There were several shots in the past year of Chelsea riding the bay named Princess Jasmine. He’d spent a good deal of time with that horse while cleaning her stall. Not temperamental, but spirited. Nearly sixteen hands tall. A lot of horse for a young girl to handle, but Chelsea seemed in control of her in these pictures.
He’d have to ask Katie whether Chelsea had raised the seven-year-old horse from birth. He could totally picture a young girl naming a pet after something fanciful like her favorite Disney princess. Come to think of it, he’d seen a Halloween photo from maybe six years earlier of Chelsea dressed as Princess Jasmine from Aladdin.
What did she plan to go as this Halloween?
Will I ever come to know her well enough to answer that?
Damn straight, he would.
Or had he missed out on her trick or treating years? She might still dress up for parties or something. He hoped so. Halloween had always been one of his favorite holidays.
Travis rested his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes, imagining the moment when Chelsea would first learn he was her daddy. The backs of his eyelids stung, and he blinked away the moisture. A safer subject for his daydreaming tonight would be what might happen further down the road. What kinds of activities might the two of them enjoy doing together?
The enormity of what the future might hold took its toll, and he gave in to sleep only to dream about his blonde-haired princess riding around the arena as her mother gave sharp commands and effusive praise…until he realized Katie was holding a frying pan.
The smell of bacon wafted under his nose, and he blinked awake. Sunlight streamed in the window, and he jumped up as if caught with his pants down. An afghan had been spread over him. Had Katie seen him sleeping upright? She’d left him sheets and a cotton blanket before heading to the barn last night, but he hadn’t budged from this spot since then. Unless he’d covered himself in his sleep, she must have done it. How’d he slept through that? Usually he was a light sleeper.
Travis rubbed the stiffness from his neck. Man, there’d be hell to pay before he worked the kinks out today.
After a quick stop in the bathroom, he wandered down the hallway and into the kitchen. Katie removed strips of bacon from the skillet, placing them on a plate covered with a paper towel.
“Good morning.” His voice sounded as if it had passed through sandpaper. He made a beeline for the coffee pot. “Sorry I slept so late. I don’t even remember falling asleep.”
“How far did you get?”
“Almost finished the last one.” After making scrambled eggs and toast to go with the bacon, she sat at the table beside him ten minutes later. “Tell me about Chelsea and Princess Jasmine.”
“The horse or the movie character?”
“Both, maybe. I’m curious. Did she name the horse?”
Katie nodded. “I gave the horse to Chelsea as a yearling on her sixth birthday, and Jasmine was her favorite princess at the time. Of course, she’d been around the horse almost nine months by then because she was born to one of my mares.”
“Which one does she like now?”
Katie smiled indulgently. “She’s not really into Disney princesses any longer. Sexy country music singers and famous Saddlebred horses are her rock stars now.”
He needed to keep a cheat sheet. “How am I going to remember everything?”
She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to. It’s not like you’re cramming for the New Father 101 final exam. Just be yourself, talk with her about things you have in common, ask her questions, and let nature take its course.”
He’d lost his appetite due to the sizable knot in his stomach. “I’m going to be a nervous wreck until you two come home this afternoon.”
“Actually, I’ve thought about it, and if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like for you to come with me to pick her up. I’d prefer that to having her simply happen upon you in the barn or something. And I’m certain she’ll rush to Jasmine’s stall first thing after we get home.”
His heart hammered, robbing him of thought or breath. “Are you sure?” Because I sure as hell am not.
She nodded, then pulled her hand back, and moved her eggs around on the plate. “But let’s not tell her who you really are until…until I’m sure.” What could he do to assure her he wasn’t going to desert Chelsea?
“Katie, I’m not like your mom. I’ll never walk out on her. Ever.”
She nibbled her lip, anguish written all over her face. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, but held back.
“Trust me, Katie.” If she believed he’d treat their daughter right, maybe she could relax. Given what happened with her mom, no wonder Katie hadn’t been able to expect him to do the right thing all those years ago. He began to see that he wasn’t the one facing the test of a lifetime—Katie was.
She drew a deep, ragged breath. “Wait for my signal as to the best time to tell her. Not in front of her friends at church, though.”
“Agreed. But definitely tonight, right?”
The silence dragged out between them until she whispered, “Okay. Tonight. I know you two are going to hit it off and bond with each other quickly. I’ll try not to get in the way.”
He wished she’d included herself in that bonding scenario and that they could be a traditional family, but at the moment, Chelsea remained his first concern.
“I’ll wait for your signal, but how will I know when you’re ready?”
“She knows her father and I were college sweethearts, so when I tell her you and I knew each other at UK, she’s probably going to figure it out herself. Then we can both follow her cues as to what she needs to know.”
“Hey, wait. Will she recognize my name?”
Katie shook her head. “Not the name Travis. She asked once a few years ago, but I didn’t think she needed to know your full name yet.”
No, I guess you wouldn’t.
“I promised I’d tell her when she reached an age where she might want to look for you. Of course, her last name is Cooper, too.”
His fork clattered to the plate as his breath caught in his throat. “My daughter has my last name!” His heart swelled to nearly bursting. Chelsea Cooper.
“Of course. It’s on her birth certificate.” At least he hadn’t totally been erased from Chelsea’s life, even if the girl didn’t know much about him. “I figured she’d see it on the birth certificate if she ever applied for a passport or something. And Lidia and Jason, who would be her legal guardians if anything happens to me, know—”
“We need to talk about revising your will.”
Her face grew a little ashen. “Definitely. I’ll get in touch with my attorney and have her draw up the new version this week. You’ll want to do the same.”
Until now, he’d left everything to his siblings and niece and nephew. Knowing his own daughter had almost been left out of his will—albeit inadvertently—made him sick. Would he ever get off this roller coaster of emotions?
He needed some time to himself, to prepare for what was to come. “I’ll be ready by five to pick up Chelsea.” My daughter. If he said it a million times, it still wouldn’t sound real to him.
“Sounds like a plan,” she said.
A lousy one, he thought, as he headed to the barn to check on the horses and expel some pent-up energy. He’d never have launched a mission in the military with so many unknown variables. Katie knew Chelsea better than he did, though, and wouldn’t do anything to hurt her daughter. He’d follow her lead.
Trust your instincts, Trav. In Iraq, they got us all through a lot of shit.
But they hadn’t survived everything. Danny had lost his leg. Craig, his life.
But nobody’s gonna be shooting at you, man. That’s always a good day.
Travis grinned, the tension lifting a bit. You can say that again, Danny. While a lot was riding on this, they’d all survive to go on and work out whatever their future would hold.
Chapter Eighteen
“
By the way, Happy Father’s Day.”
Katie’s words hit him like a blow to the solar plexus. He’d been so consumed with the discovery he hadn’t remembered what day it was. He’d have to give Dad a call later on. He’d never forgotten the day before—and had never had reason to celebrate it as a father, either.
Travis watched from the passenger seat of Katie’s truck as the kids and their chaperones poured out of the church bus, wondering which one was his daughter. Would he recognize her after seeing her grow up in the photos he’d gone through overnight?
Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to come here. His heart hammered so loudly he was sure Katie could hear it. He couldn’t think of what to say to Chelsea when they first met. He had to be careful not to give anything away, because this wasn’t the place to tell her. In a few hours, Katie’s secret would be revealed.
Because I’m not losing another night’s sleep without Chelsea knowing her daddy loves her and always will.
The fifteen or so girls were full of smiles and giggles, along with a few shy glances cast toward some of the boys, including one who must be that college-aged counselor Katie mentioned Chelsea had a crush on. But about a third of the bus’s passengers were younger boys. When the hell did church camps go coed? Okay, he’d only ever done Boy Scout ones, so maybe these always had been. Still, wasn’t that asking for trouble, especially with pubescent kids?
A few more kids exited the bus. Suddenly, all the air was sucked out of the truck’s cab. He recognized her in an instant.
Chelsea. My daughter.
She was talking with one of the boys closer to her own age, although that gave him little comfort. Travis might have some twenty years on that boy, but he could remember those days and didn’t like the idea of some punk kid making moves on his little girl.
And the look on Chelsea’s face wasn’t so different from the ones Katie had given him before they’d started dating. But Katie had been almost a decade older than Chelsea was now.
“I thought you said she wasn’t interested in boys yet?”
As if she hadn’t been paying attention, Katie cocked her head first toward him then homed in on Chelsea. “Oh, that’s just Tony. They’ve been friends since kindergarten.”
“Look at her. Tucking her hair behind her ear, glancing away with a coy smile, and then giggling at something he said. I’d suggest you find out what happened at camp this week.”
Katie leaned forward as if that would help her see any more clearly what was right before her eyes.
“Wow, you’re right. Something’s changed between them.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
She turned toward him. “Do? I can talk to her again about the dangers of getting too serious about boys at her age, but it’s not as if she’s going to start dating tomorrow. She’s twelve! Even if they do start going steady, or whatever they call it these days, she’s always stuck to any curfews I’ve set, and she and her friends are always chaperoned by one parent or another. I wouldn’t worry too much.”
“So you’ll let her go on dates in a few years?”
Katie grinned. “I think you’re going to need to pace yourself, Travis, or you’ll have an ulcer before she turns thirteen.”
He held up his hands in frustration before waving a hand in their direction. “I can’t believe you don’t see how badly this could go. She’s definitely interested in that Tony guy as more than a friend.”
“Girls get crushes on boys all the time at that age—and sometimes they last all of a day or two. When she left for camp, the crush was on that nineteen-year-old counselor over there. Let’s just be thankful that one’s blown over.”
“Maybe. But if he’s the one in the Wildcat T-shirt, then she’s also been giving him looks.” Could girls become pregnant any time after they hit puberty? He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m not sure I’ll survive instantaneous fatherhood, much less the rest of her life. Maybe if I’d been a part of her life up to now, I’d have more confidence that she’ll make the right choices.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust that I raised her right? That she hasn’t learned the difference between right and wrong by now?”
Hearing the indignation in her voice, he faced her squarely. “I have no clue, Katie. All I know is that I can put myself in that boy’s shoes right now, and I don’t like what he’s thinking.”
Katie slumped against the seat back. “Once you get to know her better, you’ll see that Chelsea has a good head on her shoulders. She’ll make the right decisions.”
“I’m sure your father said the same thing about you.”
“I was a lot older when I got serious about anyone—and you know it.”
Point made. Travis sighed. “Just promise me you’ll have a talk with her about how to protect herself from diseases and unwanted pregnancies.”
“I already have.”
He squinted his eyes and stared at her in disbelief. “Seriously? She’s still a kid.” Okay, he was starting to sound unhinged.
“Make up your mind, Travis.” Katie laughed, but he didn’t see any humor. “Listen, I learned the hard way about the consequences of unprotected sex. So I started talking with her when she was far too young for me to be worried—and the talks have matured as she has. When the time comes, those words will come back to her. At the very least, she’ll be prepared.”
“Good.” Katie had done most things right when it came to parenting. Would he have done as well?
“I even told her we’d talk about specific types of contraceptives when she began dating,” Katie added, “even though she assures me now she’s going to practice abstinence until she marries.”
“Don’t they all?”
Katie laughed. “Hormones being what they are, I agree that’s not the safest mode of protection. An eighth-grade girl in her school got pregnant last year. That’s scary stuff.”
“Damn straight.” A girl only a grade ahead of Chelsea had gotten pregnant? Oh, hell no. But Travis couldn’t help but add, “I would never have put the blame or responsibility on you for getting pregnant, by the way. But thanks for letting me be your first, Katie.”
Her cheeks grew red, and she avoided eye contact as they both refocused on Chelsea and the other kids.
When a man he assumed to be Tony’s father came up and hugged him, Chelsea began searching the parking lot—looking for Katie, no doubt.
Katie opened the door and exited, shouting unnecessarily after the girl had already started in their direction, “Over here, Chelsea!” Katie practically sprinted toward their daughter, and Chelsea launched herself into her mother’s arms. Watching the two embrace, leaving him out in the cold, made him even more determined to put this damned secret behind them.
When they broke apart and started toward the pile of duffel bags and luggage next to the bus, Travis got out and caught up with them by taking long strides. “Let me do the heavy lifting, ladies.”
Uncertainty clouded Katie’s face as Chelsea looked from him to her mother. Travis extended his hand toward Chelsea. “I’m Travis, an old friend of your mother’s. Just visiting for a few days.”
She accepted his handshake shyly. “Hello, Travis.”
His heart thudded to a stop. Overcome with emotion, he couldn’t force another word past the lump lodged in his throat. He was holding his daughter’s hand for the first time. Travis wanted to blurt out right then who he was, but showed some restraint.
“I suppose we ought to be heading home.” Katie broke into the sweet moment when she moved toward the stack of suitcases and duffel bags and lifted a lime-green one, and he released Chelsea’s hand with reluctance.
No way. Travis put his feet and head into gear and took it from her. “That’s what I’m here for.” He took it from her and hefted it onto his shoulder. Oof. What on earth did the kid pack in there, anyway?
Katie wrapped an arm around her daughter. He didn’t notice any strain between the two of them despite what Katie had mentioned. “Let’s hea
d home.”
Home. To an outsider, they appeared like any other family picking up their kid from camp. But they weren’t a family, not in the sense he wanted them to be, anyway. At the moment, he wasn’t anything to Chelsea, so he’d need to remember his place.
Until Katie revealed his identity, and then they’d see what would happen with his relationship to his daughter.
* * *
Seeing Chelsea and Travis together for the first time did a number on Kate’s psyche. In Chelsea’s early years, Kate had fantasized about Travis showing up and the two of them forming a strong father-daughter bond, but as time slipped away without her doing a damned thing to precipitate that meeting, she’d all but ruled out any chance of it happening spontaneously.
Thank goodness he hadn’t blurted out who he was. Kate hadn’t completely trusted Travis to hold back. He seemed so proud to call himself Chelsea’s dad. She wouldn’t put it off too long, but at least wanted the announcement to happen at home.
Travis’s good looks hadn’t been lost on their daughter, either, judging by the shy grins and the blush that crept into Chelsea’s cheeks when he shook her hand. She’d been unable to maintain eye contact with him.
All the more reason not to put off telling her.
Daddy wanted her to tell him? Well, that was certainly a turn of events. Had Danny been working on him from the other side? Okay, she’d decide when would be the best time to reveal his identity, but it needed to be tonight. The perfect Father’s Day gift.
Their lives would never be the same again.
Back at the truck, Travis opened the rear passenger door and loaded Chelsea’s bag behind the passenger’s seat, leaving room for Chelsea to sit behind Kate—probably so he could look at her when they spoke to each other. Kate got in behind the wheel and started the ignition, asking Chelsea how her week had been.
“The usual.”
“Did they keep you busy?” Kate asked, putting the truck in drive.
“Yeah.”
Clearly, getting information out of her was going to be like pulling teeth. As they drove out of the parking lot, Travis asked, “What was your favorite thing about camp?”
Kate's Secret (Bluegrass Spirits Book 2) Page 21
