Long-Lost Mom

Smoothly he maneuvered around Nellie, and walked toward the back where there were still a couple of booths available.

Sara stood there grinning broadly, endearingly, before leaning forward to whisper loudly, “She always wants to talk to Daddy. She likes him.”

“Sara...”

“Well, she does. Mrs. Potts said so.”

A startled laugh escaped Cindy, which Stone enjoyed because he could tell she wasn’t a woman who laughed often.

Sara blinked innocently. “Mrs. Potts says Nellie likes your bones and the way they’re put together, Daddy.”

“Enough,” he said firmly, torn between embarrassment and the urge to laugh. Mrs. Potts came to clean his house once a week, had for the past five years, and this apparently gave her pecking rights. And like Nellie, she continuously attempted to run Stone’s life.

“I’m starving,” Sara announced again.

Stone was starving, too, not just for food but for another touch of the woman he knew nothing about yet couldn’t seem to get out of his head. He waited for Cindy to sit, and though his ingrained politeness had him reaching to support her as she slid into the booth, he brought his hand quickly back to his side, not eager to feel the jolt of awareness again.

Not for a woman he sensed was deeply troubled and far too vulnerable. Not for a woman who didn’t know he had commitments in his life he could never turn away from, including the short pigtailed grinning one standing next to him.

“Daddy—” Sara didn’t sit, but shifted eagerly from one foot to another, her hand held out, palm up “—can I have some money while we wait for the pizza? Pretty please?”

“Why? So you can lose it all in the arcade over there?”

“I won’t lose.” Sara’s bony shoulders straightened with pride. “You taught me how, remember?”

Caught, Stone reached into his pockets. “Stay where I can see you, okay?”

“Daddy—”

“Just do it, sport I’ll call you when the pizza gets here.” He handed her a fistful of change he knew would last all of ten minutes and watched her race off with the abandon of youth, his heart contracting with that odd mixture of bittersweet pride and love.

Cindy watched Sara, too, her expression filled with a longing so acute it took Stone’s breath away. “Cindy?”

The woman sitting across from him didn’t move, just kept watching his daughter with that haunted expression on her face, making him wonder what she could possibly be thinking. It wasn’t happiness that had her so lost to him, not with that much pain in her expression, and he hoped she hadn’t once lost a child.

“Cindy.” It was as if she’d forgotten her name, which was ridiculous of course. Finally he reached across the table and removed her sunglasses, smiling when she seemed to nearly leap out of her skin. “You okay?”

She blinked and flushed. “Your daughter’s remarkable.”

“Yes, and expensive,” Stone said dryly, hoping to tease her out of whatever had disturbed her.

“She’s worth it.”

Her eyes were very dark, almost black, their rims reddened. “Are you a mom?”

“I...no.” Shaking her head, she said more firmly, “No. I’m not.”

The crazy urge to wrap his arms around her was strong, but it was far too soon for that. She didn’t wear a ring, although he knew that was no guarantee she was single. “Is there...someone...?” Lord, he felt awkward. He’d been off the dating track too long.

“There’s no one,” she said softly, staring at her hands as if they held the greatest interest

“Me, either,” he said, smiling when she shot him a look of profound relief. “And you have plenty of time left to have a child when you’re ready.”

Her smile turned rueful. “Am I that obvious?”

“Not at all. I just saw a flash of longing... Well, it takes a parent to recognize it.”

“You make a great father. I mean—” clearly embarrassed, she clenched her fingers together on the table “—you must be so proud.”

He was, but he refused to get caught in the easy trap of light conversation. Not when he was brimming with curiosity he couldn’t seem to ignore. “So, what is it that brings you to San Paso Bay?”

Again a quick flash of unease, almost fear, crossed her face. “I’m going to start a temp agency.”

Automatically reacting to her fear, Stone’s gaze scanned the crowd until he found Sara, safely playing, then he gave his attention back to Cindy. “In this little town?”

She lifted her chin, looking touchingly haughty and uncertain at the same time. “You don’t have one yet, you know. And neither Morro Heights nor El Tara, the two neighboring towns, have one, either. Which means there’s plenty of business.”

She spoke as if she had to convince him. “Okay.”

“I’ve researched carefully, and all three towns have plenty of growing industry. Actually the want ads are overwhelming. There’s enough to keep me busy.”

“I think it sounds good.”

“You do?”

He had no idea why that slight wobble in her voice so touched him. “You’ll do great.”

“I want to settle here—permanently.”

“It’s a nice place to live.”

“And raise kids?”

“Yes. Definitely. It’s a quiet safe town.”

“So safe you have to warn your daughter to stay in sight in a pizza joint filled with people you know?”

Damn, he hadn’t expected to be faced with his own fears, fears that went back ten years to a woman and to an event so horrifying it still dictated how he treated his daughter’s safety. “Maybe I’m just an overprotective parent.”

She gave him a long look. “The sad fact is, no town is completely safe.” Her weary tone said she knew that all too well. Her hands, active only a moment before, settled on the table. “There’s always trouble,” she said quietly. “And it can happen anywhere.”

Of course it was true, and how well he knew it. Even in San Paso Bay, bad things happened. It’d been a while since he’d dwelled on the scandal that had nearly destroyed him, that had driven the only woman he’d ever loved right out of his life. The circumstances had been out of their control, a cruelty from a most unexpected place, but it had happened and nothing could change it.

Jenna was long gone now. She’d not had enough belief in justice to see the crisis through. That, combined with the problem of getting pregnant too young, had made her fall apart.

Stone didn’t blame her for getting pregnant or even for the need to run. But he did blame her for not trusting him or herself enough to let their love prevail.

“I think it depends on your attitude,” he said carefully, “and how hard you try. If you’re looking for a new start, this is a great place to do it. Do you have family?”