His Secret Daughter. Lisa Carter

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СКАЧАТЬ Nash Jackson loved Maisie. It was Nash who’d given Jake’s child a safe, stable home.

      For that, Jake was grateful. And he was sorry for the pain his coming would bring the Jacksons, who’d done nothing but love his child.

      Stepping across the threshold, Jake found himself in a small foyer. Rooms bookended either side of the hall. Rigid with tension, Callie waited for him at the bottom of the staircase.

      “Cawee!” a little girl called from the back of the house.

      His heart went into overdrive. “Is that—” A lump formed in his throat.

      Callie tilted her head. “I told her she was going to meet her daddy today.”

      He had a hard time catching his breath.

      Callie motioned him down the hallway. “She’s playing in the family room.”

      The family room ran the length of the house. Windows lined the wall, spilling sunshine into the adjoining kitchen. And judging from the toys littering the pinewood floors, the room also served as a child’s playroom. But despite a quick scan, he failed to spot his daughter.

      A teasing look on her pretty features, Callie propped her hands on her hips. “Where, oh, where is Maisie Nicole McAbee?” she called in a singsong voice. “Where, oh, where can she be?”

      “Me here, Cawee.”

      A childish giggle erupted from behind the leather recliner, and a small child—all blond, bouncing curls—burst forth, her arms capturing Callie around the knees. His heart leaped in his chest.

      Callie kissed the top of the child’s—his child’s—head. “Someone’s here to see you, baby girl. Don’t be shy. Your daddy’s come a long way to meet you.”

      Slowly, the little girl raised her head. The photograph Callie sent hadn’t begun to capture the true essence of his daughter. With her finger stuck in the corner of her rosebud mouth, she contemplated her father with eyes so blue he feared he might drown in their azure depths.

      And, perhaps for the first time in his life, Jake McAbee truly fell hopelessly—helplessly—in love.

      * * *

      Callie watched the play of emotion across the ruggedly handsome soldier’s face. Was Jake McAbee a man who could be trusted with the well-being of the child she loved more than life itself?

      Maisie leaned against Callie while taking measure of her soldier father. Pain knifed through Callie’s heart. How could she bear to never see Maisie again? To not watch her grow up? To not be a part of her life?

      But the vulnerability and unconditional love in Jake McAbee’s face surprised Callie. In the photograph he’d sent of himself, he’d worn sand-colored combat fatigues, and an aloofness, too.

      A self-protective mechanism? A facade? If so, what had driven him to hide his real feelings?

      War? Or his failed relationship with his wife, Callie’s childhood friend, Tiff? Maybe both. Though Tiff had hinted that Jake’s remoteness predated her ever meeting the young soldier stationed in Fayetteville.

      No longer in uniform, he trembled slightly, swaying on the balls of his feet. Shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows revealed thickly corded forearms. His Adam’s apple bobbed above the open collar of his button-down, untucked shirt.

      A shirt as blue as his eyes. As blue as Maisie’s. She glanced from the child to the man. The two of them were locked in a silent, long-overdue perusal of each other.

      There could be no doubt Maisie belonged to Jake McAbee. The shape of her face. Underneath the bearded scruff on Jake’s jawline, a similar dimple in their chins. The nose.

      Or was she merely seeing what she wanted to see?

      She pushed aside her doubts about what Tiff had and hadn’t said. When Tiff had arrived at Apple Valley Farm she was already sick and pregnant. Callie had been by her side when Maisie was born. But in typical Tiff fashion, it had fallen to Callie to sort out the mess she’d left unfinished at her death a few months ago.

      Jake’s name was on the birth certificate, but Tiff hadn’t always told the truth. Callie’s loyalty to her friend had warred with what was right. But she’d made it a lifetime habit to always do what was right. So after much prayer, she’d finally contacted Maisie’s father.

      Still, she hadn’t figured on how doing the right thing would hurt so much. She cupped the crown of Maisie’s silken head in her palm. And now... She wasn’t sure how she was going to give Maisie up.

      Jake went down on one knee. His eyes never left his daughter’s face, but he was careful not to touch Maisie.

      He propped his arm on his thigh. “Hi, Maisie,” he rasped. “You are the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen.”

      Callie’s heart warmed to the ex-soldier. Maisie was everything and more a parent could ever ask for. Smart and kind, a furious ball of energy.

      Maisie let go of Callie’s legs. She immediately felt the loss of the child’s warmth, a harbinger of the future. She wrung her hands.

      The little girl pointed her index finger to the photo of Jake on the bookcase. “My daddy?”

      He choked off a half sob. “Yes, baby. I am your daddy, and I am so happy to finally meet you.”

      Callie’s eyes misted. He loved Maisie. This was what she’d been hoping for, praying for, ever since she contacted the army. But her arms ached with a coming emptiness. Her heart was breaking.

      This is the right thing, isn’t it, God? Her precious child would be all right. Won’t she, God? A girl needs her dad. Doesn’t she?

      Maisie inched toward her beloved miniature barn. Reaching inside, she withdrew a tiny plastic farmer. Golden curls brushed Maisie’s shoulders as she held it out to Jake. “Pway with me?”

      He stared at her a second, not realizing he’d been given an invitation. But when he did, he nearly fell over himself crawling to the barnyard.

      Sinking onto the leather ottoman, Callie watched as they played together. Actually, Maisie played and Jake, her adoring servant, moved things where Maisie told him to put them. Maisie had already captured his heart.

      Maisie ran the green tractor over the circular rag rug. “Me big-gull bed.” She arched her tiny eyebrow at her father. “No mow cwib.”

      Jake cocked his head. “What, Maisie?”

      Callie smiled. “She’s been after us to take her out of the crib and get her a big-girl bed.”

      He leaned on his elbows. “But you don’t think it’s a good idea?”

      “We’ve been so busy getting the orchard ready for harvest, I haven’t had time to look into it. Maybe soon, though.”

      He nodded and his focus returned to his daughter.

      Despite his short military haircut, she could imagine how his dirty-blond hair could’ve easily been the same buttery blond as his daughter’s СКАЧАТЬ