Daddy's Little Girl (A Homespun Romance) Read online

  "I thought we'd eat in here tonight."

  "That's fine."

  Mr. Binty insisted on serving the evening meal in the formal dining room and they had given in rather than hurt his feelings or his pride.

  Sara stared at the table. Jason had set the table, even putting a single rose in a vase in the middle of it. Her eyes were held by the packages on the counter. Had he slipped downstairs to the deli to get something for dinner.

  "Sit," he said, drawing a chair out with a flourish.

  Sara sat. She couldn't see anything on the stove top, so whatever it was Jason had made had to be in the oven.

  "I took out the salad Mrs. Binty left in case you don't like what I've made."

  He opened the oven door as Sara watched. Her eyes widened as he took out a huge baking tray.

  "Nachos?" she asked, a note of disbelief in her voice.

  "Smothered in cheese sauce." Jason set the tray down and produced a can from the refrigerator. "And jalapenos."

  The tears came so quick, she had no time to think up an excuse.

  "Hey!" Jason said, looking at her face. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing." Sara shook her head and grabbed at a paper napkin from the holder in the center of the table.

  Kelsey's face crumpled and she leaned towards Sara. Jason picked his daughter up, but she didn't want to stay with him. He put her on Sara's lap and looked at both of them in exasperation.

  "You said you liked them," he reminded Sara. "You didn't say they made you cry."

  "Oh, Jason." Sara laughed and looked at Kelsey who was looking very worried. "It's all right sweetheart. I'm not really crying. Daddy just surprised me, that's all."

  Unconvinced, Kelsey put her arms around Sara, and laid her head against her chest. Sara reached for a nacho, and looked at Jason. Was he annoyed by her reaction? "Thank you for going to all this trouble, Jason."

  "When was the last time someone did something for you Sara?"

  Her mouth quivered, and he said quickly. "Don't answer that. Just prove you like them by eating them all up."

  Sara reached for a nacho, then another. As her taste buds responded she couldn't help the long `Mmmm..mmm', of appreciation that left her mouth. The bland corn chips, the tangy cheese sauce and the bite of the jalapenos provided a wonderful complement of tastes.

  Jason smiled. "You do like them," he said, heaping some more on the plate in front of her.

  Kelsey decided life was back to normal and turned around on Sara's lap. Picking up a nacho, she bit into it.

  "Mmmm..mmm."

  The sound was an exact reproduction of the one Sara had made. Both adults froze. Except for laughs and sneezes and coughs, this was the first sound they'd heard Kelsey make.

  Jason gripped Sara's hand hard.

  "Did you hear that?" He was afraid his longing to hear his daughter speak had conjured up the sound.

  "Yes." Sara's heart leaped with excitement as she turned to Kelsey. "You like nachos, don't you sweetheart? Let's hear you say mmm...mmmm again. It's so good."

  "Mmm...mmm," Kelsey repeated obligingly.

  Sara hoped Kelsey would add `good' or something to the sound, but she just smiled at them.

  It was enough for the two adults. Sara looked at her hand. Jason's grip made it feel quite numb, but heat of a different kind shot up her arm and down her spine.

  "I'm sorry." Jason released his hand and stared at the imprint of his fingers. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Shall I get you a wet towel to wrap around it?"

  "Of course, not." Sara reached for another nacho. "There's nothing wrong with my hand."

  "I was just so excited..."

  "I know. I was too."

  They looked at Kelsey who had cheese sauce dripping down her chin.

  "She'll talk when she's ready," Sara said, glimpsing the yearning in Jason's eyes for reassurance.

  "I know."

  When Sara got to her feet after the meal was over to gather up the plates, Jason placed his hand on her arm. "I made the mess in here. I'm going to clean up."

  "You've done enough. Let me load the dishwasher."

  He'd stayed up late last night working and left early this morning. He must be tired.

  "No, Sara."

  "Cleaning up is woman's work," she tried again.

  "Woman's work?" Jason looked as if she'd hit him over the head with something. "What do you mean?"

  "Well...I don't come into your office and do your work and you're pretty tired tonight. I think you should let me help you with this."

  "There's no law that says you have to do it, Sara. After Di died, I moved out of the house in Pasadena and let the staff go. I took care of Kelsey all by myself for two months." He laughed. "I passed a crash course in Housework 101, with flying colors. Later I got someone to watch her in the daytime, but till I moved to Rainbow Valley and hired Mrs. Garcia, I still fixed the evening meal and cleaned up. There is no woman's work, or man's work. It's just whoever feels like doing it."

  Sara watched Jason tie Mrs. Binty's apron on. He'd taken two months off from his work to mourn his wife? He must have loved her very, very much.

  He began to clear the table. Jason's attitude was so different from Uncle Samuel's. Her mother's brother had never picked up after himself or even put the newspaper back together after he'd read it. He'd always taken for granted the fact Sara or her mother would do it.

  "I'll read to Kelsey till you come in."

  She didn't want Jason thinking she was usurping another privilege.

  "That's fine."

  Kelsey fell asleep after the first story, worn out by the two hours she had spent at the Park and her long bath. Sara began to tidy the room. There were a couple of Jason's books on business management on the floor. Kelsey loved carrying her father's books around, and pretend to read them.

  Sara picked up the first one and it slipped out of her grasp. The second time she picked it up, she saw the corner of a photograph sticking out. Pulling it out, she looked at it, her breath catching in the middle of her chest.

  The woman in the picture had to be Jason's wife. She had a glorious mane of red hair, a beautifully made up face and an exquisite choker of emeralds and diamonds that drew attention to her green eyes.

  The hair was like Kelsey's, but the eyes weren't. Sara couldn't tear her gaze away from the picture. Jason's wife had been very sophisticated. The expression in her eyes also said this was a woman who was very sure of herself. They must have been a very attractive couple.

  Sara jumped when she felt the picture being taken out of her hands. She stared at the poker expression on Jason's face. His gaze fixed on his sleeping daughter, he ripped the photograph into shreds. Frozen, Sara could think of nothing to say, as he moved forward to kiss Kelsey's cheek and tuck the blanket in around her.

  She was still silent as he left the room. Sitting down in the rocking chair, she set it in motion. There was sweat on her forehead and her palms were clammy. Had Jason thought she was prying in his things? That must have been why he'd looked so angry. She couldn't have felt uneasier if she'd stood on the brink of a volcano and discovered it wasn't dormant.

  Jason was very much in love with his wife still. What was it he'd said earlier? He'd moved out of the house he'd shared with her, let the staff go because he hadn't wanted anyone to remind him of the time his wife had been alive. Then there was the way he'd torn Diana's picture up, angry that she'd been looking at it. He had no room in his life for anyone other than Kelsey.

  Sara had a hard time falling asleep that night. Why had Jason fixed the nachos for her? It wouldn't do to attach any importance to it...he'd simply remembered what she'd said about missing them. Under all his impatience, Jason was kind and generous.

  Maybe, Sara thought as sleep finally claimed her, not all men were alike.

  Jason stared out of the window of his room. The darkness outside matched his memories of Di. He'd thought he'd gotten rid of all the pictures, but one must have been left in the old book on Sara's lap.<
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  The sight of Di's smiling face reminded him how he had failed her as a husband. Why hadn't he guessed she hadn't been ready to be a mother? That she would never be? Women like Di were never meant to be mothers, but at that time he'd thought the baby would change Di, that she'd settle down. He'd been so wrong. Kelsey's birth and Di's attitude to the child had been the final straw in their relationship. Di had started partying and drinking heavily with a crowd of like-minded people. On the night she'd been killed, she'd left a club in Los Angeles, with another man. The man had been a political bigwig and he'd pulled strings to see his name was kept out of the incident report. Jason couldn't care less...the man had just been one of many. Even Dee Dee didn't know about the other man or that Diana had been seeing him for the last three months. Jason hadn't wanted to disillusion her completely...it had been hard enough for Dee Dee to lose her only child.

  The demons of the past had chased him for too long. To keep them at bay, Jason went to his computer. When he looked up from his work, it was three a.m. Removing the glasses he wore when he worked, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

  A sound brought him to his feet automatically. His mind on Kelsey, Jason headed for her room. He stopped in the doorway. The soft light of the lamp on the dresser showed Sara in the rocking chair, Kelsey in her arms. She was crooning a soft melody, keeping the rocker in motion with her foot.

  Jason leaned against the door, absorbing the scene, letting it wash out some of the earlier bitterness. It didn't surprise him Sara had gotten here before he had.

  Sara shifted in the chair and he went to her. "Let me take her. She's getting heavy."

  She shook her head. "You'll only wake her again."

  "Is she sick?"

  "No. It's just a bad dream. I'm going to put her back to bed soon."

  Unwilling to leave, Jason sat down on the carpet, leaning against the chest of drawers. Tilting his head back he closed his eyes for a minute.

  Sara looked at him, glad the soft lamplight hid the fact she was staring. She'd seen the light in his room, knew he hadn't gone to bed. Had memories of his wife kept him awake, or had she upset him so much that he couldn't sleep?

  "I...I didn't mean to pry earlier. I was just picking up the books Kelsey had brought in here and the photograph fell out."

  Jason opened his eyes. "I know you weren't prying. You're not the type."

  "She was very beautiful. Kelsey looks like her."

  "And I hope the resemblance will end there." The harshness in Jason's voice startled Sara. "Beauty that's skin deep doesn't impress me. I want Kelsey to be beautiful inside."

  Jason's words startled Sara. He didn’t sound like a man in love with a memory.

  "I don't want Kelsey growing up headstrong and spoiled," he added.

  The words made something inside Sara shrink. Had Jason and his wife not gotten along, because Kelsey's mother had a mind of her own?

  Uncle Samuel had called her that when she'd told him about the job she'd gotten at the daycare. Headstrong. Like Uncle Samuel, did Jason feel women shouldn't have opinions, or make their own decisions? That they should be ruled by the men in the household?

  Kelsey stirred in her arms, and Sara told herself she had no business criticizing her boss. It was time she went back to her own room. Getting to her feet, she winced.

  Jason was beside her in a minute. "What is it?"

  "It's my right foot. It's fallen asleep." It had a tendency to cramp up when she sat a certain way. Sara leaned most of her weight on her left foot waiting for sensation to return to the other one. The pins and needles sensation was so bad she bit her lip.

  "Here, let me take Kelsey."

  As Jason took his daughter, the back of his hand brushed against Sara's breast. When she'd heard Kelsey cry she hadn't stopped for a robe. Jason's touch burned through the thin layer of her nightgown, .

  "I'm sorry," he said immediately.

  Awkward situations will have to be handled professionally.

  She hadn't realized it would get this awkward, or she would react like a teenager who was all hormones and no self control.

  "That's all right."

  Why on earth did she have to sound as if she'd just run a mile?

  As Jason tucked his daughter in, Sara said a quick `goodnight', and limped out of the room.

  Jason woke late the next morning, glad it was Saturday and he didn't have to go to work. Maybe he would take Kelsey and Sara for a drive into the country.

  Sara. He linked his hands behind his head. No woman had taken up so much of his thoughts as the little golden-brown owl did. It wasn't her looks or her body: the things that usually drew him to a woman. With Sara, it was something more elusive, something he couldn't name.

  It was the way she smiled at Kelsey, the way the color ran up under her skin when he paid her a compliment, the way she told the Bintys to sit down and rest while she made them a pot of tea. The little things she did tugged at him in a way nothing had in a long time.

  He'd never talked about Diana to anyone, yet last night he'd wanted to tell Sara about her, explain why he'd torn Di's picture up. Jason's jaw clenched. He had to keep things with Sara on a strictly business footing.

  Jason found Sara and Kelsey coloring in the kitchen, a plate of the cookies, Mrs. Binty called biscuits beside them. As Kelsey reached for one, Sara snatched it away, said `Mine', and popped it in her mouth. Kelsey's giggles filled the kitchen, warming Jason's heart.

  The aroma of baking bread filled the kitchen as Mrs. Binty bustled between sink and oven. In a corner Mr. Binty sat reading the paper.

  As always, Sara talked to Kelsey as if there was nothing unusual about a one-sided conversation. "That's a wonderful picture Kelsey. We'll put it up on the refrigerator and when Daddy sees it, he'll know you made it for him. He's going to be so proud of you, and he's going to say `Thank you Kelsey for making me such a great picture'."

  "Thank you Kelsey for making me such a great picture."

  His words changed the scene in front of him. Sara looked at him and blushed bright red. Kelsey ran to him. Mr. Binty jumped up and said, "I'll get your coffee sir", and Mrs. Binty said something about scrambled eggs and bacon.

  "I'll only have coffee now, thank you." Jason took the third small chair, and kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Good morning, sweetheart."

  Why was Sara twisting the paper off a crayon and refusing to look at him? Was she still embarrassed about the way his hand had touched her last night?

  "I'm going jogging in the Park, but when I come back would you and Kelsey like to drive out to the country? We could take a picnic."

  "It's ever such a nice day for a picnic," Mrs. Binty said while Sara just stared at Jason as if he'd suggested she should grow two horns on the top of her head.

  "If I might make a suggestion, sir, the Downs are particularly beautiful now." Mr. Binty handed Jason a mug of coffee.

  "Thank you. We might go there. Sara?"

  "That's fine with me, but if you'd rather go alone with Kelsey, I have plenty of things to do h...here."

  Aware of the looks of surprise on the Bintys' faces, Jason said. "We want you to come with us, don't we Kelsey? What's a picnic without a fiancé?"

  Sara's eyes widened at the reminder of her role. On impulse, Jason bent and kissed her full on the lips. Her mouth quivered under his. Her dazed look heated his blood, but he forced his feet to turn to the door. "Well, that's settled. Shall we leave at eleven?"

  "It'll do you all good to get some roses in your cheeks," Mrs. Binty said, after Jason had left the room, "and I'll have a nice picnic lunch ready for you to take. A young couple needs to spend time together. You and Himself are having problems aren't you dearie?"

  Sara stared at Mrs. Binty blankly. She liked the plump cheerful Englishwoman and her tall, gaunt husband. Looking into Mrs. Binty's warm brown eyes she realized not much got past the intelligent woman.

  "A f…few." It was better she thought that, than guessed the truth. "Jason's very busy
with his work right now."

  "All the more reason to spend a day away from it. And if you'd like a word of advice, these days a woman doesn't wait for a man to make the first move. My daughters didn't. Some men have starting trouble, if you catch my meaning." The wink that accompanied the words was loaded with innuendo.

  Sara nodded acknowledgement of Mrs. Binty's advice before she hurriedly left the kitchen. If Jason wanted the Bintys to testify on his behalf as well, they'd have to do a better job of convincing the perceptive couple they were madly in love.

  CHAPTER SIX

  "I thought we'd take the M40 out of London and then head west to an area called Burnham Beeches," Jason said as he drove out of London. "It isn't too far away from here and I'm not too sure how Kelsey's going to take a longer drive. If i remember correctly Burnham Beeches is very pretty with lots of different trees. Do you think you might like that?"

  "Anything's fine with me."

  Sara wasn't used to the way Jason always asked her opinion.

  "If you'd like to look at the map you can see how we're heading for Cookham in the Thames Valley. Burnham Beeches is east of Cookham."

  Sara opened the map and studied it. England was chock full of interesting places to see.

  Silence filled the car as Kelsey fell asleep in her car seat. Sara stared out of the window, spellbound by the English countryside. It was exactly as the English poets she loved to read, described it. Fields of wildflowers, thatched cottages, quaint villages and the occasional pub.

  "Are you hungry, or thirsty?" Jason asked after a while.

  "Don't stop for me. I could keep going. It's all so beautiful," Sara leaned back in her seat. "It's exactly as all those English poets describe."

  From the books he'd seen around the flat he knew Sara's taste in reading leaned towards poetry, essays, and human interest stories. Mrs. Binty had mentioned that Sara had asked her how to get to the nearest library.

  "As soon as I can take a day off, we'll leave Kelsey with the Bintys and visit Stratford-on-Avon."