Never Again Good-Bye by Terri Blackstock Read Free Book Online Page A

took a deep, shuddering breath and looked fully at her daughter laughing with her teammates, and realized her whole world hung on the smile of a small child. “I’m so nervous.”
    Wes followed her gaze, his own eyes glossing over, as if he didn’t know which side to join in the battle of his feelings. “I’m a little nervous myself,” he admitted. The wind ruffled his mahogany hair and made him look more endearing than she wanted to acknowledge. His full lips seemed to droop at the corners, and he stroked a knuckle across them.
    “All this,” she said, glancing back at the child, “and she probably won’t even like me.”
    “She’ll like you,” he said in a quiet voice, but the words of assurance seemed to leave him without any for himself.
    He looked back toward the children who were breaking up into smaller groups. “I’ll go get her now.”
    “No!” The word came too abruptly but not as quickly as the dive of her stomach. She caught his hand.
    He stopped and gave her a long, searching look that stripped her soul bare. “Why?”
    “Because I’m scared.”
    Wes’s throat convulsed, and he drew a breath that didn’t seem to come easily. “It’ll be all right, Laney.”
    The words comforted her more than anything else he could have offered, but his hard expression fought with the compassion in his voice.
    “Will you stay?” she entreated anxiously.
    “If you want me to,” he said. “Just take it easy. I’ll go get her.” He stood up, but Laney grabbed his hand.
    “Wes? Are … are you going to tell her who I am?”
    His eyes were tormented when they meshed with hers, and he raked a hand through his hair. Finally, he whispered, “Not yet.”
    There was hope, she thought. He wasn’t ruling it out forever.
    But as Wes approached his daughter, he wasn’t sure whether the little crumb of hope he’d thrown her was a form of self-betrayal or simple weakness.
    “Daddy, they cheated,” Amy told her father.
    Wes slid his shaky hands into his jeans pockets and feigned a smile. “You always say that when you lose. Try being a good sport.”
    “I was being a good sport until they started cheating. They don’t even know the rules.”
    Wes tousled her hair and wished that a meaningless game in the park was all Amy had to bring her down. “It’s just a game, short stuff. Next time you can cheat.”
    A little smile broke through Amy’s scowl. “You’re not going to let me cheat.”
    Wes gave a shrug. “Well, maybe not. But that glimmer of hope might tide you over until next time.”
    Amy giggled and set her hands on her hips. “I’m not dumb.”
    Wes gave a mock gasp. “You’re not ? Then I’m going to have to rethink my parenting strategy a little.”
    “Daddy, you’re so silly.”
    Wes feigned indignation. “Silly? I’ll show you silly.” With that he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, tickling her until she squealed and twisted with delight.
    “Let me down, Daddy!”
    Wes gave in and let her down, her giggles lightening the weight of his burden a little. “Boy, you’re heavy. What have you been eating?”
    “Your cooking,” Amy said with a smirk. “And it’s made me lose weight.”
    “Don’t insult my culinary talents, or I’ll feed you oatmeal for the rest of the week.”
    Amy grimaced, and Wes stooped down and glanced toward Laney, who seemed to be loosening up as she watched the bantering with a look of poignant anticipation.
    “Come on, short stuff. I want you to meet that lady over there.”
    Amy took his hand and followed him toward Laney. Wes watched Laney lean forward and give a shaky smile, a smile that touched his heart despite his efforts to ignore it.
    When they were close to her, Amy offered her an astonished smile of recognition. “They let you out of jail, huh?”
    Laney’s face went blank, and she glanced up at Wes in a panic.
    “For taking pictures,” Amy continued. “Did they make you do push-ups?”
    Wes rubbed his jaw and gave a slight