Laurel picked the photograph up from the table, willing her hand not to tremble, and forced herself to study it. Jase was right. His daughter did look older than she had any right to, but that was how fifteen-year-old girls always looked, even when she herself was in high school. Probably back to caveman times. Lolly was lovely, just as pretty as Jase was handsome. Butter-yellow hair swooped down across her forehead, almost covering her right eye, while her pouting lips and lazy-lidded eyes were studiously sexy. Her eyebrows were long, like her father’s—Hollywood eyebrows.
But did she have her father’s smile? Jase didn’t smile often in the old days, but when he did, it was like the sun coming out—a wide, brilliant, heartbreaking grin, perhaps more effective because it was so rare.
Well, from the looks of him, he had a lot more to smile about these days.
Laurel raised her eyes from the photo and held it out to him, this time careful to avoid all contact of the flesh. He’s married. Off limits.
“If she does show up, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
Jase put up a refusing hand. “No, keep it. I wrote my number on the back. Show it to your parents too, in case she comes by when you’re not here.”
Laurel froze.
“Mama and Daddy are dead.” She kept her voice steady as she placed the photo on the little table again. “I’m living here alone now, and I’m between jobs, so I spend most of my time at the house.”
Jase’s mouth opened and closed. She’d caught him by surprise. Apparently he hadn’t kept up with the goings-on in his old home town. Who could blame him? He’d been all but ridden out on a rail.
“I’m sorry about that. I’d meant to come back here sometime to visit with your dad. Reverend Ed’s support meant a lot to me. He’s the only one who believed in me through that whole mess, you know. I guess I thought he was eternal.”
Laurel shrugged. “Nothing lasts forever.” And Daddy, her wonderful Daddy, had died in spirit long before his body finally gave out. She studied the philodendron in the wicker stand beside her guest. How long had it been since she’d watered the local vegetation? And why on earth had she focused on the stupid plant? Because she didn’t want to think about Daddy.
Jase exhaled softly. “I thought maybe you were here visiting your parents, but you and Dave are living in this house now? Aunt Maxie said you two—”
“Dave Carson and I were divorced three years ago,” she interrupted. “And we didn’t have any children. I’ve been teaching music for the past six years at Lynnwood Elementary, a new school over on the east side of the river, but my contract wasn’t renewed. I’m trying to sell the house so I can get a fresh start somewhere else.”
He leaned forward to lay his big hand gently on hers. His voice was soft and comforting.
“I’m sorry for that too. It’s hard to start over in a new place.”
Her eyelids quivered. What was this man doing to her? She refused to let herself dissolve into tears just because Jase Redlander had gotten her libido going, then offered her sympathy when no one else had.
Withdrawing her hand, she directed the subject back to Jase’s truant daughter. “What makes you think Lolly will come here?”
“Her history class did a unit on personal roots last semester, and she’s been after me ever since, wanting to know about my family.” He paused as if trying to decide what to say. “And her mother’s.”
His eyes avoided her questioning glance and wandered around the room.
Laurel held her breath. Had he noticed the Greek statues were gone? Daddy would have called it false pride, but she didn’t want anyone to realize she was pawning jewelry and selling off family heirlooms to buy her bread and butter. Having the FOR SALE sign in front of the house was different—the more people who knew she was planning to leave Bosque Bend, the better. Maybe then they’d get off her back.
She glanced at the baby grand in the corner next to Daddy’s office. There was no way to take anything that large with her when she moved. She’d tried to sell it—discreetly, of course—but it turned out that old pianos were a drag on the market. Her hands flexed. The Steinway was so out of tune that she could hardly bear to play it anymore, but how could anyone not love a piano?
Jase began again. “I cleaned up my father’s memory as much as possible for Girl Child, but had to do some pretty fast talking when it came to her mother. I tried to keep things vague, but she added two and two and came up with five.”
“Five?”
“She left a note. She’s come to Bosque Bend to find you. She—she thinks you’re her mother.”
Laurel’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. What? Had she heard him right?
“Me? Why? Your wife—”
His gaze held steady. “I’m not married and never have been. Lolly’s mother abandoned her at birth.”
Laurel felt like she was treading water. “You’re a—a single father?”
He nodded.
She reached for a lifeline. “But…usually the mother takes the baby.”
“She wasn’t the maternal type.”
The tide was rising. “But I still don’t understand. Why me? Why does your daughter think I’m her mother?”