polished to blind.
Huge windows, floor to ceiling, went unadorned with curtains, exposing an expansive view of the rolling, extensive fields and barns below.
Going down the steps, Victoria stopped to admire the hand-woven Indian blankets that were spread along the tops of the sofas and hung on the walls. A warm room. Very warm. Love was here in every nook and cranny. Pictures in small Victorian frames snugged family members. Knickknacks, expensive and not, sat here and there on end tables and shelves.
Huge brass lamps with night-lights in the bases sat on shiny cherry tables.
www.samhainpublishing.com
79
Joey Light
Katie was getting bored. Victoria could tell because she had quit jabbering and was chewing on the hem of her skirt, which she had pulled into her mouth.
Victoria bent down to her and asked, “Where’s Katie’s room?”
The child brightened and ran up the steps from the living room, into a hall, and up a wide sweep of staircase, the banister just calling for Victoria to slide down. She remembered doing that at home every time she thought the coast was clear…and getting caught more times than enough.
Katie’s room was large, too, with windows opened to the front drive. Lacy curtains billowed in the breeze. Beneath a ton of stuffed animals stood a double bed with a ballerina spread and a canopy on top. A miniature table with chairs was set with tiny teacups and a pot. Raggedy Ann patiently waited for her playmate to return and join her. Toy boxes, overflowing to the ridiculous, lined the walls papered in Disney characters.
Katie jumped on her bed and pushed a switch on a box nearby. Victoria recognized the voice. It was Wes singing “Hush Little Baby.” A surge of passion pushed through her heart. What a lucky little girl to have a father so attentive and loving. And his voice was beautiful. And the fact that he had actually taken the time to record this, to be sure his little girl had part of him even when he couldn’t be there, left her mind reeling. She had thought she was beginning to know this man. She hadn’t even pierced the surface.
“When Daddy can’t be here at bedtime, I play this. It’s not as good as when he’s here though. Daddy has to work sometimes.” She was tapping the toes of her black patent leather shoes together.
“All daddies have to work, Katie. But I know he’s here with you when he can be. He loves you very much.” Victoria sat on the bed beside the sweet little girl.
80
www.samhainpublishing.com
High-Riding Heroes
“Does your daddy work all the time?” Katie asked, large eyes round and deep brown.
Victoria picked up one of the stuffed animals, a fat fuzzy bear with black eyes and a sleepy smile. Hugging it to her without even realizing it, she told Katie, “My daddy is dead, sweetheart. He died when I was a little younger than you. So see, you’re a lucky little girl. Even though Daddy has to work, you can always see him later.”
Mrs. Cooper watched from the doorway. It did her heart good to see Katie warming up to this woman. Wes had never mentioned her but she had seen the way her son looked at this one. And she liked her. Hope sprang in her aging heart. Maybe soon Katie would have a real family.
“I don’t have a mommy.” The child was tiring and she laid her head back on the animals and stuffed a thumb in her mouth. “Would you be my mommy?”
The child’s words nearly moved Victoria to tears.
Mrs. Cooper saved Victoria from trying to come up with an answer to that one. “Come on, little one. Let’s show Victoria the rest of the house. We have guests to entertain and cookies to put faces on.”
Katie made a move to take Grandma’s hand, but before she did, she reared up on her knees and threw both arms around Victoria’s neck and laid a sloppy, wet kiss on Victoria’s cheek. It knocked the wind out of her. Such an abandoned display of affection for a virtual stranger. This child missed her mother more than Wes could know. She
Huge windows, floor to ceiling, went unadorned with curtains, exposing an expansive view of the rolling, extensive fields and barns below.
Going down the steps, Victoria stopped to admire the hand-woven Indian blankets that were spread along the tops of the sofas and hung on the walls. A warm room. Very warm. Love was here in every nook and cranny. Pictures in small Victorian frames snugged family members. Knickknacks, expensive and not, sat here and there on end tables and shelves.
Huge brass lamps with night-lights in the bases sat on shiny cherry tables.
www.samhainpublishing.com
79
Joey Light
Katie was getting bored. Victoria could tell because she had quit jabbering and was chewing on the hem of her skirt, which she had pulled into her mouth.
Victoria bent down to her and asked, “Where’s Katie’s room?”
The child brightened and ran up the steps from the living room, into a hall, and up a wide sweep of staircase, the banister just calling for Victoria to slide down. She remembered doing that at home every time she thought the coast was clear…and getting caught more times than enough.
Katie’s room was large, too, with windows opened to the front drive. Lacy curtains billowed in the breeze. Beneath a ton of stuffed animals stood a double bed with a ballerina spread and a canopy on top. A miniature table with chairs was set with tiny teacups and a pot. Raggedy Ann patiently waited for her playmate to return and join her. Toy boxes, overflowing to the ridiculous, lined the walls papered in Disney characters.
Katie jumped on her bed and pushed a switch on a box nearby. Victoria recognized the voice. It was Wes singing “Hush Little Baby.” A surge of passion pushed through her heart. What a lucky little girl to have a father so attentive and loving. And his voice was beautiful. And the fact that he had actually taken the time to record this, to be sure his little girl had part of him even when he couldn’t be there, left her mind reeling. She had thought she was beginning to know this man. She hadn’t even pierced the surface.
“When Daddy can’t be here at bedtime, I play this. It’s not as good as when he’s here though. Daddy has to work sometimes.” She was tapping the toes of her black patent leather shoes together.
“All daddies have to work, Katie. But I know he’s here with you when he can be. He loves you very much.” Victoria sat on the bed beside the sweet little girl.
80
www.samhainpublishing.com
High-Riding Heroes
“Does your daddy work all the time?” Katie asked, large eyes round and deep brown.
Victoria picked up one of the stuffed animals, a fat fuzzy bear with black eyes and a sleepy smile. Hugging it to her without even realizing it, she told Katie, “My daddy is dead, sweetheart. He died when I was a little younger than you. So see, you’re a lucky little girl. Even though Daddy has to work, you can always see him later.”
Mrs. Cooper watched from the doorway. It did her heart good to see Katie warming up to this woman. Wes had never mentioned her but she had seen the way her son looked at this one. And she liked her. Hope sprang in her aging heart. Maybe soon Katie would have a real family.
“I don’t have a mommy.” The child was tiring and she laid her head back on the animals and stuffed a thumb in her mouth. “Would you be my mommy?”
The child’s words nearly moved Victoria to tears.
Mrs. Cooper saved Victoria from trying to come up with an answer to that one. “Come on, little one. Let’s show Victoria the rest of the house. We have guests to entertain and cookies to put faces on.”
Katie made a move to take Grandma’s hand, but before she did, she reared up on her knees and threw both arms around Victoria’s neck and laid a sloppy, wet kiss on Victoria’s cheek. It knocked the wind out of her. Such an abandoned display of affection for a virtual stranger. This child missed her mother more than Wes could know. She
Similar Books
