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

  Sara's breath caught in her throat at the thought of a whole day alone with Jason. It took a minute longer for her to realize that thought had come first. Before the one that visiting Shakespeare's birthplace had been a dream she'd never thought would ever come true.

  She glanced at Jason's profile. Why was he being so kind to her? Was it to ensure that she gave her best to Kelsey? A glance over her shoulder showed the little girl fast asleep. Sara's gaze softened. Jason didn't have to worry that she'd be anything but nice to Kelsey.

  "I'm going to keep on driving. That way Kelsey will get her nap in and we can get deeper into the country."

  "Sounds fine to me." Sara said turning her gaze back to the rolling fields of knee high grass and wildflowers.

  "How do you like what you've seen of London so far?"

  Meera and she had gone out thrice. "I loved Westminster Abbey, the bookstores in Charing Cross road, and Portobello Market. Going around with Meera gives me an insider's viewpoint of London. She's full of stories."

  Sara bit her lip. She had almost said that the sights and sounds of London had given her grist for the writing mill. She'd had to keep the correspondence classes she'd taken at eighteen a secret from Uncle Samuel. Having her lessons mailed to Claire's address, she'd worked on them after Uncle Samuel had gone to bed. No one besides her friend knew that Sara liked to write essays that were humorous observations on life. Since coming to London she wrote early each morning before Kelsey got up.

  "Some of the bookstores have readings by famous authors. You might like to go to them."

  "Yes." She wondered if Jason's instinctive understanding of what she needed, was because he'd had so much practice with his daughter. It couldn't be anything else.

  The spot they finally stopped at made Sara wish she could paint. The scene in front of her eyes was meant to be captured for posterity. A huge oak, fifty yards away from the road, provided the perfect place for their picnic. In the distance, sheep and cows grazed, and somewhere she could hear a stream gurgling softly. The soft grass was dotted with flowers of every color.

  While Jason got Kelsey out of her car seat, Sara walked ahead with the picnic basket and the red and white blanket Mrs. Binty had given her. Spreading it out, she watched as Jason lay a still sleepy Kelsey on the blanket.

  "I'll stay with her if you'd like to go for a walk."

  "Not right now," Sara knelt in front of the basket and opened it. "Would you like something to drink?"

  "Please."

  She poured some iced lemonade into three glasses and held Kelsey's for her while she took a long drink.

  "You had a nice nap, didn't you sweetheart?" she said. "Let's have lunch and then we'll go for a small walk and get some pretty flowers. See the cows? You know what the cows say don't you? Moo...ooo. And the Sheep? Baa...aaa."

  Returning from the car with two folding chairs, Jason caught the last of Sara's words. "Know what Daddys say?" he asked, a smile on his face. Daddys say, "I'm hu...u..ungry"

  At his roar, Sara's laughter mingled with Kelsey's giggles. The sound drew Jason and his gaze rested on her mouth. Had anyone told Sara what a sweet laugh she had?

  Sara froze. Why on earth was Jason looking at her mouth like that? A wave of heat swept through her as she put a finger up to her lower lip. Did she have something stuck there?

  The gesture reminded Jason that he was staring. He turned away to set the chairs up. What on earth was the matter with him?

  Sara opened the wicker basket that had been designed by a genius who had found a spot for everything they might need. Taking out the plates, she set them on the blanket and then put the food out. Mrs. Binty had put in devilled eggs, three different kinds of sandwiches; roast beef, cold chicken and mayonnaise, and Sara's favorite, thin slices of cucumber with a little bit of butter. There were cookies, plum cake, and homemade English toffee to go with it.

  "Is this some kind of a message that we shouldn't hurry back?" Jason asked, as he noticed the quantity of food Mrs. Binty had packed.

  She laughed. "I think Mrs. Binty is hoping our appetites will improve out in the open. She says it’s hard to cook for four….she’s used to cooking for bigger numbers."

  As they ate, the serenity of their surroundings washed over Sara. It was nice to be here, sense the warmth and love Kelsey and her father shared, be part of their circle for a brief while. She stopped, deviled egg in hand as a twinge of pain shot through her. This was only a temporary situation.

  "Penny for them?" Jason asked, reaching for his fourth sandwich. Why on earth was Sara looking as if someone had punched her in the stomach?

  "They aren't worth a penny." Sara turned to Kelsey and handed her half a cold chicken sandwich. Mrs. Binty had cut the chicken pieces up fine for the little girl.

  He had learned that with Sara it was best not to pursue a subject. The golden brown owl had stubborn feathers.

  "It's so peaceful out here," Sara murmured.

  "The country's fine on a day like this," Jason said, "but I don't think you'd like to live here."

  "Why not?"

  "There's nothing to do."

  A few years ago a friend had invited him to use his guest house in the country. He remembered Diana whining non-stop about boredom the entire weekend.

  "Nothing to do?" Sara said. "If you had your own garden, Kelsey could run and play outside most of the day, and...."

  Her voice trailed away. It sounded as if she were discontented with Jason's choice of London as a base. Remembering how he had reacted to his mother-in-law's criticism, Sara held her breath.

  "Are you saying you prefer the country to London?"

  "Its certainly better than London for Kelsey."

  Jason shook his head impatiently. "Forget Kelsey for a minute. What would you do down here?"

  "Take long walks, garden, read." And write.

  "Peter Wilton's just bought a house in the country. We could visit him and Meera one weekend. That would give you a taste of what it's like to live here."

  His tone indicated he didn't think she would like it once she'd tried it on a day to day basis.

  "I don't usually say I'd like something if I don't mean it," Sara said stiffly.

  Jason looked at her, eyes narrowed. "You told me you've lived all your life in Rainbow Valley. Granted it's a quiet, peaceful suburb of Los Angeles, but you're just a stone's throw away from any kind of entertainment and shopping one could imagine."

  "Being a stone's throw away didn't mean I went to all those places."

  "Because of your uncle's health?"

  "Partly." Uncle Samuel had made more rules than there were days in the years, and the painful lectures even when she went to Claire's place had been hard to take.

  The look on Sara's face prompted Jason to say. "What did you do for fun?"

  "I read."

  Jason's eyes narrowed. He was getting a strange feeling in his gut about Sara's past. "Was your uncle very strict?"

  Instead of saying anything, she picked up her glass and drained the lemonade in it. "Sara?"

  The contract still bound her to being be perfectly honest.

  "Yes, he was." Sara stood up and brushed the crumbs off her jeans. "Want to go for a walk Kelsey?"

  Kelsey abandoned the plastic puzzle she had been working on and got to her feet. Watching them leave, Jason realized he had trespassed in an area of Sara's personal life where he really had no business. She wasn't going to tell him any more, but he had plenty of pieces to put together now. The condition of her clothes, her lack of self-esteem, her feeling that she should do all the work.

  Jason's eyes narrowed in anger. Someone had done a real number on her.

  He reached for another roast beef sandwich. He'd always thought the longer you knew someone, the easier it became to understand them. Sara was the only exception he knew to that rule. Some kind of misguided sense of loyalty had her clamming up whenever he got too close. Trying to milk one of the cows they'd seen in the fields they'd passed would have been
easier than trying to get a glimpse of Sara's past.

  He was stretched on his back fast asleep, when they returned. In sleep, he'd lost the strain that was always present on his face. For a moment Sara wanted to reach down and touch him. Kelsey tugged at her hand and Sara turned away. She placed a finger on her lips. "Let’s not wake Daddy. He's tired. Let's sit by the tree and make daisy chains."

  Kelsey looked at her father and then placed a finger on her own lips and nodded.

  Jason woke to the sound of Sara's voice. "The Prince bent down and lifted the Sleeping Beauty to kiss her. The bit of poisoned apple stuck in her throat fell out. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked at the Prince. He was so handsome. He bent and kissed her and the Sleeping Beauty knew she loved him. They got married and lived happily ever after."

  Jason looked at them. Sara must have made the circlets of flowers both she and Kelsey wore like crowns. He guessed she'd had to undo her pony tail to keep the flowers on her head, because her hair framed her face. Kelsey looked like a little cherub, her circlet of flowers already crooked. If only he'd remembered the camera. His cell phone would do for now but with his camera he could have caught the colors and their expressions better.

  "You're both so beautiful," Jason said, watching the color flood Sara's face as her gaze tangled with his.

  "Doesn't Kelsey look like a Princess?" Sara asked quietly.

  "I said you're both beautiful," Jason reiterated.

  Sara looked away. Jason was startled by the sadness that brushed her face. Didn't she believe him? Obviously not, for her to look the way she did now.

  "Does anyone want to kiss the sleeping Daddy and wake him up?" he asked.

  Kelsey giggled and flew into his arms while Sara poured tea from a thermos into two mugs and handed Kelsey a covered drinking cup, filled with milk. Mrs. Binty had packed chocolate éclairs to go with the tea.

  "I think we'll have to continue the practice of having afternoon tea when we get back to the States," said Jason, watching Sara bite into an éclair. They were her favorite pastries and Mrs. Binty made them very often.

  Sara told herself to stop being silly and reading more than there was on the surface into every word Jason said. He was just being kind when he'd made that remark about her being beautiful, and whenever he said `we' he meant Kelsey and himself. Besides she really didn't want to be tied to anyone so soon after Uncle Samuel's death. Or did she?

  "I meant what I said earlier about you being beautiful," Jason said as Kelsey drank her juice and held the cup to her doll's mouth. "Don't you believe me?"

  "I'm not beautiful." Sara held his gaze though the color that ran up under her skin told him he had embarrassed her again.

  The note of finality in her voice angered Jason. Something had to be done about Sara's low self esteem.

  "As a man, I see things that your mirror isn't showing you."

  Sara looked at him, her eyes growing large.

  "You've got eyes a man can both lose and find himself in, a mouth made for kissing, silky hair that would be wonderful to run one's hands through, and a very sexy smile."

  "Sexy," Sara repeated as if she'd never said the word aloud before. Jason had a hard time not smiling. She sounded as if it were an insult.

  "Very sexy," he repeated. "You could have any man you want."

  Why was Jason teasing her? His words had been casual, but there was nothing casual about the way the blood pounded in her ears, or the heat pooled in the pit of her stomach.

  Before he could say another word, she began to stuff everything back into the picnic basket. Shutting it, Sara got to her feet and hurried to the car as if she were Cinderella and the clock had just chimed twelve.

  Jason smiled at Kelsey who was puzzled by Sara's quick retreat. As she looked at him for an explanation, Jason experienced a strange surge of happiness. "We're just helping Sara wake up and find her real self," he told his daughter, touching her pert little nose. "It's a shame she didn't wait for me to get to the kissing part."

  Jason tried to sort things out in his mind on the drive home. The fact Sara was barely paying him any attention was beginning to bother him. She'd even asked if she could sit in the back with Kelsey on the way home. That way, she'd said, Kelsey wouldn't get too restless on the long drive home. Judging from his daughter's laughter, she loved the game they were playing of `This little piggie', with her toes.

  He shouldn't have embarrassed Sara. He wouldn't have said what he had, except for the fact that she did need waking up. Her reaction had surprised him. She'd looked as if she'd never received any compliments. The women he knew would have begun purring, their eyes demanding he keep on in the same vein. Sara had bolted as if he'd made an indecent suggestion.

  Male ego told him Sara was unaware of him as anything other than her employer. He'd never been with another woman who was so...so... self-contained. Any time a little bit of emotion escaped, she gathered it back up and locked it away.

  She'd made it very clear she wasn't after his money. She wasn't even after his person. What on earth was important to her?

  "Sara, what's the most important thing in the world to you?" he asked, when the game in the back stopped for a while.

  "Personal freedom".

  The answer was so unexpected it startled him. She'd given it so quickly as if it was something that was always on her mind.

  "What does personal freedom mean to you?" he asked.

  "Not having to live by someone else's rules. Supporting myself financially, making all my own decisions, choosing what I want to do, or not do."

  Jason knew suddenly that the little golden-brown owl hadn't had much freedom with her uncle. The vehemence in her voice told him that it was something she cared about very greatly. She and Diana were alike in that respect...only at one time Di had pretended she wanted marriage and all it stood for.

  "Do you think marriage interferes with personal freedom?" he asked Sara.

  "Yes. Even living with someone places constraints on that freedom."

  "So to achieve what you want, you would have to live alone?"

  "Yes."

  "Is that what you plan when this job is over?"

  "Yes. It's one of the reasons I took it. The money's going to help me support myself till I can find another job."

  He had to give her a raise.

  "What was it your uncle did before he retired?" he asked Sara, after she and Kelsey were tired of `This Little Piggy'.

  "He worked in a brokerage house."

  The man must have made good money, but he'd obviously had a hard time sharing any of it.

  "Did you say he was your mother's brother?"

  "Yes."

  "Were they very close?"

  "No. He was fifteen years old when she was born. He was just like my grandfather, strict and unbending. When my mother met my father, and then he died, my uncle took her in but never let her forget the wrong she had done by letting Cole Adams love her. My mother paid the rest of her life for having me."

  "Moses said your uncle was very wealthy."

  "I don't want any of his money."

  He'd never heard Sara sound so fierce. He looked in the rear view mirror. Kelsey was turning the pages of a book in her car seat, and Sara looked as if she'd answered a call to go to war.

  Jason turned on the radio. There was a time to talk and a time to let music cover up the awkwardness. This was definitely time for the latter.

  What on earth was he asking so many questions for all of a sudden? Nervous Sara reached for Kelsey's little foot. "Ready for more of `This Little Piggy'?" she asked.

  That about summed it all up in an acorn shell, Jason thought grimly. Sara Adams preferred playing `This Little Piggy', for the fiftieth time, to talking with him. A man would have to be really stupid not to receive the message she was sending.

  Let's keep this on a business footing.

  Which suited him fine. Just fine. She wasn't his type anyway.

  Thinking back on the day as he sat on the balco
ny outside his room that night, Jason didn't know what made him angrier. Sara's lack of belief in what he'd said about her looks, or her total lack of interest in him.

  He didn't know why the latter irked. He had wanted someone who could be trusted to keep matters on a business footing, someone who wouldn't expect anything from him in the emotional department.

  He didn't want any complications in his life but that didn't mean he shouldn't do something about Sara's lack of confidence in herself as a woman.

  Sara leaned back in the tub and hoped the steaming, rose-scented water would ease some of the confusion out of her system. She'd been feeling very unsettled all day...as if all her nerve endings were linked to a cord that Jason controlled.

  He was Kelsey's father, her employer, and her pseudo-fiancée. Nothing more. Besides she wanted freedom, not being tied by emotion to any place or person. As soon as Jason was granted custody of Kelsey, he wasn't going to need her anymore.

  She had to make her plans for when she would be alone, and free at last to explore the freedom she'd always wanted. She'd be able to do exactly as she pleased for a week or two before she'd have to look for another job.

  Sara closed her eyes and slid a little deeper into the water. A part of her mind seemed to be backing away from the thought of being all alone. It was only, Sara told herself fiercely, because she'd grown very fond of Kelsey.

  Jason looked like a thundercloud when he came to the breakfast table the next morning.

  "What's wrong?" Sara asked, as soon as Mrs. Binty had taken Kelsey into the playroom. She couldn't possibly ignore the fact that Jason had barely eaten his breakfast. The lines on his face looked as if they had deepened in the last twenty-four hours.

  "It's Dee Dee. She'll be here Wednesday."

  "Oh."

  "I suppose she can't wait to start gathering more evidence to use against me."

  "Maybe she'll be different this time," Sara suggested.

  She was under no illusion that the woman liked her, but she had caught a glimpse of the way Dee Dee looked at Kelsey. She loved her granddaughter.

  "Dee Dee doesn't know how to be different," Jason snapped. "I'm going to call Moses, and tell him to let her know I do not want any uniformed visits."