Oklahoma Reunion. Tina Radcliffe
and a little TLC.”
“That’s probably more trouble than it’s worth.”
He shrugged. “Your call, I guess.”
Silence stretched. Their gazes met. His glance moved oh so leisurely from her eyes to her lips. Kait couldn’t look away.
She licked her lips and willed herself to breathe.
Ryan moved to stand mere inches from her. He’d showered since this afternoon, and she inhaled the scent of sandalwood soap and the man himself—a potent combination that left her heady. She grasped the railing for support.
“You still look like you’re sixteen. Hard to believe you’re someone’s mother.”
Kait stilled, unsure what to say.
His assessing glance moved to where her fingers remained splayed on the railing. “Divorced?”
“I was engaged.” She covered her naked ring finger. “It was a mistake.”
“Ah.” He nodded and paused for a moment. “I’m guessing you don’t still have that little promise ring I gave you.”
Kait found herself speechless. Why was she surprised at his words? That was Ryan. Bold as you please. He always said what he thought.
The silence stretched until Ryan cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. “Could I just ask you a question?”
“Only one?”
“Oh, I’ve got a dozen or so more, but I’m guessing maybe it’s best for both of us to take it one at a time.”
“Ryan, I …”
He held up a palm. “No. A long time ago I convinced myself that you must have had a really good reason for leaving. Whatever I did, well, there’s not much I can do about it now. So I’m just praying that in your own good time you’ll tell me.”
Their eyes met, and she glimpsed the pain in his eyes once more. She raised a brow, ready to hear his one question.
“Did you ever think of me?”
Kait swallowed, wishing for a sip of sweet tea about now. She focused on the faded gray boards of the porch floor. “Yes.”
In truth, she’d never stopped thinking about him. A shiver ran across her shoulders. And every time she looked at their daughter, she thought of him yet again.
“Ryan, I do want to tell you why I left. I came back to Oklahoma with that in mind, settling the past once and for all.”
“Once and for all? Doesn’t sound good.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Momma, your phone is ringing.”
Kait turned at the sound of her daughter’s voice. Jenna stood at the screen.
She looked at Ryan. “Would you excuse me for a minute? I’m expecting a call from the Realtor.”
“Sure.” Ryan exhaled and gazed out at the yard, then glanced back at the house. Jenna stood quietly behind the screen studying him.
“Hey, Jenna.”
“Hi.” She watched him for a few minutes longer then quietly asked, “Is my kitten okay?”
“She is. When I left the clinic, she was curled in a little ball, sleeping.”
Jenna smiled. She released a yawn and rubbed her left eye with a knuckle.
“Tired?”
She nodded. “I was going to go to bed, but my closet doors are stuck.”
“Stuck?”
“They slide open, and Momma says they get off their track sometimes.”
“Do you want me to take a look at them for you?”
“Yes, please.”
He opened the screen and paused in the foyer. Kait was in the kitchen to his left, her back to him as she spoke to someone while eyeing a calendar on the refrigerator.
He followed Jenna upstairs, his hand on the smooth oak banister as he moved up the wide staircase of threadbare-carpeted steps to the second floor of the old house.
“That’s my grandpa’s room,” Jenna said as they passed a five-paneled door with a crystal knob. Her voice became a hush. “We aren’t allowed to go in there.”
They passed another room, the door slightly ajar. “Momma’s. But don’t look because it’s kind of messy. She’s going through lots of boxes.” Jenna released a frustrated sigh. “She says we can’t stay.”
“I see.”
“This is my room. It used to be my mother’s when she lived here a long, long time ago.”
Not so very long ago, he mused while eyeing the simple twin bed and matching bureau. A beautiful, worn pastel quilt covered the bed. Funny, he’d known Kait since they were sixteen, and he’d never set foot inside this big old house before.
Jenna went to the closet and pushed on the door with a grunt. “It won’t open.”
She was right. The panels were off their track. He raised the outer panel and shoved it back into place, then the door slid open with ease. Inside, the clothes were arranged neatly on hangers.
“All fixed.”
“Oh, thank you,” Jenna gushed as though he’d slain dragons. She pulled a neatly folded pair of pajamas from the closet.
Ryan glanced around the room, his gaze stopping on the artwork tacked to the wall.
One large crayon drawing was of a man and a woman with a little girl in the middle. All were holding hands. For moments, he simply stared at the picture, mesmerized.
“Did you like school when you were a kid like me?” Jenna asked.
“Hmm? School?” He tore his attention from the picture. “Yeah. I liked recess best.”
Jenna laughed.
Ryan looked around the room, and his glance caught a pile of books on a desk next to the bed. “Are all those schoolbooks yours?”
“Yes. I have lots of homework while we’re here.”
“What grade are you in?”
“Second.”
Second? Why did he think Jenna was younger? Ryan frowned. Then again, Kait always did look younger than her years.
“I’m going to be eight next month.”
“November?” He murmured the word.
“Uh-huh. November 25th. Momma says I’m her ‘Thank You, Lord, Thanksgiving baby.’”
November.
A tremor raced through him as his mind began a panicked gallop backward.
Kait left in March eight years ago. Ryan could barely breathe as he slowly did the math. He gripped the bureau for support as his knees threatened to buckle.
“Thanksgiving baby.” Ryan whispered the words aloud as he looked into Jenna’s sweet face. His gaze skimmed over the dark eyes, the freckles on the bridge of her nose—a nose just like his own.
The penny fell into the slot.
Jenna was his daughter.
Chapter Four
Ryan paced back and forth on Kait’s porch. He shivered as the cool evening breeze whipped past.
November. Thanksgiving baby.
What a fool he was—eight years the fool.
Conflicting