Daddy On The Doorstep

With scholarships and some money from her parents’ life insurance, she’d made it through college, but she’d been lonely. In quiet moments, she’d dreamed of having her own family someday, someone to share the happiness and shoulder the pain together.

She kept her face glued to the television, not wanting to see any more rejection on his face.

Nick said nothing else and the program drew to a close. The news commentator asked them to remain tuned to that station for the latest update of the flood hitting the midwest and an up-to-the-minute weather report.

“Reporting the weather can’t be that difficult if the man can spell ‘rain,”’ Nick muttered.

“Maybe the forecast is going to change. If the rain stops, it shouldn’t take too long for things to get back to normal.”

“And what’s normal?” Nick growled. “You in Kansas City and me in Chicago?”

“We were talking about the weather, Nick.”

“I don’t want to talk about the weather. I want—”

“Shh! The news is starting. I want to hear it.” She swallowed a lump in her throat and tried to concentrate on the television, but in reality, she was listening for another protest from Nick. But he surprised her and said nothing.

“Good evening. Thank you for watching. The midwest, Missouri and Kansas in particular, are experiencing the worst flooding in its history. The Mississippi River is twelve feet above flood level and the Missouri, which feeds into the larger river, is several feet higher. For more details, let’s go to our reporter in St. Louis, Jason Freed. Jason…”

Watching the ravages of the flood was heartbreaking. But it brought home to Andrea just how grateful she should be to be safe, with no loved ones threatened. She might not like being trapped with Nick for a day or two, but at least she was safe in Hubbard, Missouri.

When the focus of attention was switched to the weatherman, both she and Nick leaned forward. Unfortunately, the man didn’t have good news. While there was a lull in the storm at the moment, radar showed more rain on the way, for at least the next five days.

“Five days?” Andrea gasped, forgetting for a moment that she should be grateful.

“At least,” Nick added with a frown. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I had a phone.”

A sudden idea struck her. “What about your cellular phone? I thought you carried it with you everywhere.” Her breathing quickened at the thought of their being rescued.

“I haven’t been back to Chicago since I left for Africa, Andy. When I heard about the floods, I came straight here from New York.”

“Oh.” No wonder he looked so tired. “Were you really kidnapped, or did you just get lost?”

He gave a smile that was more a bare movement of the lips than an attempt to indicate humor. “I was kidnapped.”

“Why?”

“An attempt to put pressure on the government. The group who kidnapped me wanted them to release some of their members who’d been imprisoned. They thought if they took an American businessman, the U.S.A. would force their government to act.”

“And did they?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I escaped and found some help to get me back to civilization.”

For the first time, she noticed the skin on his wrists. It appeared darker than the rest of his skin, as if it had recently been rubbed raw.

Reaching out, she ran a finger over one wrist until his hand grabbing hers awakened her to what she was doing. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry about it,” he ordered her tightly. “It’s over.”

She pulled her hand free and nodded, avoiding his gaze. “Yes, it’s over.” And so was their marriage, their life together. And she would bear the scars for the rest of her life.

Standing, she said, “I think I’ll go to bed.”

“Good idea,” he agreed, also rising.

Because she’d hoped he would continue watching television a little longer, she stared at him, her eyes wide.

“You’re going to bed now?”

“Yeah. You want the bathroom first?” His tone was casual, as if such forced intimacy didn’t bother him.

Andrea wished she could show as much cool. But she couldn’t. With a nod, she rushed from the room.

A few minutes later she emerged from the bath to find Nick stretched out on Bess’s big bed, his hands folded behind his head. She fought to pull her gaze from his muscular length. “Sorry if I took too long.”

“Nope. It gave me time to warm the bed for you.”

She almost choked as she took in his words. “W-warm the bed for me?” Swallowing, she added, “I thought you’d want this bed. After all, Bess is your aunt. I’ll take the other bedroom.”

“I guess you haven’t looked in there yet,” he said nonchalantly as he sat up.

Foreboding ran through her. “No. Is there a problem?”

“Yeah. A leak in the roof.”

“Where?”

“Right over the middle of the bed. Lucky break, though. The mattress was ruined, but the carpet didn’t suffer. I dragged the mattress out to the garage and put a pot under the leak to catch the drip.”

Lucky break. Yeah, right. She gathered her scattered wits around her and turned toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To find some blankets and make up a bed on the sofa.”

“I don’t see the need for that, Andy. After all, we’re not divorced yet. We can share this bed.”

He stood and walked toward her, but she knew, come hell or high water, and the latter was a real possibility, she wasn’t sharing a bed with Nick.

Chapter Three

Nick followed her from the bedroom to the linen closet filled with Bess’s beautiful quilts.

“Andy? There’s plenty of cover on the bed. It’s not going to be that cold tonight.”

“Good,” she said as she pulled a sheet and several quilts from different shelves. “I’ll need one of your pillows, please. Would you get it for me?”

“Where do you think you’re going to sleep?” he demanded, his hands on his hips when she turned around.