truth, Kait had the same questions as Jenna, along with a million others she’d considered on the long drive from Philly to Tulsa.
Jenna sighed, a pleased smile on her seven-year-old face. “Soon I’ll have lots and lots of family, won’t I?”
“Yes, but remember what we talked about? We have to do this in the Lord’s timing. Some people have a hard time with change. It’s scary, and the last thing we want is to scare them. So until it’s time, this will be our secret.”
Kait chewed the inside of her cheek.
If only she hadn’t run into Ryan just yet. Again and again she had replayed the possible scenarios in her mind, knowing coming home meant coming face-to-face with the past.
When she looked into Ryan’s eyes and he began to speak in that deep, smooth voice laced with a dash of Oklahoma twang, she was lost.
The years melted away.
Yes, it was still there, that feeling between them. It was far more powerful than chemistry—it was a connection.
And he was right. They did have unfinished business.
Kait turned onto 31st Street and shook her head.
Ryan was a vet.
She was no less than astounded to learn he had found the courage to stand up to his family. He’d actually bucked his mother?
Despite his claims to the opposite, she knew firsthand that opposing Elizabeth Delaney Jones simply wasn’t done. Time and again Kait wished she’d had the courage to stand up to the woman eight years ago. If she had, things would be so different.
For a brief moment, the what-ifs taunted her. Anger, regret and sadness vied for control.
Kait pushed it all aside.
She was here to close the door on yesterday, to say goodbye to her father and to tell Ryan the truth.
Her hands trembled on the steering wheel. No matter what the consequences were, she had to face them. Besides, what could Ryan’s mother possibly do now?
Jenna turned from the window and smiled. “This is where you grew up?”
Kait turned left and guided the car down picturesque Lewis Avenue. They were definitely taking the scenic route to Granby.
The stately residences on Lewis were a throwback to the oil-boom days, when T-town was considered the oil capital of the world. Huge trees whose leaves had begun to turn autumn shades of gold and burnt umber flagged the curbsides, shading the large old homes and expansive lawns.
“Yes. I grew up here in Tulsa, and then we moved into my grandmother’s house in Granby after she died.”
“How old were you when you left Oklahoma, Momma?”
“Nineteen.”
“And you went on an adventure.”
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you come back?’
