He leaned over and kissed her cheek.Then, taking his shoes in his hand, he crept down the hall and opened Billie’s bedroom door.
The girl—his daughter—slept on her back.An old teddy bear rested against her chest.Moonlight drifted across her cheek and made her look as sweet and innocent as an angel.He chuckled softly.Billie was a lot of things, but angelic wasn’t one of them.Still—
He closed the door and stepped back.He could feel himself sinking in deeper.What was he going to do?Not caring didn’t seem to be an option anymore.If he couldn’t turn away from them, he’d have to find a way of keeping them with him.If he wasn’t careful, they’d leave.Love meant losing.Jane had already proved she could leave him.This time he might not survive.
No matter what the cost, he had to find some way to get control and keep them here.If he didn’t, he would lose them forever.
Chapter Thirteen
Jane looked over the stack of boxes in the attic.
“There’s a ton of stuff here,” Billie said, “but Charlene has lots more.Are there any clothes for me to play dress up?”
Jane shook her head.Not that again.Look at the trouble it had created the last time.Then she smiled.No more secrets, she thought.There was nothing to hide, nothing to fear.“I don’t think my mother kept anything like that, honey.Grandpa didn’t want her to save old clothes.”
It was late afternoon.The sun had slipped behind a large tree in the yard, putting the attic in shade.A couple of bare light bulbs hung from the rafters and provided light, as did a window at the front of the room.Dust motes floated in the air.They’d left a trail of footprints from the door to the boxes where they stood now.
Billie knelt next to the small window at the front of the attic.“You can see Adam’s house from here.The whole thing.It’s big, huh?”
“Yes.It’s big.”Without meaning to, she joined her daughter and stared out at the Barrington mansion.The wings stretchedwell past where her own house ended.Windows gleamed from constant care.It was a lovely home, she acknowledged.At one time it was to have been hers.With a sigh she shifted until she was sitting on the dusty floor and staring up at the underside of the roof.She hadn’t seen Adam since Sunday.She smiled.Okay, technically Monday morning.When sleep had finally claimed her, he’d crept out of the house.
Yesterday a crisis had kept him tied up at the bank.He’d called to explain and sent a huge bouquet of roses.But she hadn’t really talked to him since they’d made love.
Had it been a mistake?Was it about the past or the present?Were they going to repeat the experience?
Just the thought of his hands and mouth touching her was enough to make her heart pound and her body flush.She’d spent most of yesterday wondering how she could have missed out on the wonder of it all for so long; and she’d spent most of today fearing that her feelings weren’t so much about sex as they were about Adam.
“Whatcha thinking about?”Billie asked, rolling over to sit next to her.
“Your father.”
“I like Adam.”
“I’m glad.I like Adam, too.”
Billie pulled the softball out of her shorts pocket.“Are we going to be a real family?”
“We’re going to try.And don’t throw that in the house.”
Billie’s sigh was long-suffering.She stuffed the ball away in her pocket.“If Adam’s my father, how come I don’t have his last name?Didn’t you say that kids get the boy’s name?”
The questions were inevitable, Jane told herself.So far she’d gotten off pretty light.But Billie was a verbal child and very bright.She couldn’t walk around the truth forever.“Usually.But Adam and I didn’t get married, so I didn’t take his name.I gave you mine so that we would have the same name and people would know we belonged together.”
“How are people gonna know I belong to Adam?”
Interesting question.“We’ll work something out.Come on.”She rose to her feet.“Let’s get to work on these boxes.”
“What are we looking for?”Billie scrambled up next to her.
“Paintings.Your grandmother took several art classes.She’s very talented.I know she did a couple of seascapes and a few watercolors of the area.I’d like to find them and hang them in the house.”
Billie frowned.“I’ve never seen Grandma paint.She won’t even do finger paints with me.”
“I know.”Jane opened the first box and peered inside.Old tax records.She closed the box and reached for another.“She had a dream, but she had to give it up.”
“Why?”
Oh, that was hard.“Sometimes we want to do something, but we know it will hurt someone else, so we don’t do it.”
