Her Secret, His Child: A Little Secret by Tara Quinn (rosie project .txt) 📕

For an intelligent man, he was really pretty stupid.

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

He'd spent the last four days holding Jamie at arm's length when he should have been trying to hold her close, instead. How could he ever hope to salvage anything from this mess if he didn't try?

He still didn't have any answers—only an inkling that he shouldn't be searching for them alone. Unless that was how he wanted to end up. Alone.

"Daddy, I think Mommy's feeling sad. Could you help make her better?" Ashley pulled on his collar.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked quietly.

"Her smile isn't working so good."

Out of the mouths of babes… ' 'And you think I can fix that?"

Ashley nodded. "Daddies can fix things. Kayla says so."

"Then I'll try my best. Okay?" he asked the child. His four-year-old was clearly smarter than her degree-totin' father.

"That's good, Daddy."

Chuckling, Kyle set Ashley on her feet inside the front door. He could smell dinner cooking—the savory aroma of wonderful things he couldn't identify. "Where is Mommy?" he asked his precocious daughter.

"Right here." Jamie came from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel, and Kyle's day suddenly seemed that much brighter.

Early Saturday morning, so early Ashley and Kayla were still in bed, Karen came knocking at Jamie's back door.

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

"I saw your kitchen light come on," she said as soon as Jamie had let her in.

"We're driving into Denver today. Kyle's going to be here soon." Jamie smiled as she noticed her friend's glowing eyes.

"What's so funny?" Karen asked, her brows drawn together. "You've seen me in my robe before."

"You look happy."

Karen's face broke into a wide smile, too, as she nodded.

"You told Dennis about the baby when he got home last night."

"Yep."

"And?"

The two women moved in unison to tend to the coffee Jamie had already started. Each with a steaming cup in hand, they stood leaning against opposite counters. Grinning like adolescents.

"Can you believe it?" Karen asked, taking a quick sip. "The idiot's been hoping for another baby for over a year. He just didn't want to pressure me."

"I can believe it."

The other woman looked down, blushing. "He says he loves my body like this."

"I knew he would." Jamie nodded, still grinning. All was well with her vicarious family again.

"And the only reason he quit praising my cooking and stuff around the house was that he thought his praise was upsetting me."

Jamie took a sip of coffee. ' 'Was it?''

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

"Yeah." Karen nodded. "I thought he was humoring me."

"He loves you too much to do that."

"I know." To Jamie's amazement, and delight, Karen blushed again. Her friends must have had some night together.

"He made me feel a lot better about things," Karen confessed, taking another sip of coffee. "About myself. He thinks the crafts I do are great, said he couldn't learn to do them if he had years of lessons."

"I don't doubt it. After all, I saw him try to repair that lawn furniture last summer. You had to throw it out."

Karen laughed delightedly, then ran some potential baby names by Jamie, laughing again as she reported some of Dennis's more obscure suggestions.

"Cornelius?" Jamie repeated the last one. "Was he serious?"

"Yeah, and I can just imagine what the kid's nickname would be."

"Corny?" Jamie guessed, laughing. "Obviously, naming that baby is something we'll have to do when Dennis is out of town."

"Then it'll have to be quick," Karen set her nearly empty cup on the counter. "He's putting in for a job he's just been offered at the head office in Denver. Says he wants to be home for doctor visits and midnight feedings this time around."

"That's wonderful!" Jamie set her own cup down and gave Karen a big hug. And felt only a little

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

jealous that life was working out so perfectly for her best friend.

With his resolution of the night before still in mind, Kyle collected Jamie and Ashley just after Kayla had left early Saturday morning. Jamie had suggested a family outing and in spite of the hour, she was all ready for their trip into Denver to attend the Family Fun Festival. She was wearing a lovely off-white pant suit, slacks with a long tunic jacket that belted at the waist. He felt a little underdressed in his black jeans and yellow oxford shirt.

Having had no idea what a Family Fun Festival entailed, Kyle was rather impressed with the more than three hundred booths set up, row upon row, in a large park somewhere in Denver. He'd never been to the area before, wasn't sure he'd be able to make it back there without Jamie's directions, but he liked what he saw.

' 'Let's go there!'' Ashley cried, pointing at some colorful balloons before he'd even parked the T-Bird.

"We'll see it all, honey, as long as you can hold up," Jamie told the child.

Kyle finally found a place and parallel-parked in one try. He wondered if his ladies were impressed with his driving prowess.

"I wanna have my face painted!" Ashley announced.

Jamie turned around and grinned at her daughter. "How do you know they even have face-painting here?"

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

Ashley pointed out the rear of the car. "'Cause that little boy has his face painted."

Okay, so driving wasn't big with them. Never mind. "Can daddies have their faces painted, too?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Ashley hollered at the same time he heard Jamie say, ' 'Not if they want to walk beside mommies."

As Ashley was about to dart off to six different booths at once, Jamie suggested they start at the beginning and try to work their way around the whole park. Kyle liked that idea best. With Ashley bouncing up and down at his feet, he paid the small fee for the three of them to enter the park, then followed his two festival experts inside.

"Look, Daddy," Ashley said, grabbing his hand. "There's a emergency man. Mommy told me about them. Wanna know what she said?"

"Sure."

She tugged on his hand in her hurry to share with him.