Charlene walked over and touched his arm.“We’d better head back.”
He shook off her hand.“I don’t want to.”
“Adam!”
He glanced at her.
“Let Jane handle this.”
“She’s my daughter, too.”
“In name only.Right now Billie needs her mother.”
Jane looked up and nodded.“Please, just a couple of hours.Come by around five and we’ll talk over dinner.”
It was Billie who made the decision for him.He reached over to pat her back, but she shrank out of reach and clung tighter to her mother.It hurt, he acknowledged, allowing Charlene to lead him back to the house.Telling himself Billie was a child and simply reacting to the situation didn’t help.
When he reached the curve in the path, he turned and stared at Jane and Billie.The woman who should have been his wife, holding the child that belonged to him.In a moment of passion, he and Jane had made that precious girl.He didn’t understand all the ramifications of being a parent, but he would die for that child.As Jane’s gaze met his, then slid away, he realized something else.The risk he took.He couldn’t stop Billie from finding a place in his heart.It was too late for that; the process had already begun.He had to find a way to keep her from disappearing from his life.He knew the rule; if you love something, it leaves you.He couldn’t let that happen now.
Chapter Eleven
She was as nervous as the day she’d arrived.Jane wiped her palms against her skirt and paced the small living room.It was silly, she told herself.Adam was the same man he’d been yesterday, before he’d known.He would be the same tomorrow.He might be angry and hurt and confused, but he was still Adam.
That’s what scared her.In the brief time they’d spent together, she’d come to see that the young man she’d run from was not the person he’d become.She’d run from phantoms.Vague fears of a young woman too inexperienced to understand what frightened her and too cowardly to speak about those fears.She freely admitted running had been wrong.But what about not marrying Adam?Had she made the right choice there?
“Mom, I’m hungry.”Billie stood in the doorway of the living room.The ever-present softball bulged at the pocket of her denim shorts.
“We’ll be having dinner in less than an hour.Adam is due here any minute.”
“Is he going to eat with us all the time now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe we can use his kitchen instead.You know, eat at the island?”Billie smiled hopefully.“I’ll be real careful not to spill anything.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know.”
“I’m still hungry.”
Jane sighed.“There are a couple of apple slices on the plate in the fridge.But that’s all.”
“Thanks.”Billie stifled a yawn.
“Early to bed for you, young lady.”
“Mo-om!”
She followed her daughter into the kitchen.“Don’t ‘Mo-om’ me.I have a feeling Charlene kept you up well past your regular bedtime.”
Billie grabbed a slice of apple and slammed the fridge door shut.“Maybe, you know, a couple of minutes.”
Jane bit back a smile and leaned against the counter.“And what did the two of you do?”
“Well, we, huh, you know, talked.”
“About?”
Billie hunched her shoulders.“Baseball.”
