The captain did respect her. In fact, Daniel had never respected a woman so much in his life. Laura had a grace about her that had taken him by surprise. When he'd first met her it had been in a sexual frenzy, and that had been, if he were to tell the truth, the most intensely pleasurable night of his life.
He'd be lying if he said he hadn't fantasized about her body during those hot Colorado nights or every time he'd stepped into a fire engine. He'd hardly been able to get her out of his mind. But, in the last couple of days, he began to see a different side to this captivating creature. Laura was smart and determined and independent, which was, in its way, just as attractive to him as her physical appearance. She was a woman who could handle herself and her problems and do it with quiet dignity and bravery. He admired her for that.
And of course, there was Annie. There was no doubt in his mind that no child could ever be so beautiful without having a mother like Laura. There was no new man in her life, it seemed. That made sense, considering that she'd been acting the single mother to a newborn since he'd been gone. The knowledge that she was still single made an unexpected hope dance within him. He saw the future, which was full of days out in the park and paddling pools and when he pictured those things, it wasn't just with him and his daughter. In every fantasy, Laura was there, with her dark hair and eyes, her gentle smile and that unforgettable gaze.
It made him realize everything that had been missing between him and Stacy. He understood now that he had simply been afraid of being alone and allowed the pressure of a needy woman make him do what he had believed was the honorable thing.
In truth, Daniel doubted that he would have spent a single summer in Colorado if it hadn't been for the fact that he needed those few months of peace to keep him sane. It was only when he was away from Stacy that he realized how much she smothered him. He drove now to her apartment to break the news to her that he'd gotten another woman pregnant.
Daniel climbed the stairs to her apartment and knocked at the door. He heard Stacy step up from the sofa and walk over to the door. She pulled it open with excited eyes and a smile and just when he was starting to think how hard it was going to be to break her heart, she began to berate him for being ten minutes late.
“I called Sam and he said that you left the station hours ago!” she accused, pouting in that childish way she did and folding her arms over her chest. “I wish I could trust you!” she seethed. “But no. I'm the girl who has to call your friends to find out where you are every night.”
“How did you get Sam's number?” Daniel asked her.
“From your phone.”
“My phone?” Daniel repeated. “Stacy, what did I tell you about going through my things?”
“You don't really leave me any choice, do you, Daniel?” she accused him. “You say that you're going to be here at eight and it's already ten minutes after the hour. If I wasn't on you like this, then it would be eight-thirty or nine... You think just because you're a good looking man and some big shot down at the fire station, that a girl's just going to hang around waiting for you. Well, think again, buddy. I'm not just going to sit around all day wondering where you are...”
Daniel listened to her rage with quiet bewilderment and recalled all the hundreds of times he'd heard her rants before. True, on this occasion, he had impregnated another woman, but he had never lied to Stacy.
He himself only found out about his child in the last few days, and when he had spent that night with Laura, it was when Stacy and he had a huge fight and she had dramatically declared that it was over, packed her things and left.
A week later she came back, crying and weeping and telling him that she was sorry and like a fool, he'd taken her back because he hated to see her cry and because they had a history, and because once in a lifetime nights like the one he'd had with Laura, didn't come around twice.
When Stacy finished her rant, Daniel was finally able to tell her what he'd come to say.
“Stacy, listen to me,” he said calmly. “I'm going to tell you something that you don't want to hear.”
“I knew it!” Stacy screeched, throwing a cushion at him from across the room. “You've been with someone else, haven't you? Who is she? How long has it been going on for? Is she skinnier than me? Younger? Does she put out more?”
“It was a year ago,” Daniel told her matter-of-factly.
“A year ago?” Stacy howled. “You cheated on me a year ago and you're telling me now? You mean that you've been keeping this dirty little secret all year? Is that why you ran off to Colorado?”
Daniel took a deep breath for patience. “We were broken up, Stacy.”