Lilac Wedding in Dry Creek. Janet Tronstad

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СКАЧАТЬ was confused. “People give tithes to churches.”

      Jake nodded. “Yes, so the church can help those in need. I am just cutting out the middle man. I figured you could use food and things so I gave the money to you.”

      “Charity?” she whispered, appalled. She’d never imagined that was what the envelopes of cash were about.

      Jake lowered his eyes, but he didn’t deny anything.

      “I had money. Not much, but I didn’t need charity,” she finally managed to say before she heard Lara squeal and come running back to the sofa.

      Cat willed her heart to stay steady. She couldn’t afford to get upset. She breathed as deeply as she dared and stayed silent. Jake’s eyes were caught by Lara, anyway.

      “Come here, princess,” he said softly to the girl as she danced closer. The ballet shoes had been a present last Christmas, too. “Let me look at you.”

      Lara twirled around and faced him, her cheeks flushed with merriment. “Are you going to turn me into a toad?”

      Jake grinned. “Not today.”

      Her daughter was enchanting, Cat thought in relief. No one could resist her.

      Jake did seem interested in Lara, but that wouldn’t be enough, Cat reminded herself. She hadn’t even asked the crucial question yet. Now she wasn’t so sure. Jake had always been the first one to stand up and do what was right. But that didn’t equal love. She knew that better than anyone and she didn’t want Lara to grow up feeling as though she was a burden on someone.

      Cat reminded herself that’s why she had run away from Jake and the home all those years ago. She’d known back then that he’d marry her for duty, but it wasn’t enough. What if Jake agreed to take Lara, but then treated her like a charity child? He might as well turn her into a toad right now and be done with it.

      What had possessed him to send her all that money, anyway? She’d just assumed he knew she’d had a baby seven months after she left the home and had done the math. Over the years, he had sent her forty or fifty thousand dollars. She worked as a waitress at first, and some months she wouldn’t have made rent without his help. Even now that she worked in an office, she didn’t really make enough to do without his assistance. At least she had medical insurance, she told herself.

      But money wasn’t everything. She wanted more than that for Lara.

      Dear Lord, she thought finally. I need Your help here. Lara needs a father and not an imaginary prince who will break her heart. And I need wisdom to know if he is the right one to raise her if I can’t. He might be her biological father, but will he come to love her as a father should? Every little girl needs to be loved, whether she’s a princess or not.

       Chapter Two

      Jake pulled out his cell phone when he got back to the counter. Max was looking at him with concern in his eyes, but Jake wasn’t ready to talk about anything yet. His whole life had been picked up and spun around in a whirlwind before landing him back in the same place. He found he couldn’t remember the number to any restaurant in town.

      He finally gave up and looked at his old friend. “I’m a father.”

      “What?” Max frowned and leaned closer as though he hadn’t heard the words right.

      “A father. You know—man, woman, baby.”

      Max stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

      Jake looked toward Lara. The girl was sitting on the sofa by her mother and adjusting her tiara again. Suddenly, she giggled at something Cat had said.

      “But she’s blonde with blue eyes!” Max had followed Jake’s gaze and then turned back.

      Jake nodded. Her hair wasn’t just blond, it was naturally curly.

      “And you’re a quarter Cherokee with the black hair to prove it. And your eyes are so brown they’re almost black, in case you haven’t looked in the mirror lately. Are you sure?” Then his face flushed. “You wouldn’t be the first man to be fooled by a woman. Maybe Cat, maybe she—”

      “No.” Jake glared at his friend. “It was just Cat and me.” His voice broke then. “I trust her with everything and especially that.”

      He tried to think of more words to explain and couldn’t. “She’s—Cat. She’d never lie to me.”

      They were both silent for a moment.

      “You care about her, then?” Max asked gruffly. “This Cat of yours?”

      The question surprised him. “Of course, we went through a lot together.”

      Even now, being torn between the misery of not having been told when Lara was born and the wonder of just learning that he had a daughter, he still knew Cat was some kind of an anchor in his life. Now that she was here, he didn’t want her to leave. Max could probably see the feelings on his face. Not much escaped the old man.

      Max’s voice softened. “I don’t suppose you asked her to marry you yet.”

      Jake snorted. “Of course I asked her—years ago. She ran away from the home the next day and I never saw her again. That’s how well that went. Not that it was a good idea, anyway.”

      Max was silent as they both turned to look across the room to where Cat and Lara sat, curled up together on the sofa. The gray clouds were lifting and sunshine was streaming in through the large glass windows behind them.

      “You probably didn’t say it right,” Max finally said. “You have a hard time getting to the point sometimes. I’ve noticed that.”

      “I said she should let me know if she got in trouble. I know a man’s duty. I said I’d marry her if needed. It wasn’t hard to misunderstand that. I didn’t wrap it up in a bow, but she had to have heard me. She just didn’t want to. Not that I blame her. I’m not any prize. You know about my father. None of the Stone men have any business setting up a family.”

      Max was quiet for another minute, also studying the mother and child. By now, the sunlight was shining on them directly.

      Then Max looked back, and a grin split his face.

      “That little girl? She’s really yours?”

      Jake nodded and started to grin, himself. “She doesn’t know, so keep it quiet.”

      “That means I’m a grandpa!” Max whispered. He’d always said Jake was like a son to him. Then he reached over and flipped the switch on the counter that changed the sign outside to read No Vacancy. “Nobody needs to know why, but we have to do something. You’re a father.”

      “I guess I am at that.” Jake stood there, letting the amazement settle in deeper. Maybe it would be okay if he was a father as long as he wasn’t close enough to the child to mess up her life. Cat had never said anything about telling Lara about him. Maybe the girl would never know.

      Max frowned in thought. Then his face lit up. “We’ll have a birthday party. We’ve СКАЧАТЬ