“You’re smart and you’re beautiful, just like your mother, with your mother’s eyes.”
“Not exactly like Mommy’s.”
He rubbed his hand lightly over her back. “No, not exactly. Your eyes are the color of the sky. Hers are the color of the sea.”
Casey straightened, her bright smile back in place like the sun after a storm. “And yours are the color of dirt! So we make the sky and the water and the land.”
He shook his head and smiled at her, figuring that was the weirdest, sweetest compliment he’d ever received. And perhaps the best way to explain it.
They sat there a long time, her head on his shoulder, the breeze blowing her hair and baby-shampoo smell over his cheek. His arms tightened around her and he felt her sleepy breaths.
Paige was right. He’d run from the idea of a child. At nineteen, he hadn’t actually pictured a little girl or boy who would cry on his shoulder, hold his hand, and look to him for courage and comfort.
He’d always wondered if he would have stepped up and what kind of father he would have been. He still wasn’t at all sure he would have been a good one. But holding Casey here in this park with the scents and sounds of a summer coming to an end, an enormous weight lifted off his soul. He loved Casey and Paige more than himself. He wanted to give them everything, wanted to do what was best for them. And he always would.
Chapter 28
By the next morning, Paige felt like a new person. Still a little sore, but it was a wonder what Tylenol and twelve hours of sleep could do. Not to mention the man in the car beside her. They’d been on the road to Jake’s surprise almost thirty minutes. All she’d been told was to pack bathing suits, a change of clothes, and a toothbrush. When she’d tried to protest, she’d been silenced with a kiss.
Paige looked back at Casey, who was content to stare at the new sights out the window. She’d run out of questions five minutes ago.
“So, where are we going?”
Jake glanced over at her. “Somewhere I bet you’ve never been.”
“Well, that’s not hard. I can count on one hand the places I’ve been since I moved here.”
“I think you’ll like it.” He took her hand across the console. “Trust me.”
“I do.” She trusted him more than she’d ever trusted any man in her life. Maybe more than she trusted anyone. And she pushed all her doubts and fears into the background.
With Jake in charge, she relaxed, even let herself be filled with a giddy excitement for the adventure. Not the scary kind with life-altering unknowns at the end. This one could only end well because she was with Jake. The ocean came in and out of view as they traveled up the great highway.
“You’re not being nearly annoying enough,” Jake said with a grin. “I haven’t heard a single ‘Are we there yet?’ ”
“I can’t believe you remembered that. I can try harder if you want.” Paige smiled at him, so hot and in charge behind the wheel. In charge of her day, and other deeper things that were too scary to admit.
A new song came on his satellite classic station and he turned it up. “Ahh. I did a lot of laps around the skating rink to this song.”
“Skating rink?”
“Sure. What?”
She stared over at him, six four, roped with muscle, all man. “Just trying to picture you there.”
“I was an excellent skater. Push-cart races, shoot the duck, Pac Man. You didn’t skate?”
“No. And I should have known it was the competition.”
“And that’s where the girls were,” he added with a wink.
“I want to skate,” Casey said, pulling her attention from the window.
Jake smiled into the rearview mirror. “Sure thing, Little Bit.”
And there he went again with his yeses. Quick and easy. Her first instinct was always maybe or we’ll see, working out in her mind how far away it was, when she’d have the time off, and how much it would cost. Besides the questions of how it would lace up around her prosthesis. But not Jake. He just said yes.
Jake sent her a thoughtful look. “What?”
“You’re good with her,” she said softly, thinking it was more than that, that maybe it could be more than that.
A classic Elton John duet came on the radio and she turned up the volume.
They both knew the words and Jake surprised her with his dramatic facial expressions as he sang his part. She sang hers too, through her laughter, and Casey caught on quickly to the “Don’t go breaking my heart” part of the chorus. Soon they were an overly loud trio, butchering the lyrics of a classic.
“Sing it, Jake!” Casey yelled from the back like she was running a party.