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“You’re working today, too?” she asked, astonished at his dedication and worried that he might be pushing himself too hard.
“We’re making a staggering number of changes and I want to oversee everything. I need to make sure the alterations are having the effect we anticipated.”
“Do you need help?” She honestly didn’t have time to spare, given the scarves she had to finish knitting for Christmas presents, and more cookies to bake for the nursing home. But she felt a certain responsibility to the business that had kept a roof over her head. Plus she didn’t like the idea of Jason hiding away in the empty resort, wolfing down some unhealthy lunch from a snack machine.
“I’ve got it under control.” His voice was cold and distant.
“Samantha will be thrilled to have Bubbles back. You’ll be her hero. Not that you aren’t already, after that wonderful day we had and you winning her the purple monkey.”
“It’s nothing I wouldn’t have done for any of the other employees and their families.”
Kara’s heart sank. She knew he wouldn’t have gone to those lengths for just anyone. He’d obviously been more hurt by the news that Samantha wasn’t his daughter than he’d let on. Kara felt absolutely awful. She hadn’t intended to upset him. In fact, that was the last thing she’d ever want to do.
“I’ll drop Bubbles off at six.”
Her heart thump-thumped at the thought of seeing him again.
He’d already hung up by the time she realized he’d be there at dinnertime. Samantha would insist he join them. How would Jason act around her daughter now that he’d accepted the truth? He was a man who had trouble forgiving people, but would he really punish an innocent little girl? Kara would like to think not, but she couldn’t dismiss how he refused to make amends with his dying father.
This was her fault. She’d let him into their lives when she knew better. From here on out, she’d have to be more careful when it came to dealing with him. She’d need to keep her emotions at bay—hold him at arm’s leng
th.
CHAPTER TWELVE
HE WAS LATE.
Jason lightened his foot on the SUV’s accelerator. The last thing he needed was to get pulled over for speeding, and waste more time. His delay couldn’t be helped. When the mechanics he was paying double time to work around the clock let him know the double-diamond lift had experienced another significant setback, he’d dropped everything to go investigate.
With the grand reopening only twelve days away, his priority had to be the resort, but tonight was different. He knew how much the bear meant to Samantha, and he couldn’t stand for her to be needlessly upset. It wasn’t so long ago that he’d been a child himself. He could remember what it was like to want something so badly and to have to wait. Each second seemed like a minute. Each minute dragged on for an hour. Too bad he hadn’t found the little guy sooner.
The fact that Samantha wasn’t his—that she belonged to another man—still had him spinning in circles. When he allowed himself to think about it, the realization socked him in the chest, making each breath painful. He should just cut his losses and move on. That was exactly what any sane man would do.
But no one had ever claimed Jason was particularly wise. And he was already in this thing clear up to his neck. The question was, where did he want this thing with Kara to go?
And the trickier question: Could he accept Samantha without any prejudice?
The little girl was a constant reminder of how he’d messed things up with Kara. And evidence of how quickly she’d gotten over him and moved on. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. The thought of Kara in another man’s arms—a man who’d deserted her and their baby—made him furious. Jason was thankful he’d been too shocked the other night to even think of asking for the man’s name. At this particular juncture, with disappointment and frustration pumping through his veins, he didn’t want to do anything stupid.
His actions had already cost him a buddy’s life. Jason didn’t want to make things even worse for Kara and her little girl. The man might be a waste of space, but he was Samantha’s father and somehow Jason had to learn to respect that fact.
He glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes after six. Being tardy would not help his already tense relationship with Kara. And until he knew what he wanted, he didn’t wish to make things worse. He could only hope she hadn’t noticed the time.... He shook his head. His luck wasn’t that good. With her lack of faith in him, she’d probably think he’d forgotten and wasn’t going to show.
When he pulled into her driveway, he noticed how she’d decorated the edges of her roof with those white icicle lights. A glowing snowman stood front and center in the yard. And in the picture window he caught sight of the Christmas tree he’d brought them, now lit up with colored lights.
The tension in his shoulders and neck uncoiled. A smile pulled at his lips. Maybe the decorations weren’t so bad. Kara certainly was filled with holiday spirit. He’d swear she was one part Santa’s elf and the other part Christmas angel.
He pushed the SUV door open and eased out before leaning back inside to grab the pink bear from the seat. He glanced down at Bubbles. For a second, he envied the stuffed animal. He wondered what it’d be like to be so loved by that sweet girl.
His knee throbbed from the cold, but he refused to let it slow his pace up the walk. He’d just raised his hand to knock on the bright blue door adorned with a wreath of holly berries when Samantha pulled it open.
She stood there in a red-and-white sweatshirt with crisscrossed candy canes on the front. “Hi.” Her gaze lowered to his hand. “Bubbles!”
He held out the stuffed animal to her. She immediately scooped it up into her arms and gave it a great big hug as if they’d been separated for years. He watched in wonder at the little girl’s abundance of love. How could her father walk away from her?
Jason choked down a lump of emotion. “I thought you might be missing him.”
Samantha held the bear at arm’s length. “Shame on you, Bubbles. You shouldn’t have stayed at the resort all night by yourself.”
