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“He kissed you,” she whispered, a little too loud to be private. “I saw everything, and then you woke up. Just like in Sleeping Beauty.”
“Ahhh,” Cat murmured as she reached out and touched her daughter’s cheek. “Maybe it’s not quite the same. Sleeping Beauty is a story.”
She had no strength to continue. They’d already had this discussion, anyway. Lara insisted on believing her fairy tales were real no matter what Cat said.
“I’m going to call an ambulance,” Jake suddenly said as he reached toward his pocket—probably for a cell phone. “In case this isn’t just hunger.”
He was looking at her with a dozen questions in his eyes. None of which she wanted to answer.
“I’ll be fine,” Cat repeated, this time looking away from her daughter and facing him squarely. She willed him to believe her.
“You can be fine in an ambulance, too,” he said as he held his cell phone and started to dial.
She shook her head. Then she reached out a hand and motioned for him to move over slightly and draw closer so she could whisper and only he would hear. “I just need to rest a minute. And I don’t want to scare Lara.”
She didn’t need a doctor to tell her what she already knew.
“She’s not worried,” Jake murmured, and then his lips actually curved up slightly. “She thinks I’m her private prince, here to do her bidding, anyway. Like some genie in a bottle.”
Cat smiled. She put her hand on his shoulder and felt the dampness of his shirt. “I got you all wet.”
She could also feel the warmth of his skin through the shirt.
“It’s okay.”
She noticed then that his face was damp, too. She must have flung rain drops everywhere. Odd that his hair was dry. His eyes were searching hers. He always did take his responsibilities to heart. Poor Jake. She wondered if he’d rescued any more damsels in distress after she’d left the home. She had meant to spare him that.
He leaned down farther until he was almost near enough to kiss her again. Her mouth felt suddenly dry and she wished so many things were different in her life. She hadn’t been a particularly good damsel for him to rescue years ago, but now she was hopeless. She had far too many problems for any white knight to solve. And this one deserved better.
Just then the other man came back with a bottle of water, and Jake pulled away.
“I have a refrigerator in the storeroom so I can keep things cold,” the man said, not seeming to notice the tension in the air. “I have a microwave, too, if you’d rather have hot water.”
“Maybe later,” she said. “I have some crackers in my purse and I could …”
She saw Jake scowl and start to rise.
“Cold water is perfect now, though.” Cat braced her arms so she could push herself up into a sitting position on the couch. Then she reached for the water. “That’s just what I need.”
“What you need is a big steak and a baked potato,” Jake muttered. By now he was standing and glowering down at her. “When did you eat last? And I don’t mean crackers.”
She had forgotten how it was with Jake. He liked to rescue damsels, but he was opinionated as he did it. She didn’t have energy to challenge him now, though. “I had something on the airplane coming out here.”
“Pretzels, I suppose. They’re not any better.”
Cat leaned her head back and took a drink. At least Jake believed it was hunger that had made her faint. That would satisfy him for a while. Give her time to think. She hadn’t quite expected the surge of tenderness that struck her when he was so close. She hoped it wouldn’t make it more difficult to ask him what she needed to when the time came.
“You’re here on a stopover then?” He hesitated. For a moment he looked vulnerable. “How long do you have?”
“As much time as you have to spare.”
The tension left his eyes. “Well, when you finish with that water, I’m going to see about getting you something to eat, then. I’m surprised that wind didn’t blow you away out there.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble.” Even as she said it, she knew it was too late for her to be anything but that. She just hoped she didn’t disrupt his life too much.
“What does Lara like to eat?” he asked, turning to leave but not yet stepping away.
“She eats almost anything except peas.” Cat was glad the conversation wasn’t about her anymore.
There was a rustle at her side, and she saw her daughter wiggle in between them again, now that Jake was standing.
“Peas are ugly,” her daughter announced, looking up at Jake defiantly. When he didn’t say anything, she started to talk faster. “And, I’m a princess, so if I get peas under my mattress, I won’t be able to sleep all night long. And, they make me burp.” She paused and looked down at the floor. “Well, sort of—sometimes.”
Cat had struggled to teach Lara the difference between truth and lies, even before she got the book of fairy tales. At first, Cat thought the book was good because it helped Lara learn to read, but she was beginning to wonder if Lara really believed she was a princess when she said things like that.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you carrots,” Jake said as he squatted down to her daughter’s level. His voice was gentle and he seemed to really be looking at her. “I’m not that fond of peas, either.”
Lara beamed at him.
Jake just looked at the girl for another minute.
“How old are you, Lara?” he finally asked.
Cat felt her breath clutch. She suddenly realized he was asking the question as if he didn’t know the answer. She’d taken for granted that he’d known that much. She wasn’t ready to tell him everything, but he must know who Lara was. She hadn’t even worried about that on the way here.
“I’m four,” her daughter answered, and held up the required number of fingers with the confidence of her preschool training. “And three months.”
Cat saw the shock wave go through Jake and she reached her hand out to stop him from saying a word. She hadn’t told her daughter anything, but surely Jake had known.
“Lara, will you take the bottle back to the nice man at the counter?” she asked as she held the plastic water bottle out to her daughter.
Fortunately, Jake knew what she intended and waited to say anything until Lara had walked over to the older man and he lifted her up on a stool.
“Who’s her father?” Jake’s voice was low and impatient.
Cat took a quick breath. “I thought you knew. It’s you.”
“Me?” Jake turned to stare at her fully. She couldn’t read his face. He’d gone pale. That much she could see. And his jaw was tense.
She nodded and darted a look over at Lara. “I know she doesn’t look like you, but I promise I wasn’t with anyone else. Not after we …”
She didn’t even have any proof, she realized. She hadn’t thought she would ever need any. She hadn’t put his name on the birth certificate, either.
“Of course you weren’t with anyone else,” Jake said indignantly. “We were so tight there would have been no time to …” He stopped and lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck. “At least, I thought we were tight. Until you ran away.”
His voice had drifted, but it was still loud enough to be overheard and she lifted her hand to ask him to lower it. But then he went completely silent, just crouched there looking at her. Soon his black eyes warmed until they were filled with golden flecks. She’d forgotten they could do that.
“She’s really mine?” he whispered, his voice husky once again.
Cat nodded. “She doesn’t know. Although she doesn’t take after you—her hair and everything—she’s got your way of looking out at the world. I assumed someone on the staff at the youth home must have told you about her …”
His jaw tensed further at that.
“You think I wouldn’t have moved heaven and earth to find you if I’d known you’d had my baby?” Jake’s eyes flashed. He’d obviously forgotten about being quiet. “I made several trips back to the home to try and trace you. They said you didn’t want to be found so I finally accepted that. But if I’d known I had a daughter, I would have forced them to tell me where you were. I’d have gotten some high-powered lawyer and made them talk.”
Cat suddenly realized why she’d been so sure he knew. “But you’ve been sending me money. No letters. Just the money. Why would you do that? I thought it was like child support in your mind. That you wanted to be responsible even if you didn’t want to be involved with us.”
Jake shook his head. “I didn’t put down any words because I didn’t know what to say. I thought the money spoke for itself. That you would write when you were ready. And the money—it was like a tithe.”
“A tithe? You’re going to church?” Cat asked in relief. Maybe God had worked things out better than she had hoped. If Jake was a Christian, then she would feel so much better about him raising Lara if it came to that.
He shook his head. “Churches never have been any use to me, you know that. But I remember something Mrs. Hargrove gave me when I was a kid. You remember the lady who used to write me when I was in the home?” He looked at Cat until she nodded. “Well, one of the church papers talked about tithing.”
Cat was confused. “People give tithes to churches.”
Jake nodded. “Yes, so the church can help those in need. I am just cutting out the middle man. I figured you could use food and things so I gave the money to you.”
“Charity?” she whispered, appalled. She’d never imagined that was what the envelopes of cash were about.
Jake lowered his eyes, but he didn’t deny anything.
“I had money. Not much, but I didn’t need charity,” she finally managed to say before she heard Lara squeal and come running back to the sofa.
Cat willed her heart to stay steady. She couldn’t afford to get upset. She breathed as deeply as she dared and stayed silent. Jake’s eyes were caught by Lara, anyway.
“Come here, princess,” he said softly to the girl as she danced closer. The ballet shoes had been a present last Christmas, too. “Let me look at you.”
Lara twirled around and faced him, her cheeks flushed with merriment. “Are you going to turn me into a toad?”
Jake grinned. “Not today.”
Her daughter was enchanting, Cat thought in relief. No one could resist her.
Jake did seem interested in Lara, but that wouldn’t be enough, Cat reminded herself. She hadn’t even asked the crucial question yet. Now she wasn’t so sure. Jake had always been the first one to stand up and do what was right. But that didn’t equal love. She knew that better than anyone and she didn’t want Lara to grow up feeling as though she was a burden on someone.
Cat reminded herself that’s why she had run away from Jake and the home all those years ago. She’d known back then that he’d marry her for duty, but it wasn’t enough. What if Jake agreed to take Lara, but then treated her like a charity child? He might as well turn her into a toad right now and be done with it.
What had possessed him to send her all that money, anyway? She’d just assumed he knew she’d had a baby seven months after she left the home and had done the math. Over the years, he had sent her forty or fifty thousand dollars. She worked as a waitress at first, and some months she wouldn’t have made rent without his help. Even now that she worked in an office, she didn’t really make enough to do without his assistance. At least she had medical insurance, she told herself.
But money wasn’t everything. She wanted more than that for Lara.
Dear Lord, she thought finally. I need Your help here. Lara needs a father and not an imaginary prince who will break her heart. And I need wisdom to know if he is the right one to raise her if I can’t. He might be her biological father, but will he come to love her as a father should? Every little girl needs to be loved, whether she’s a princess or not.
Chapter Two
Jake pulled out his cell phone when he got back to the counter. Max was looking at him with concern in his eyes, but Jake wasn’t ready to talk about anything yet. His whole life had been picked up and spun around in a whirlwind before landing him back in the same place. He found he couldn’t remember the number to any restaurant in town.
He finally gave up and looked at his old friend. “I’m a father.”
“What?” Max frowned and leaned closer as though he hadn’t heard the words right.
“A father. You know—man, woman, baby.”
Max stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
Jake looked toward Lara. The girl was sitting on the sofa by her mother and adjusting her tiara again. Suddenly, she giggled at something Cat had said.
“But she’s blonde with blue eyes!” Max had followed Jake’s gaze and then turned back.
Jake nodded. Her hair wasn’t just blond, it was naturally curly.
“And you’re a quarter Cherokee with the black hair to prove it. And your eyes are so brown they’re almost black, in case you haven’t looked in the mirror lately. Are you sure?” Then his face flushed. “You wouldn’t be the first man to be fooled by a woman. Maybe Cat, maybe she—”
“No.” Jake glared at his friend. “It was just Cat and me.” His voice broke then. “I trust her with everything and especially that.”
He tried to think of more words to explain and couldn’t. “She’s—Cat. She’d never lie to me.”
They were both silent for a moment.
“You care about her, then?” Max asked gruffly. “This Cat of yours?”
The question surprised him. “Of course, we went through a lot together.”
Even now, being torn between the misery of not having been told when Lara was born and the wonder of just learning that he had a daughter, he still knew Cat was some kind of an anchor in his life. Now that she was here, he didn’t want her to leave. Max could probably see the feelings on his face. Not much escaped the old man.
Max’s voice softened. “I don’t suppose you asked her to marry you yet.”
Jake snorted. “Of course I asked her—years ago. She ran away from the home the next day and I never saw her again. That’s how well that went. Not that it was a good idea, anyway.”
Max was silent as they both turned to look across the room to where Cat and Lara sat, curled up together on the sofa. The gray clouds were lifting and sunshine was streaming in through the large glass windows behind them.
“You probably didn’t say it right,” Max finally said. “You have a hard time getting to the point sometimes. I’ve noticed that.”
“I said she should let me know if she got in trouble. I know a man’s duty. I said I’d marry her if needed. It wasn’t hard to misunderstand that. I didn’t wrap it up in a bow, but she had to have heard me. She just didn’t want to. Not that I blame her. I’m not any prize. You know about my father. None of the Stone men have any business setting up a family.”
Max was quiet for another minute, also studying the mother and child. By now, the sunlight was shining on them directly.
Then Max looked back, and a grin split his face.
“That little girl? She’s really yours?”
Jake nodded and started to grin, himself. “She doesn’t know, so keep it quiet.”
“That means I’m a grandpa!” Max whispered. He’d always said Jake was like a son to him. Then he reached over and flipped the switch on the counter that changed the sign outside to read No Vacancy. “Nobody needs to know why, but we have to do something. You’re a father.”
“I guess I am at that.” Jake stood there, letting the amazement settle in deeper. Maybe it would be okay if he was a father as long as he wasn’t close enough to the child to mess up her life. Cat had never said anything about telling Lara about him. Maybe the girl would never know.
Max frowned in thought. Then his face lit up. “We’ll have a birthday party. We’ve got lots of birthdays to make up for. Cake and ice cream. That should be okay.”
