Occasionally he’d confide in her, knowing what he said wouldn’t go any further. She savored those times and the closeness she…
“Earth to Amy.” Dan’s voice broke through her reverie.
She looked up with a start to find Dan and Emma staring at her.
Emma giggled. “You were spacing out.”
Amy blinked and warmth crept up her neck.
“What were you thinking about?” Dan asked, a curious glint in his eye. “You had the most interesting smile on your face.”
I was thinking about you.
The words rose unbidden to her tongue and when Emma giggled again, for a second Amy feared she’d said them aloud. She searched for a plausible explanation. “I was thinking about Steven.”
“Steven?” Dan frowned. “Who’s that?”
“He’s her boyfriend,” Emma said. “Amy and Steven sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love—”
“You were kissing a man?” The shocked look on Dan’s face would have been funny at any other time. “In front of Emma?”
“Of course I wasn’t, I didn’t,” Amy said quickly, embarrassed warmth coloring her cheeks. She shifted her gaze to Emma. “And Steven is my friend, not my boyfriend.”
“You talked to him for a long time on the phone today,” Emma said. “And you were smiling when you hung up.”
“He’s my friend,” Amy repeated. She glanced at Dan. “I’ve told you about him. He’s the guy from my cooking club. We were exchanging lasagna recipes.”
Dan’s dimple flashed. “Lasagna recipes?”
“That’s right.” Amy lifted a brow. “You find that amusing?”
“Not at all,” Dan said smoothly. “I think it’s nice that you two have so much in common.”
Amy pulled her brows together, not sure if he was being serious or insulting.
“We both like to cook,” she said finally.
Dan’s finger traced the raised pattern on the lace tablecloth and when he spoke his tone was decidedly offhand. “You two have been going out for what—a couple of months now?”
“Something like that,” Amy said. She still didn’t think of Steven as a boyfriend since, until recently, most of the “dates” had revolved around cooking group events.
Something flickered in the back of Dan’s eyes but he remained silent.
Unexpectedly Emma lifted her gaze to Amy. “Do you love him like my daddy loved my mommy?”
The girl’s question took Amy by surprise and she answered honestly. “No, I don’t.”
“Do you think you could love him?” Dan asked.
“I don’t know,” Amy said when she realized Dan expected an answer. “I guess anything is possible.”
Dan tucked Emma into bed and reveled at this perfect child he and Tess had created. He loved her with an intensity that took his breath away and his heart ached at the thought of all the pain she’d had to endure in her short life. All because of his selfish desire to give her a brother or sister.
“Good night, princess.” He brushed a kiss across her cheek. She was his priority and nothing mattered more to him than ensuring her happiness. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Daddy.”
“Amy will be up in a minute to say good-night.” His stomach tightened into a knot. Usually he and Amy tucked Emma in together. But tonight, Steven had called and Amy had said to go on without her.
A tear trailed down Emma’s cheek and her brows pulled together. With her big blue eyes and honey-blond hair, she looked more and more like her mother every day.
Dan’s heart tightened. “What’s the matter, sweetie?”
The little girl’s bottom lip trembled and a few more tears fell. Though Dan wanted to make better whatever was bothering her, he forced himself to wait. He’d learned you couldn’t rush Emma. When she was ready, she’d tell him what was bothering her. Then he’d make it all better.
“Is Amy going to marry Steven?”
The words hit him like a punch to the chest. Dan didn’t like the idea of Amy marrying Steven, either, but somehow he managed to keep a smile on his lips. “She said he was just her friend. Remember?”
“But sometimes friends get married.” Emma pushed herself up to her elbows. “When Grandma Ann married Grandpa Hal she said he was her good friend.”
Dan’s mother had been widowed for many years when she and her old friend Hal had decided to tie the knot. Theirs wasn’t the romantic love she and his father had shared but they were content together. Even if Dan could explain it adequately, he wasn’t sure a six-year-old could understand.
“Daddy.” Emma’s voice trembled. “Amy’s not going to marry him and leave us, is she?”
Dan’s jaw clenched at the thought of his daughter enduring one more loss. But Dan knew it wasn’t just Emma who’d suffer. If Amy left it would leave a hole in both their lives.
“She’s not going to leave.” He pulled Emma close and planted a kiss against her hair. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
The resolve in Dan’s heart resounded in his voice. He didn’t care what the cost. He’d do whatever it took to keep Amy in his household…and Emma happy.
Chapter Three
After leaving Emma, Dan took the back stairs to the kitchen. He rummaged through the refrigerator for several minutes before he realized he wasn’t hungry or thirsty.
He grabbed the paper and headed to the porch. Perhaps reading about people with real troubles would help him forget his own.
Amy wasn’t going to leave, he told himself. He paid her well and she loved taking care of Emma. As far as that guy Steven was concerned, if he was truly interested in Amy he wouldn’t be talking about recipes with her.
Reassured by his logic, Dan opened the paper and turned to the financial section. He’d barely started reading when he heard footsteps.
Amy pushed the screen door open with her shoulder. “Thought you might like a snack.”
Dan jumped to his feet and took the tray from her. The faint scent of lilacs teased his nostrils. It was an old-fashioned scent but one that suited her. He glanced down.
A thin slice of lemon topped each glass of lemonade and the assorted cookies perfectly arranged on the decorative plate looked like they could have come from a gourmet bakery.
“These look fabulous,” he said.
Amy blushed a becoming shade of pink and took a seat in a wicker chair.
Dan placed the tray on the tiny table in between the two chairs, handed her a glass and took the other for himself.
Though he still wasn’t particularly thirsty, she’d gone to a lot of work and Dan wasn’t about to disappoint her. He lifted a glass to his lips and took a long sip. “Perfect.”
Satisfaction filled Amy’s gaze. “It’s always better when the lemons are freshly squeezed.”
“You squeezed these?”
She laughed—a pleasant laugh that reminded Dan of the tinkle of bells. “With my own two hands.”
Dan didn’t need to ask if she’d made the cookies. They were too perfect not to be hers.
“Snickerdoodle.” He filched one from the center of the plate. “My favorite.”
“I think I knew that,” Amy said with a teasing smile.
Dan returned her smile and decided he’d been foolish to worry. Amy was happy in his household. She wasn’t going anywhere.
She glanced at the paper. “Are you looking at the classifieds?”
Dan handed her the section and returned his attention to the stock quotes. They drank lemonade, ate cookies and read in comfortable silence. Dan never felt pressured to make small talk with Amy. If there was something to discuss, it was brought up. Otherwise, it was okay to just relax.
Dan wasn’t sure when he first became aware that Amy was doing more than just reading the Want ads. Maybe it was when he noticed the pen. Every so often she’d make a quick mark on the page.
What was she doing?
He could ask but he already felt like he’d gone over the line at
dinner and didn’t want to overstep again. Amy was a private person and Dan had always subscribed to the notion that if she wanted him to know something, she’d tell him.
“Jake and I stopped for a drink after work.” Dan hoped if he started talking, so would she. “You’ll never guess who I saw.”
Amy lowered the paper to her lap. “Who?”
“Bree Northcott.” Dan wasn’t sure why he’d brought the woman up, other than she’d been one of the few women he’d dated Amy had seemed to genuinely like. “She was the blonde who—”
“I remember Bree,” Amy said. “And Kellycat and Todd.”
Dan paused. “Who?”
Amy giggled. “Her cats. A Scottish Fold and an Abyssinian.”
The words meant nothing to him. He only remembered one was furry and the other short-haired.
“Those Scottish Folds are so beautiful.” An almost dreamy lilt filled Amy’s voice and her lips curved upward. “But so hard to find.”
“I don’t know anything about cats.”
Amy’s smile vanished. “That’s because you don’t like them.”
“You’re right,” Dan admitted. When he’d been small, his neighbor’s Siamese had gone ballistic when he’d tried to pick it up. Ever since that day, Dan had given all felines a wide berth. “I don’t like them. And I’d certainly never want one, let alone two, in my house. Thankfully Tess and I agreed on that.”
Amy’s expression didn’t waver but her gaze shifted back to the paper.
He had the feeling he’d missed something. A sudden thought struck him.
“Emma hasn’t mentioned wanting a kitten, has she?” Though Dan would give his daughter the sun and moon if he could, he drew the line at a cat.
“Not to me.” Amy’s gaze remained fixed on the paper.
Dan heaved a sigh of relief. “Good.”
“She’d never ask because she knows how you feel about them,” Amy added.
Though she’d made the comment matter-of-factly, Dan could have sworn he heard an underlying hint of reproach. He frowned. “Are you saying Emma is afraid to talk to me?”
“Not afraid,” Amy said. “But—”
A loud boom of thunder split the air and Amy jumped. The newspaper on her lap went flying and the napkins on the tray flew off in a gust of wind.
Dan met Amy’s gaze and the concern in her eyes mirrored his own. “Emma.”
His daughter was deathly afraid of storms and the thunder had been loud enough to wake the dead, let alone a light sleeper.
“You go,” Amy said. “I’ll stay and pick up.”
The wind began to blow in earnest, ruffling the newspapers he held in his hands and threatening to topple the empty lemonade glasses.
“No,” Dan said. “She’ll want you, not me.”
Though it pained him to say so, in this instance it was the truth. During thunderstorms, it was always Amy who Emma clung to, not him.
Amy nodded and touched his arm. “Thanks.”
Another loud clap of thunder rent the air and Amy hurried off before he could ask why she was thanking him. After the door slammed shut, a few drops of rain plopped on the sidewalk and Dan didn’t have time to think. He’d lived in the Midwest long enough to know he needed to hurry. He rounded up the paper, grabbed the plate of cookies and empty glasses and headed inside.
He’d barely made it through the door when the rain began in earnest, the wind spraying droplets of water across the floor of the porch.
By the time Dan reached the kitchen, sheets of rain pelted the windows. He placed the cookies and glasses on the counter and dropped the wad of papers onto the table. The classifieds that Amy had been reading somehow ended up on top.
Though Dan told himself it was none of his business, he found his gaze drawn to the circled items.
An icy chill traveled up his spine. Real estate in the suburbs? The price range seemed a little out of her league, but it might be manageable, depending on the size of the down payment or if there were two incomes.
Steven.
Had she lied when she’d said the two of them were just friends? In his heart he didn’t think so. But she’d mentioned more than once how much she longed for a house of her own.
His fingers tightened around the paper. He couldn’t imagine this home without Amy. If she left, Emma would be devastated. But Amy wouldn’t leave, he reminded himself, because he was committed to doing whatever it took to make her stay. He’d learned long ago that most things could be had, for a price. He just had to find out what it would take to keep Amy in his household.
Amy leaned back in the rocker and sighed with contentment. Though she knew many would say Emma was too big or too old to be rocked, Amy enjoyed being close to the little girl.
Emma had run into her arms when she’d entered the bedroom. Amy had learned long ago she couldn’t talk Emma out of her fear; what reassured and calmed her most was to be held. So, she’d taken a seat in the wooden rocker and Emma had crawled onto her lap. For a long moment Amy had just held her close. Once Emma’s tears had stopped, Amy had started to sing. Her voice hadn’t been good enough to make Swing Choir in high school but Emma didn’t complain. These songs from past and present Broadway musicals were Emma’s lullabies.
Now Emma slept, her cheeks still showing remnants of the tears that had flowed so freely only minutes before. Amy stroked the little girl’s hair and wondered if Tess had ever rocked Emma to sleep and marveled at this perfect child she’d created. Amy liked to think so. She let her mind drift back to the time she’d first met Tess.
She remembered her vividly—the wispy blond hair, the pretty elfin features and the immense blue eyes. Tess had been a petite dynamo who could charm the socks off a complete stranger and bring her handsome husband to his knees with a single smile.
Tess had been three months from delivering her second baby when Amy had first come to live in the Major household. Even pregnant Tess had been cute and trendy, a fashionista on the cutting edge of the latest styles.
Emma had been almost three, a shy, sensitive child who reminded Amy more of herself than of her gregarious parents. Shortly after Amy had arrived Tess had confided that she found it hard to understand how a child of hers could have so many fears.
Perhaps because she’d been plagued with those same insecurities, Amy had felt a kinship with Emma. They’d bonded immediately, which was good considering Tess hadn’t been around much.
Tess had been launching a new line and all her time and attention had been focused on work. When Amy had casually asked Dan if Tess planned to keep up this pace after the baby was born, he’d just laughed and said Tess wasn’t happy unless she was going ninety miles an hour.
Amy wasn’t sure if Dan was kidding or not. Surely Tess planned to slow down and spend some time with Emma once the baby was born. But in the end, Tess never got that chance. The placenta had unexpectedly separated from the uterine wall and, despite a valiant effort by emergency personnel, she and the baby had died.
Even after three years the memory of that night still made Amy’s heart ache. It had been such a horrible time in all their lives…
“Is everything okay?” Dan’s voice sounded from the doorway.
Ducking her head, Amy shoved the memories aside. Though she knew Tess was never far from Dan’s thoughts, he never talked about that period and she never brought it up.
She leaned her cheek against the top of Emma’s head and gained her composure. “Emma was a little frightened, but she calmed right down.”
Amy sensed, rather than saw, Dan move across into the room. He squatted by the rocker and touched her arm. The feel of his hand against her skin took her by surprise and reminded her of her earlier daydream. Her heart flip-flopped in her chest.
“I was asking about you,” he said.
“Me?” Her voice came out as a high-pitched squeak and Amy nearly groaned aloud wondering what had happened to her normally unflappable composure.
“You haven’t been yourself lately,” he
said softly. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
Amy met his gaze and her breath caught.
Something flickered in his eyes and she wondered if he felt the electricity, too. But when she looked again, only simple concern reflected back at her.
“I’m just fine.” Amy forced a bright smile. “Everything is great.”
“Is there anything you want?” Once again his gaze searched hers. “Anything at all?”
Dear God, it was like her fantasy had come to life. The spicy scent of his cologne wafted about her and something quivered deep in Amy’s belly. Perspiration dotted her brow.
His gaze locked with hers and Amy could feel herself being pulled into the blue depths.
“What is it you want, Amy?” he asked again. “Tell me and I’ll give it to you.”
Amy searched his face, looking for what she wasn’t sure.
I want you. The words hovered on the edges of her lips. Take me in your arms and kiss me.
But as much as she longed to say the words, Amy had learned the hard way what happens when you’re needy and demanding.
“It doesn’t take much to make me happy,” Amy said finally, not really answering his question.
His brows drew together and he appeared to consider her words. After a moment he rose to his feet.
“Let me take her,” he said. “The storm has passed. She should sleep all night now.”
With well practiced ease, Dan scooped Emma into his arms and lifted her to his chest.
Amy’s breath caught at the look of love on his face. She’d been scarcely older than Emma when her beloved father had been killed in a car accident. She’d never experienced such unconditional love since.
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