Reunited By A Secret Child

“That will be fine,” he said.

He was coasting on autopilot but felt as though he was lost in a fog. He still couldn’t get past the news that he had a daughter, and he wondered how Katie could act so normal. And yet he detected the tension in her shoulders. She was angry with him.

“We’ll bring you some more supplies tomorrow. Do you think you’ll be okay until then?” she asked.

He nodded as he stepped over to the doorways leading to the two bedrooms. “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

He peered inside the first room, noticing the comfortable double bed with a handmade quilt, the pillows and the chest of drawers. Outside the window, he heard the ragged call of a blue jay. The peace and calm was exactly what he was after, and yet there was no peace in his heart.

“Remember, Mrs. Murdoch lives a quarter of a mile down the road, if you have an emergency,” Katie said.

He nodded again, not knowing what else to say. He doubted Mrs. Murdoch would be too friendly. Not when she recalled that he and his friends had broken the taillights out of her husband’s truck years earlier.

“Well, I better be going,” Katie said, edging toward the open door. She glanced outside, as though desperate to flee.

“We’ll talk some more tomorrow,” he said, knowing he’d have more questions by then.

“Yeah, tomorrow,” she agreed.

And then she was gone. He stood where he was, listening as she opened and slammed the door to her truck, then turned on the engine. The crackling of gravel beneath the tires told him that she was pulling out of the driveway. For one insane moment, he almost ran outside to call her back. To ask her to tell him more about Chrissy and her life here in town.

He resisted the urge. Right now, he needed time to think. To figure out what had happened to his life and if he wanted to fit into Chrissy’s. Reese realized that he couldn’t have a relationship with his daughter without going through Katie. The woman seemed to hate him, which bothered him for some odd reason. Normally, he didn’t care what other people thought, especially not a girl from his past. But he did now. And looking around him, he’d never felt more alone in all his life.

Chapter Four (#u4ee61e5a-4509-5865-9e14-062c83372a24)

“There’s Reese.” Chrissy pointed out the window as Katie pulled into the driveway at the cabin the following morning.

The little girl clawed at the belt buckle on her booster seat before Katie could even shut off the truck engine.

“Chrissy, wait,” she called.

The child didn’t listen. She threw open the door and jumped down, then sprinted toward Reese. He stood in the yard, leaning against the long handle of a rake. With a glance, Katie took in his leather work gloves, faded blue jeans and the navy T-shirt that hugged every muscle of his chest and arms. Several tidy piles of pine needles, cones and dead bushes dotted the yard. Since yesterday afternoon, it appeared that he’d kept himself busy.