Alaskan Reunion. Belle Calhoune
to this bombshell revelation. After all, she never would have believed that he’d have turned against her in the first place. She never could have predicted that their love story would disintegrate into ashes. The Cameron she’d been in love with had been loyal to a fault. And compassionate, as well as tender. Until he had stopped believing in her. Until he’d viewed her as a traitor.
Her body went rigid as she waited for him to speak, to say something about their baby girl. Little beads of moisture gathered on her forehead and she found herself swiping them away with the back of her hand.
“Is she mine?” Cameron asked in a guttural tone. His intense green eyes were focused on her like lasers.
“Yes,” Paige acknowledged with a nod of her head. “She’s yours.”
His eyes held a dazed look. “Wh-when? H-how old is she?”
“I found out that I was pregnant right after I left Alaska. She’s fourteen months.”
Cameron shoved his hand through his dark mane. A slow hissing sound escaped his lips. His foot was tapping an unsteady rhythm on her hardwood floors. He began to clench and unclench his hands at his sides.
“You had my child and never said a word?” Anger rang out in his voice. His jaw clamped down and his expression darkened. “How is that possible?”
Paige tightened her grip on Emma, who was now frowning at Cameron. “We’re not having this discussion in front of Emma. She’s not used to loud voices.”
“Emma. That’s her name?” Cameron’s voice had softened to something resembling tenderness. It catapulted her back to a place in time when they’d loved each other. Sometimes those days seemed so long ago it felt as if she’d dreamed them.
“Yes. After my mother,” she said. “I still miss her every day, but it’s my way of paying homage to her. She was a good woman. If I can be half the mother to Emma that she was to me—”
Emotion clogged her throat and she let her words trail off. Losing her mother in a car accident on an icy Seattle road at fourteen had changed the course of her life. The tragedy had left her and her father bereft for years. She had been the center of their home, and without her they’d floundered. Until they’d both decided to love each other as fiercely as she’d loved them. Her daughter’s name would always remind her of grace and goodness and mercy. Each and every day, she prayed that Emma would be gifted with those attributes.
“It’s a good name,” Cameron conceded. “Your mother was an amazing woman. She had such a light about her. I always admired her quiet dignity and compassion.”
Warmth filled her insides at the tender way he spoke about her mother. The feeling settled right inside her heart, providing her with much-needed comfort in this tense moment.
Emma let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes. She dropped her head onto Paige’s shoulder. The warmth of her little body gave Paige a feeling of comfort.
“Cameron, I know there are probably a hundred things you want to say to me. Questions you need to ask. But I really need to put Emma down for the night. If I don’t, she’ll be a bear tomorrow.”
He looked confused for a moment, as if he was still trying to make sense of this turn of events. “Can I watch you put her to bed? I won’t say a word. I just want to see you put her to sleep.”
Cameron’s request surprised her. She’d figured that having just found out he was a father, he might need some time to process everything. She locked gazes with him, trying to gauge his thoughts. There was a look of such wonder in his eyes. He resembled an adorable little kid. And as always, she found it impossible to say no to him.
“Of course you can. Just walk softly. Her eyes are already drooping,” she whispered as she supported the back of Emma’s head with her hand.
As Paige led the way upstairs, then toward the bedroom at the end of the hall, Cameron trailed behind her. He followed her almost soundlessly. Once she’d laid Emma down on the small twin bed, she began to rub her back and sing to her. It was the same song every night, the one her own mother had sung to her. Cameron stood off to the side, quietly taking it all in. His expression was thoughtful, reverent almost.
“Good night, little one,” Paige crooned as she pulled the quilt over Emma’s body and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She turned off the lamp sitting on the bedside table and made sure Emma’s favorite night-light was lit up. Sleeping in a strange house might result in a middle-of-the-night awakening. If so, Paige would hear any cries or babbling on the baby monitor she’d placed nearby.
When she turned around to tiptoe out of the room, she noticed that Cameron was gone.
* * *
Watching Paige put their daughter to sleep had been a gut-wrenching experience for him. His daughter was achingly beautiful. And innocent. She’d looked so small and defenseless nestled up under her covers. A protective feeling had risen up inside him, one that shocked him by its ferocity. The earth-shattering knowledge that she belonged to him had ricocheted through him like a bullet. He knew from this moment forward he would fight all her battles and make sure everything was right in her world.
His little girl. He’d never imagined bringing a child into the world as a single, unmarried man. The dream had always been to stand at the altar and exchange vows with Paige before God and all their family and friends. It didn’t sit well with him that the Cameron of two years ago hadn’t been connected with his God or his faith. And he’d made mistakes in his relationship with Paige that he deeply regretted, although something told him he would never regret being a father to his precious little girl. He’d turned his life over to God two years ago when everything in his world had gone up in flames. His life was now firmly rooted in his faith with every step he took. Nothing could shake it.
And even though he harbored regrets about his poor choices, he knew that the Lord had a plan for him and sweet Emma.
Emma Prescott. He let out a groan. For all he knew, Paige had given her the last name of Reynolds. He let out a snort. That would go over like a lead balloon in this town.
How could something so delicate and wondrous and perfect have come from him? And how could Paige have hidden something so monumental? Hadn’t she owed him the truth? Lord, please help me make sense of this deception. I feel like I’ve been betrayed all over again.
A myriad of emotions had flooded him when he’d watched Emma drift off into slumber. Joy. Wonder. And resting right on the surface...a righteous anger at Paige for keeping his daughter’s existence a secret. Fury had been stoking inside him like a slow-burning fire. He’d left Emma’s bedroom rather than run the risk of saying something negative to Paige in front of Emma. Try as he might to calm himself down, the questions continued to whirl all around him.
As he gazed out of the huge bay window in the living room, he found himself taking solace in the stunning vista that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The onyx sky was scattered with twinkling stars, while snow-dotted mountains loomed in the distance. If it had been light outside, he might even have been able to catch a glimpse of Deer Run Lake or Nottingham Woods.
Paige’s footsteps echoed behind him. He turned around to face her, making sure to breathe in and out to calm himself. Tension crackled in the air between them.
She reached out and gently touched his arm, causing shivers of awareness to trickle straight through him. “Are you all right? I know everything must be coming at you like a freight train. Finding out you’re a dad is going to take some getting used to, I imagine.”
He ran a hand over his face. “I’m still in shock, I think,” Cameron said. “I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that I’m somebody’s father.”
Tears shimmered in Paige’s eyes. “She’s wonderful, Cam. I know I’m biased, but she’ll wrap you right around her finger in no time at all.”
Paige’s words were tantamount to poking a grizzly with a stick. He didn’t want to hear about how magnificent Emma was when he’d