Daniel's Daddy. Stella Bagwell

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      Daniel’s chin bobbed up and down. “Yes. ‘Cause I’m a good boy.”

      Hannah squatted on her heels to wash the lower part of the appliance. “I’m sure that you are,” she agreed.

      “Your hair looks like an apple.”

      She’d been called carrot top before, but never an apple. “That’s because it’s red. Do you know what yours looks like?”

      She glanced from her work to see Daniel’s hands plop on the top of his head.

      “No. What does it look like?” he asked, his little face all grins.

      “A piece of chocolate.”

      He giggled loudly over that, then marched over to the kitchen table and sat down. At that moment, Hannah felt a terrible pang of regret. A child had never been in this house. Not much of anybody had been in this house. She hadn’t really wanted it that way. For a while after her mother’s accident, she thought, even hoped, that some man, a nice, kind man who would appreciate her, would come into her life, give her love and children. It had never happened. Now, after all these years, she knew it never would.

      “Are you still hungry?” she asked him, while telling herself she was wrong in feeling a little bit sorry for herself.

      “Nope. My daddy will be back soon and then I’ll have to leave.”

      “Then maybe we should go outside and find Oscar before you have to go,” Hannah suggested.

      Daniel eagerly agreed and followed Hannah out a door leading to the backyard. They found the gray tabby curled up on a ledge of brick surrounding a flower bed. While Daniel made friends with the cat, Hannah sat on the wooden steps and enjoyed the warmth of the bright sunshine.

      Nearly a half hour later, Daniel was still playing with Oscar when Hannah heard a vehicle stop in the driveway. By the time she’d herded Daniel and the cat around to the front, Jess had already climbed from the truck and was walking to the porch. When he spotted the three of them, he stopped and gave them all a grin.

      “Hey, what’s that blob of gray fur you’re carrying there?” he asked his son.

      Daniel raced to his father. “He’s my new friend. His name is Oscar,” Daniel told him.