“Hey, Felicity, phone’s for you! Hurry up. It’s an overseas call. I think it’s your mom.”
“Comin’!” She scurried from her bedroom, carrying Shiner, sans cage.
“Don’t put him—”
Too late. She plopped him onto the couch beside her. Reiner hightailed it to the far side of the room, but it still wasn’t distant enough.
“Mom!”
He headed into the kitchen to give her some privacy and for his first morning coffee. Reaching into the cupboard for a mug, he fumbled it at her high-pitched scream.
Oh, no! Nathan! Had something happened to his brother?
His feet barely touched the floor. Not even the rat stopped him.
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s coming home! Mom’s had a change of orders! She’ll be home in two weeks!”
He scooped up his niece, happy tears and all, and danced around the living room, phone to his ear. “Alicia, we sure will be glad to have you home. I don’t know how I’ll give this girl of yours back to you, though. I’m goin’ to miss her.”
Kissing Felicity, he realized the truth of those words. He handed the phone back to her and left her to finish the conversation.
Alicia was coming home. His sister-in-law would be safe, and Felicia would have her mom back. Best news he’d heard in a long time. A prayer answered.
And he’d have an empty nest. What would he do without this nuisance of a niece terrorizing him? She’d turned his life into one heck of an adventure.
Propped against the kitchen counter, he sipped his coffee and took stock of his situation. He was losing Felicity, and he’d already lost Katie Sara. Well, shoot. He’d given her up voluntarily.
His niece sat in there on the phone, ecstatic that her mama was coming home and missing her daddy something fierce.
At seventeen, Katie Sara had lost her daddy for all practical purposes. And her home, along with most of her friends when it came right down to it because a lot of them turned their backs on her once Ralph McMichaels went to prison.
Then she got pregnant, and what did the mighty football hero do? Tell her a friend was in the same situation and had screwed up his entire life by agreeing to marry the girl. True, he hadn’t known, but what could he expect her to do after that?
Listen to her mama like any scared young girl.
That wise old sage Felicity had hit the nail on the head again. What a sad state of affairs when a thirteen-year-old who kissed rats knew more about life and love than a grown man, but there you go.
He had been mean. He’d judged Katie Sara unfairly, using today’s circumstances, not who and where they were then.
The old “walk a mile in my shoes”.
Felicity was still on the phone. He ducked into his bedroom and rummaged through his drawers till he found the small box. The thing had seen better days. Still...
“Reiner?”
“Yeah, baby doll.”
“Isn’t this the coolest news?”
“Yes, it is. I think it calls for a celebration.”
“Boy, does it ever. Can I tell Auntie Belham?”
“Yes, ma’am. First, though, what do you think of this?” He held out the box and opened the lid.
She squinted at it. “I don’t know. It’s kind of—”
“Small?”
Slowly, she said, “Yeah.”
“I bought it twelve years ago.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“For her?”
He nodded.
“And you’ve kept it all this time?”
He nodded again.
“You gonna tell her that?”
He hesitated.
“You should.”
“That’ll make a difference?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Okay.”
“Then she’s gonna love it!”
“Whew! You’re a tough critic!”
“You gonna do it now?”
He tipped his head. “Lady Luck seems to be ridin’ with the Brodericks this mornin’.”
“Go for it.”
“You’ll be okay here for a bit?”
“Yeah, I’ve got some calls to make.” Felicity’s face glowed.
He patted her cheek. “Hopefully, we’re goin’ to have lots of celebratin’ to do.”
Her expression turned serious. “Don’t mess this up, Uncle Reiner. She’s the one.”
“I know.” He swiped his hands over his jeans. “I’m nervous as a June bug in a chicken yard.”
She grimaced. “After the way you treated her at dinner last night, you should be.”
“There you go. Boostin’ my confidence.”
“Hey, callin’ it like I see it.” Then she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a good luck kiss.
Rhonda, about to cross the street to the post office, heard the Harley’s familiar rumble. Reiner stopped for her, a goofy smile on his face, a bouquet of red roses tucked between a couple open buttons of his denim shirt.
She grinned. Now if that didn’t make a picture. It had to be the most mouth-watering sight she’d ever seen.
“Those had better be for my best friend.”
He slid his sunglasses down his nose. “If she’ll have them...and the jackass who goes with them.” His face went solemn. “You think I stand a chance, Rhonda? I’ve been a grade-A jerk.”
She patted his cheek. “Reiner, I’ve seen your other side. So has Katie Sara. You’re a wonderful man. The two of you need to stop working against each other and this relationship. You’re both acting like it’s a tug-of-war. Start pullin’ together. Mistakes have been made. You’ve both been hurt. That’s the past.”
“Yeah,” he said. “And I’m lookin’ to the future—one with Katie Sara and me together.”
“Good for you.”
He leaned over, careful not to crush his flowers, and kissed her, then roared off toward Wedgewood Way.
Glad she’d worn sandals, Rhonda crossed both her fingers and toes!
When Katie Sara answered the door, Reiner swore he’d never seen anything more beautiful. In another of her gauzy tops, this one aqua-colored, she looked like an angel. Khaki shorts, bare feet, hair up in some loose coil, and mystified green eyes. Gorgeous.
“Reiner?”
He worked the bouquet loose and handed them to her. “Peace offering?”
Wary, she opened her screen-door and accepted them.
“Can I come in?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Oh, boy, this might be tougher than he’d expected. If he couldn’t even get through the front door—
“What do you want?”
“We need to talk, Katie Sara. Let me in. Please.”
She bit her lip but said nothing.
“Katie Sara?”
Silently, she stepped aside. For an instant, his temper flared at her indifference, then he tamped it down, reminding himself he hadn’t even spoken to her the night before. Tit for tat.
Taking the flowers from her, he said, “How ’bout I put these in water for you?”
He left her in the hall, mouth open, and strode back to the kitchen. Scavenging a vase, he filled it with water, then plunked the roses in it and set the whole thing on the counter. He turned to find her watching him.
“Iced tea?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Think I’ll have some, if you don’t mind.” His mouth had gone Sahara dry. He hadn’t been half this nervous in his last Super Bowl. But then he hadn’t had nearly as much riding on it.
Moving to the fridge, he found the pitcher she always kept there and poured himself a glass. He took a big swig, then refilled his glass.
Still, she said nothing.
He planted his hands on the counter. “Katie Sara, I’m not sure how or where to start here. There’s so much I want to say. So much air needs clearin’.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re not goin’ to make this easy, are you?”
“Reiner, I don’t have a clue why you’re here.” The carefully schooled expression fell away, replaced by soul-deep sorrow. “I think we’ve already said everything we have to say to each other.”
“Uh-uh. That was the stupid me talkin’ before.” He ran a hand over his face. “I’ve been worried about you. Let’s start with your daddy’s letter.”
Her chin trembled, and she tipped her head to stare up at the ceiling, steadying herself.
Desperate to wrap his arms around her, he kept his distance. “Whatever was in there, it was your daddy’s business. It doesn’t affect you.”
“Oh, but it does.” She started talking, and the words spilled from her. When she finished, she said, “You’re the only one I’ve shared this with. No one else knows.”
Shocked, he stood quietly. “What are you goin’ to do?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My first thought was to call Mother and tell her the whole story. Make her hurt the way I did when they took Danny from me.”
She choked back tears. “That was about the same time I decided to hate Daddy. Then I realized I couldn’t. My daddy’s still my daddy. I love him.” She splayed her hands. “He made a mistake. A huge one. But then, so did I.”
Reiner moved then to close the distance between them. He wiped the tears from her face. “Katie Sara, there’s no comparin’ the two.”
She shrugged, sniffled. “Anyway, I finally decided Mother doesn’t need to know anything about Jenna. What good would it do? I was the one with questions. He was right about that. Mother never really seemed bothered by the why. It’s better to let her keep her memories of Daddy and their life together.”
“I think you’re right,” he agreed. “You’re a wise woman to let your father’s secrets stop with you. He trusted you to do the right thing. His trust was well placed.”
“It’s time to put the lies, the hurt to bed.” She turned haunted eyes to his. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Reiner.”
“Can we go out back? Sit down?”
“Sure.”
He followed her out. When he sat on the swing, she moved toward the chair. “No. Come over here by me,” he said.
“Katie Sara, I remember that afternoon at the Nut Shop. Our conversation. That night. After you left, I must’ve replayed it a million times tryin’ to figure out what went wrong. We’d had chocolate malts, then went to Rocco’s and listened to music. On the way home, we, ah, stopped over by the creek for a bit, but you had to be home by nine because it was a weeknight.” He stopped. “Got it right so far?”
“Uh-huh.”
“For all I knew, a spaceship had beamed you up. It was as if you’d disappeared from the face of the Earth. I never saw or heard from you again. And your mother— That woman’s got a heart of stone. No amount of beggin’ or pleadin’ did any good. She wouldn’t tell me a thing.”
He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face, felt the tenseness in her. “Felicity reminded me last night that you were only four years older than she is now. It made me stop and think about the people who were makin’ the decisions. A frightened, seventeen-year-old girl who had an older, wiser mother advisin’ her—and a stupid eighteen-year-old boy who didn’t know what the hell he was talkin’ about.”
He drew a deep breath. “And maybe, as hard as it is now...” His voice cracked. “Maybe then it was the right choice. We weren’t equipped to raise a kid, Ace. We were kids ourselves. You’re right. I probably would have resented him.”
His eyes burned with unshed tears. “At twenty-eight, I want my son, our son, yes. It ripped my heart out to watch him leave. But as much as I’d like to blame you, I can’t.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers.
“Reiner—”
“You need to stop beatin’ yourself up over this, sugar. Truth is, you and I, we made one hell of an awesome kid together. Then you gave him life and a wonderful home with parents who love him enough to let him spend time with us. I’d say you did far more than okay, and that our son is one lucky kid. He’s growin’ up in a home with parents who chose him. Parents who have instilled, from the look of things, some mighty good character traits in him. Be proud of him and of yourself. I am. For a seventeen-year-old kid you did incredibly well.”
“Oh, jeez.” She dug for a tissue. “I’m going to give Rudolph a run for the reddest nose in town.”
“I forgive you, Katie Sara. I forgive me.”
He said it so simply, so quietly she had to believe him.
“Now, Katie Sara, it’s time for you to forgive you.”
“I think I’ve begun to, about the same time I forgave Daddy that morning. But I needed your forgiveness.”
He laid his head back against the swing, put an arm around her and drew her close, encouraged when she didn’t resist. He bussed her cheek, then with a growl, kissed her till she had trouble remembering her name.
“I’ll apologize for a lot of things I’ve done, but that kiss isn’t one of them. I’ve missed you.”
Katie Sara drew her feet up onto the swing and curled into Reiner’s side. He draped an arm around her and pulled her closer, remembering Felicity’s warning. Don’t mess this up. She’s the one.
“We could have more children,” he whispered.
She raised her head quickly, rapping him on the chin.
“Ouch!”
“What?” The single word floated out.
“Ace, I lost you once. I can’t stand to lose you a second time.” He cleared his throat. “I know this isn’t the way it should be done. And I know this last week’s been—well... Which is why this probably isn’t the right time, either.”
“Reiner, what are you trying to say?”
“Since I first touched you, shoot, since I first saw you, you’ve been a part of me.” He ran his hand down her arm. “Felicity’s mom called this morning. She’s comin’ home. I’ll be free to go, but I don’t want to. Paradox is where I belong. Right here with you.”
She stared at him, a deep furrow between her brows.
“Oh, hell, Katie Sara, I want—” He scooted off the swing and knelt in front of her in the grass. “Katie Sara, will you marry me? Will you be my wife?”
“What?”
He stared at her. “I said will you—”
“I heard.”
“Katie Sara, you’re tryin’ my patience here.” He dug a faded blue velvet box out of his jeans pocket. “I know this isn’t much. I bought it twelve years ago with the money I made deliverin’ flowers for Mabbs’ Greenhouse. I’ll get you another, but for now—”
She shook her head.
His shoulders slumped. “I should’ve figured. Why would someone like you want me?”
“We really have to work on that esteem problem, Broderick.” She laughed and laid her hands on the sides of his face. Then she brought her lips within a breath of his. “I meant, no, you won’t get me another ring.”
She plucked the small solitaire from the box, handed it to him so he could slide it on her finger. “I want this one. The one my high school sweetheart bought me.” Tears filled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. Happy ones this time. “This means more than any flashy diamond you could buy me now.”
He shook his head. Felicity had been right again.
“Katie Sara, I love you.” Reiner brought his lips down on hers. It looked like they were going to get to play in that Super Bowl after all!