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“Can we go to Texas?” Caro asked, trying a new tack.
Another long pause, and Wes imagined that Belle was wishing he would hurry and show up to dig her out of the conversation.
“No, we really can’t.”
“Why?”
He heard Isabelle sigh.
“What about your uncles? They all live here. Wouldn’t you miss them?”
“Yes. But they could come, too!”
Wes felt a surge of pride. It seemed his daughter was as hardheaded as he was.
“Baby girl,” Belle said, “how about we just enjoy Wes while he’s here, okay?”
“But I don’t want him to leave.”
Wes’s heart filled and he had to gulp in a breath to steady himself.
“I know, sweetie,” Belle said softly. “Neither do I.”
And he smiled. There it was. She didn’t want him to leave any more than Caro did. So maybe it wouldn’t be hard to convince Belle to come back to Texas with him. To try being together—not just for the sake of their daughter.
And on that happy thought, he stepped into Caroline’s room. It was a little girl’s dream, he imagined. Everything from a canopy bed to a play table and chairs and bookcases filled with stories to be read over and over again. There were stuffed animals, a child’s learning computer and, in the corner, a dollhouse as tall as Caro herself.
“Wes!” Caroline scooted out of bed, ran to him and threw her arms around his legs.
There went that twist to his heart again. While he hugged his daughter, his gaze caught Belle’s, and he knew she was wondering how much of their conversation he’d overheard.
“Did you bring a present?” Caro squealed, her fingers moving as fast her voice. “For me?”
“It’s a present for the best dancer in the whole show,” he said, tapping his finger against his mouth. “Now who was that?”
“Me!” Caroline shouted. “It was me. Wasn’t it me?” she asked, now sounding a little less confident.
“You bet it was you,” Wes told her and handed her the red ribbon–wrapped white box.
“Mommy, look!” Caro staggered toward her mother, balancing the box awkwardly but refusing to put it down.
“I see,” Belle said, laughing. “Why don’t you put the box down so you can open it?”
“I will!” Caro set it on the floor, plopped down beside it and yanked at the
ribbon until it fell away. Then she lifted the lid, pushed back the white tissue and said, “Ooh...”
One small word drawn out into a sigh of pleasure so rich and deep. Wes had to grin. She liked it.
“Mommy, look!” Caroline pulled the doll out of the box and inspected every inch of her. “She’s like me, Mommy. Her hair and her eyes and, Mommy, she gots hearing aids like me!”
“You like her?” Wes asked unnecessarily.
“I love her,” Caro said and handed the doll to her mother so she could run at Wes again. This time, he scooped her up and held her so she could throw her small arms around his neck and hang on. He’d never felt anything as wonderful as a freely given hug from his child. Her warm, soft weight in his arms, the scent of her shampoo, her grip on his neck and her whisper of “Thank you, Wes” made his heart fill to bursting.
Then he looked at Belle and saw her beautiful eyes shining with unshed tears and he was lost completely. He felt the ground beneath his feet shift as if he were standing in an earthquake. These two females had shattered him without even trying. And he wasn’t entirely sure it bothered him.
* * *
