“Sarah, I love you and Jackie, and I want to spend the rest of my life being a husband to you and a father to Jackie.”
“Reese...” Tears trembled on her lashes, the last tears he hoped she would ever shed because of him. He opened his arms and she came back into his embrace and he knew, finally, a peace he had never known before in his life.
“Where’s Jackie?” he asked, suddenly needing the three of them to be together. He had so much to catch up on, so many missed moments to recapture, so much future ahead to share.
“She’s in a safe place.” Sarah took him by the hand. “Come on, let’s go get her.”
“Just a minute...” He broke away from her and carefully replaced the wooden barrier across the top of the well. “The first thing tomorrow we need to get somebody out here to fill that in.”
Sarah nodded. He took her hand and together they left the clearing and walked around to the side of the house. “So, Miss Calhoun, how soon do you think we can pull a wedding together?” he asked as they walked.
“Oh, I could probably pull something together in a day...an hour...this minute.”
He stopped walking and studied her, loving the sparkle in her eyes, the faint flush of color on her cheeks. “Don’t you want to do it up right? You know, the white dress and lots of flowers and a church full of friends?”
The smile she gave him took his breath away. It was the smile of the girl he had fallen in love with years before—yet it was the smile of a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. “I’ve got a pretty pink dress and I never cared much for flowers, and we’ve got a built-in witness in our daughter. Oh, Reese, I don’t need a big fancy wedding. You and Jackie are all I need to be happy.”
Again Reese felt a lump rise to his throat. How could he have been such a fool to allow his fears to close him off from the full intensity of loving Sarah and being loved by her?
“So, where is this little witness of ours?” he finally asked.
Sarah pointed ahead, to the tree. “Jackie?” she called out.
“Mama!” Jackie answered, her voice floating down from above.
“You can come down now, honey. It’s all right. You’re safe,” Sarah said as she and Reese stood beneath the tree.
“I can’t,” Jackie whimpered. “I can’t come down. I’m too scared.”
Reese looked up and saw the little girl clinging to a branch over his head. “Jackie honey, Suzanna is in jail now. She can’t hurt you or your mommy ever again. You’re safe now.”
Jackie peered over the branch. Reese could see her face...a little face with eyes like his, a little face he loved. “When we were in the car coming here, she told me...she told me that you’re my daddy.”
Damn her, Reese thought. Damn her for telling what Sarah and he should have told Jackie together. He looked at Sarah, knew she was thinking the same thing, then he gazed back at Jackie. “Suzanna was right, Jackie, I am your daddy.” He waited, holding his breath, wondering what was going on in her marvelous little mind.
“Really?” she asked.
“Really. And if a little girl was up in a tree and couldn’t get down, she could drop into her daddy’s arms and he would catch her because he loves her.” He held out his arms. “Jump, Jackie, jump to your daddy and I’ll catch you.”
She dropped. There was no hesitation, no second of distrust. And he caught her. He held her in his arms, felt her little arms surrounding his neck. “Thank you, Mr. Sheriff,” she said softly, then pressed her lips against his cheek.
“Come on, let’s all go home,” he said, putting his arm around Sarah and drawing her close to him and Jackie. As they walked toward his patrol car, Jackie snuggled against him, fitting her head into the hollow of his neck as if that’s where she belonged.
“You know I’m probably going to make mistakes,” he said to Sarah, sure that she would realize what he was talking about.
“Probably,” she agreed with a smile. “I know as a mother I make at least a dozen mistakes a day.” Her smile widened. “But I have a feeling you’re going to do just fine.”
“Mr. Sheriff, does this mean we’re gonna live at your house?” Jackie asked.
“Would you like to?”
“Yes. I like it there,” Jackie answered.
“You know, Jackie, you could call me Reese,” he suggested.
Jackie was silent for a long moment. “Nah, I think I’d rather call you daddy.”
Reese’s eyes misted. When he looked at Sarah he saw in her eyes the reflection of himself. He’d left behind his fears, his anger, all the baggage of his past. A different person had walked into that clearing from the one who had walked out. At some point in the past few minutes he had become a husband...a father...a man.
Epilogue
“Jackie, honey, you’d better grab a sweater before we go,” Sarah yelled up the stairs to her daughter.
“Okay,” Jackie called back.
Sarah squealed as strong arms grabbed her from behind. She leaned back against the firm body as masculine hands cupped her breasts and warm lips kissed the nape of her neck. “Hmm, if you want to continue in this vein, you’d better hurry. I’m expecting my husband home at any minute.” She laughed as Reese growled in her ear.
She turned in his embrace, her lips finding his, as always amazed at the instant ignition of fire and passion. After six months of marriage their love, their desire for each other, had only grown stronger.
As his hands caressed down the length of her back, pressing her closer against him, she laughed and broke away from him. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, buster. We’re supposed to be at Lindy and Ben’s in half an hour.”
Reese groaned. “What’s more important? Going to dinner at Lindy and Ben’s, or giving our daughter her wish of a little brother or sister?”
“This evening, dinner at Lindy and Ben’s.” She smiled and touched his cheek softly. “But later tonight...”
“I’m going to eat fast,” he promised. “I’ll just go change from my work clothes to my visiting clothes.”
Sarah nodded, watching as he disappeared up the stairs. She smiled as she heard Jackie greet him, their voices teasing, filled with the love Sarah had once only dreamed about.
As she waited for them to finish getting ready, she drifted into the living room and sat down on the sofa, her heart filled with the kind of contentment she’d never dreamed she’d own.
Lindy was doing well under Dr. Westliner’s care. He had placed her on a drug program that would never cure her illness but allowed her to live a more normal life. Lindy wanted to move to a small house in town. Ben had agreed to do whatever made Lindy happy. As a result Sarah was free to sell the farm. She and Lindy had agreed to put the money in trust for Jackie. Somehow Sarah knew Margaret Calhoun would approve. All she’d ever wanted was happiness for her two daughters.
In the past few months Sarah had gained a new respect for her brother-in-law. Ben had been by Lindy’s side every step of the way and Sarah had never seen her sister looking happier or healthier.
Sarah and Reese had faced Suzanna only one more time—at the trial. She was now in a women’s penitentiary, where she would be for some time to come.
Yes, the past six months had been eventful ones. Sarah stood up and wandered into the kitchen, staring out the back window to where a tire swing swayed in the spring breeze. Reese had hung the swing for Jackie.
She’d always known the potential for love that Reese had in his heart, a potential that had come to fruition in the last few months.
She turned as she heard footsteps behind her. Reese stood just inside the doorway, Jackie riding high on his shoulders. “All set?”
“All set.” For a moment Sarah didn’t move, she just stood and smiled at the two people who held her heart.
“What?” Reese looked at her curiously. “Is my hair messed up or something?”
“No,” Jackie scoffed, rubbing her hands over his hair. “I combed it and it’s perfect.”
“Y
ou’re both perfect,” Sarah said with a laugh.
“Daddy says we have to eat our supper real fast,” Jackie said as they headed out the door. “He says we have to eat real fast so you and Daddy can come home and talk about getting me a new baby sister or brother.”
Reese grinned at her, his eyes promising things that made Sarah shiver in delicious anticipation. “And if we don’t talk about it well enough tonight, then we’ll talk about it tomorrow night...and the next night...”
“Reese.” Sarah laughed, feeling a blush sweeping up her neck.
He grinned and captured her hand in his as they began the three-block walk toward Lindy and Ben’s place. Sarah squeezed his fingers gently and felt a responding pressure from him. She looked at him and knew he shared her happiness, the utter joy of the three of them together. “Have I told you today that I love you?” he asked her suddenly.
“Hmm, if you have it still wouldn’t hurt to hear it again.”
“I love you, Sarah Walker. Today and always.”
“And I love you, Reese. Forever and always.”
“Hey, are you guys making my little brother or sister right now?” Jackie asked curiously.
Reese laughed and looked at Sarah. “Not yet, little squirrel,” he said. He squeezed Sarah’s fingers once again and his loving gaze reached inside her and wrapped around her heart. His eyes were filled with not only the promise of the nighttime to come, but the promise of a lifetime.
* * * * *
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8706-8
Fugitive Father
Copyright © 1994 by Carla Bracale
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