And then Danny would leave and so would Reiner. Both of her men would be gone from her life.
Her men? Neither was hers, and there was the problem. Her head ached.
Would it have been any different if she’d told him before Danny showed up at her door? She doubted it. The time to confess had been twelve years ago.
Every time she envisioned Reiner coming to her house last night, finding Danny there, her stomach tied itself in a dozen different knots. Of all the worst-case scenarios she could have imagined, reality beat them all!
Felicity, God bless her inimitable heart, had already introduced Danny as her friend, visiting from out of town. Nobody questioned her explanation.
Katie Sara answered questions about the program and took care of last-minute problems, but her mind kept wandering. She watched as Danny, Reiner, and Bryce Wellner put the finishing touches on one of the sets. Bent over the table painting the legs, Danny and Reiner looked so much alike she couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could be so blind as to not put one and one together and get two.
Rhonda came up from behind and slid an arm around her waist. “They’re quite a pair, aren’t they?”
Katie Sara swiveled to face her friend. Their eyes met, and she knew that Rhonda knew. “Yes, they are.”
“I won’t even ask how all this happened. You can tell me later. How’s Reiner handlin’ it?”
She heaved a sigh. “He’s furious with me, and he should be. At the time, it was a dreadful decision to make, and now, meeting Danny, getting to know him...it’s so much worse. That’s his name. Danny. He’s beautiful. He’s wonderful.”
Rhonda’s hand enfolded Katie Sara’s. She rubbed her thumb along the side. “He had to be with you and Reiner as parents.”
Dropping her head into her other hand, Katie Sara said, “Danny showed up yesterday afternoon on my doorstep. Literally.” Blinking back the moisture that clouded her vision, she swallowed the tightness in her throat.
“That’s his father with them. His mother’s over there gluing sequins and stars to the castle.” Voice husky, she said, “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but not when I chose Danny’s parents. They’re wonderful people, and they love him. He loves them.”
Her gaze migrated across the gym. Reiner stood, paintbrush in hand, studying her and Rhonda. He looked so angry. He looked... She groaned. She didn’t know.
Enough. “Are we going to be ready for tomorrow?” she asked.
“You bet. These kids are dynamite.”
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. Felicity left with Beth at the end of practice to do some last-minute planning. Bel promised to see them all tomorrow for the show.
In the parking lot, Reiner and Katie Sara stood by their cars. Danny would go home with her, then Bryce would come by after dinner to pick him up. Reiner tossed his keys, caught them. “How about if you two go on to your house, and I run over to Salaverry’s Pizza and pick up dinner?”
“Sounds good to me.” The emotion-packed day had taken a toll, and Katie Sara didn’t think she had the energy to cook tonight.
“You must like pizza,” Danny said.
“Yeah, I know we had it last night, too, but—”
“That’s okay. I could eat it every night,” Danny said. “I like pepperoni and mushrooms on mine.”
“Pepperoni and mushrooms it is, then. See you in a bit.” He sniffed at himself. “Think I’ll run by the house and catch a shower first.”
Danny laughed. “I think we all need one.”
“Hey, you guys, speak for yourselves. We women do not sweat. We merely glisten. Therefore, we do not smell.”
“Yeah, right.” Reiner winked at Danny, hopped in his car, and threw a salute before taking off.
“Wow! I really love that car!”
“Well, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me and the Mustang.”
“It’s cool, too.”
“I know. But there’s cool, and then there’s cool.”
“Yeah.” He grinned.
She tousled his hair, put down the top, and drove home with her son.
Showered and changed, she figured they still had some time before Reiner showed up with their dinner. Opening her bedroom closet, she muscled the box loose. She’d already managed to barricade it behind several others.
“Danny?”
“Huh?”
“You still interested in seeing some pictures?”
“You bet!”
“Well, I’ve got a box of old ones here that my daddy left me. He died a couple of months ago.” She bit her lip against the pain. “He’d have loved you. He didn’t know about you. I think if he had...” She shook her head. “Anyway, my mother gave me this box.”
Tucking the bulky carton under her arm, she carried it downstairs and set it in the middle of the coffee table. “Shall we open it and see what’s in here?”
“Hey, it’s kinda like a mystery.” Green eyes sparkling, he rubbed his hands together and knelt by the table. “Maybe there’s a million dollars hidden inside.”
Her stomach lurched. What if there was money in the box? What if that’s why they’d never found it?
Her hand stilled on the tape. “You know, maybe this isn’t such a good idea. You probably don’t want to look at a bunch of boring old pictures. Why don’t I go get a couple of mine for you?” She started to get up. “Maybe one of your grandparents, one of me—”
“No way! Let’s open the package. I want to see what’s in it.”
Torn, she hesitated. The box probably held exactly what her mother had said. Old pictures. Nothing else. If it turned out to be—she gulped—money, she’d simply shut the box quickly, tell him it was just insurance papers, and...and... She didn’t know what she’d do. She felt herself beginning to glisten.
“Come on. Please!” Danny clasped his hands together in prayer mode.
She tried to laugh. “All right, but remember when you’re bored silly that you asked for it.”
“Okay, okay. Rip off that tape! Hurry! The suspense is killing me!”
No more than it is me.
She tore off one strip, then another and another. Danny helped. There had to be ten layers. Now she really was sweating. Not glistening, sweating. Why would her daddy use that much tape on a box of old photos?
When they finally removed the last layer of tape and added it to the heap on the floor, she unfolded the flaps. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she had to fight to keep from closing her eyes.
Inside, packaged neatly, lay an old photo album. Relief flooded through her, followed quickly by an immense surge of sadness and longing for her daddy. Maybe she’d been right. This wasn’t a good idea.
Who better, though, to share this moment with than her father’s grandson? Carefully, she lifted the book from the box and unwrapped the plastic covering. A whiff of must rose from it.
Danny’s nose wrinkled.
“It’s been in here over twelve years. Longer than you’ve been alive.”
He traced the raised monogram. “M. For McMichaels?”
“Uh-huh.”
They sat side by side on the floor.
“My dad is a teacher like you. What did your dad do?”
“He was a bank president.” She opened the book. On the inside front cover, her father had recorded the date he’d finished the album and dedicated it to her with all his love.
“Gee, that must make you feel kind of sad, huh?”
Through the flood of emotions, she smiled. “Yes, but happy, too.”
Leafing through the book, Katie Sara shared her childhood with Danny. Amazed at the care her father had taken choosing the pictures, she lost track of time and was surprised when Reiner walked in, carrying a large pizza box and sodas.
“Hey, what are you lookin’ at?”
“Katie Sara’s dad left her an album. You ought to see some of the pictures of her when she was little.”
“Oh, yeah?”
He set down the pizza and perched on the sofa’s edge, peeking
over Katie Sara’s shoulder.
“Show him the one of you riding the horse backward!”
“One of my finer moments!” As she flipped back to it, a sheet of paper wedged behind another picture slid out and dropped to the floor. She reached down, picked it up, and glanced at it.
Hand trembling, she tucked it in the back of the album. “Enough fun at my expense. That pizza smells fantastic. Let’s eat.”
They spent the evening together, bittersweet with the knowledge that tomorrow Danny’s parents would take him home.
That evening, when his folks came for him, Katie Sara stopped at the front door and kissed his forehead. Laying her hand on his cheek, she said, “Danny, I won’t be able to do this after tonight, but I want you to know that every single night, I’ll send you a kiss before I go to sleep.”
His young face broke into a smile. “And I’ll send you one right back.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
Reiner tousled his hair and pecked him on the check. “Night, tiger. Try to get some sleep. Those girls are goin’ to put us through our paces with that show tomorrow.”
“Right.” Danny gave him a thumbs-up.
They walked to the car together and Danny hopped in. As the car pulled away from the curb, a sleepy Danny called out. “Night, Reiner. Night, Katie Sara.”
It should have been mom and dad. Night, Mom and Dad. Katie Sara’s heart twisted. When she stumbled, Reiner steadied her. With an arm around her shoulders, he helped her to the porch.
Tears rained down her cheeks, and she pulled away. “How can you even touch me?”
Without answering, he flopped down on her porch swing.
A generous hand had scattered the stars in the night sky. Out of thousands, Katie Sara picked one and sent a fervent wish for happiness to all the people she’d hurt.
“Think I’ve got most of it figured out, Katie Sara, but why don’t you tell me exactly what happened.”
“A lot of things played into it,” she began, “but I want to make it perfectly clear I’m making no excuses. I didn’t stand up for myself or for our son. Or for you, for that matter.
“So much happened so quickly. Daddy went to jail, and by that next Easter, Mother’d found Hayden. Image restoration had become high priority. Mother’s had, after all, been tainted by Daddy’s scandal. Her association with Hayden meant being invited back to the country club, to the bridge games. All the important things.”
She bit her lip. “Maybe I’m being unfair. Bottom line? My pregnancy couldn’t be allowed to destroy everything she’d worked to rebuild. I made a mistake, one she didn’t intend to pay for. When I refused to have an abortion, things really hit the fan.”
Reiner jerked. “She wanted you to have an abortion?”
“Choice number one. The fastest, cleanest option.”
“No Danny.”
She nodded.
“Guess that took courage,” he admitted grudgingly.
“A little more than running and hiding?”
He turned frigid eyes on her.
She wanted to cry but shrugged instead. “Hayden still doesn’t know the truth. Mother made up a story about why I wanted to attend a private school. He believed her and even paid my, quote, tuition. Everybody believed her story.”
“But I wasn’t everybody,” Reiner growled. “I was the baby’s father.”
“I know that.” She looked down and laced her fingers together. “I’d finally worked up the nerve to tell you at the Nut Shop when we stopped for milkshakes.”
“The day you left.”
“Yes. I’d decided you had to know. Then you started talking about football and the important scout coming to next Saturday’s game. You had big dreams, Reiner, and you made them come true.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Wait. Let me finish. That same afternoon...” She took a deep breath. “You told me Zane had knocked up Sheila, and their parents were making them get married. You said they’d screwed up their whole lives.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Katie Sara, I had no idea that you—”
“I know, but don’t you see? My mother had been telling me the same thing. Over and over, day after day.” She sniffled. “I decided I couldn’t do that to you. I gave in. That night, she drove me to a home for unwed mothers in Atlanta.”
“How did you get my signature on the adoption papers? For them to be legal, I had to sign off, agree to give away my parental rights. I never did that.”
His voice had never sounded so cold. So devoid of emotion. This Reiner frightened her, but she met and held his gaze. “I lied. We went through a private lawyer which made things easier. I told them I didn’t know who the father was.”
“You told them—” He pitched back in the swing, vibrating with anger. “My name’s not on his birth certificate.”
“No.”
“A DNA test would prove I’m his father.”
“Yes, it would.”
He swore. “I won’t do that to him. To the Wellners. But you’re not my favorite person right now, Katie Sara.”
“I know.” She worried her bottom lip.
“Well, I’m not goin’ to push this, but your mother and I need to have ourselves a little chat one of these days. It won’t change a thing, though. What’s done is done. Danny’s got a good family that loves him, and he loves them. Best to leave it at that. If he didn’t, then maybe...” He blew out his breath. “Okay. New subject.”
Warily, she stared at him.
“That piece of paper that slipped out of your daddy’s album. What’s that all about?”
She shrugged. “Nothing.”
His brow rose. “Katie Sara, when you picked it up off the floor, you went ghost-white. You’re not goin’ to lie to me again, are you?”
Sitting on the top step, she bent at the waist and touched her forehead to her knees. “No. It was a letter addressed to me from Daddy.” She licked her lips. “I don’t know what it says. I need to be alone when I read it.”
“I understand.” He stood. “I’m goin’ to go now. It’s been a long day, and we’re goin’ to have a hard one tomorrow.” Without another word, he headed down her walk, away from her.
She moved to the swing and sat in the darkness, heard the powerful engine roar to life. She had a letter to read. The last one she’d ever have from her daddy.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Katie Sara showered, put on her most comfortable pajamas, and then went downstairs to straighten up. Finally, she’d procrastinated as long as she could. There was nothing else left for her to do. A glass of white wine in hand, she turned out the lights and went back upstairs to her room.
Her hand shook as she set the wine on her bedside table. Since the album had been put together so meticulously, she had to assume he’d tucked the letter behind that particular picture for a reason. Yet she might never have found it if Danny hadn’t searched for her and Reiner, then chosen the picture of her on the horse for Reiner to see.
Propped up in bed, doubts assailed her. Maybe she should wait. It might be better to do this after Danny left tomorrow. Why stir up things anymore? Wasn’t she in enough turmoil?
But now she knew of the letter’s existence, it both enticed and intimidated her. Its contents would prey on her mind and nerves. All evening, her fertile imagination had conjured up possibility after possibility. Regardless of what she learned, it would be better than this uncertainty and all the speculation.
On the outside, her daddy had scrawled two words. I’m sorry. Those two words sent chills down her spine. They didn’t bode well for the letter’s contents. But whatever he’d written had been important to him, something he’d wanted to share with her—or felt he’d needed to.
Fingers trembling, she unfolded the slightly yellowed paper with its brittle creases. Because Daddy wanted her to read this letter, she would.
Katie Sara, honey.
In her mind, she heard her daddy’s deep, confident voice, not that of the f
rail shell of a man the prison system had returned to her for a few short weeks.
She stared at the opening words, then forced her eyes to read on.
First, I want to tell you how very, very much I love you. Writing this letter is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and yet I’m still taking the coward’s way out—as I have for far too many years. I can’t bear to look into your eyes or the eyes of your mother as I confess.
I’m making an album for you, sugar, and I’ll put this behind one of the pictures. Fate will determine when, and if, you find it. I know you have questions, questions that deserve answers, and I’ll try to give them to you.
As for your mother, I’ll leave it to you to decide what and how to tell her of this—whether she should even know of this letter’s existence or read it. I have no idea as I write this what circumstances Claudia will be in when it’s found. You’ll know what’s best.
The whys of things have never concerned her. She doesn’t care to delve too deeply beneath surfaces. I don’t mean that as a criticism. It simply is.
You, on the other hand, are never satisfied until you know “why”. You’ll need to understand the reason I stole the bank’s money, the reason I risked and lost everything. That’s your nature.
You’re hoping, even now I’m sure, eternal optimist that you are, that I’ll tell you I stole from the bank for some great and noble cause. No such reason exists, Katie Sara. I needed the money because of something I did when I was very young and very stupid. You and your mother both paid a high price for my indiscretion.
I hope someday you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me, but if, when you’ve finished this, you can’t grant me that forgiveness, I will understand.
I have no way of knowing how many years have passed since I’ve written this, but, although I hardly know where to start, I’ll leave you in suspense no longer. I fear this letter will shatter your world.
Since there is no good place, I will simply start at the beginning.
Katie Sara wiped sweaty hands on her pajamas, certain now she didn’t want to read anymore. Positive she had to. She sipped her wine, wetting a mouth gone cotton dry.
I love your mother very much, Katie Sara. I always have, always will. It’s important you know and remember that. We practically grew up together. Everyone always took for granted we’d marry, but when I went away to London for college, I met someone else. Jenna Holland.
Moonlight, Motorcycles, and Bad Boys Page 23