A Daddy for Nate by Karen Sandler

Author:Karen Sandler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town, redemption, secret baby, abusive childhood, emotional read, compelling read, fathers sacrifice
Publisher: Karen Sandler

Chapter 9

After their encounter this afternoon, Nina could have come out in a burlap sack and still sent Jameson’s fantasies into overdrive. She looked so touchable in the soft blue knit dress she wore, he had to shove his hands into the pockets of his slacks to keep them off her.

Now with her sitting across the restaurant table from him, Jameson could barely think straight, let alone focus clearly enough to order dinner. The menu might as well be in Aramaic instead of its mix of Spanish and English.

He picked something almost at random, then once the waitress left, he slid his water toward him and gulped down half the glass. The ice water sent a chill through him and he was tempted to dump the remainder on his head to cool his jets. Instead he set the glass back on the table and wiped his hand dry on his paper napkin.

Nina lifted her gaze to his, her expression serious. “About your grandmother...”

That introduction was twice as effective as a bucket of ice water. Jameson set aside his crumpled napkin. “Yeah?”

Her lips pursed with irritation at his unhelpful obtuseness and her dark eyes flashed. “You agreed to talk about this.”

He had, although he’d just as soon his grandmother disappear off the face of the earth. “What do you want from me, Nina?” He knew the answer, but couldn’t seem to suppress a perverse urge to stall.

“I want Nate to meet her.”

He forced himself to relax his jaw. “She’s not someone I want around my son.”

“When she left you behind...maybe she thought your brother could adapt because he was a baby. But you were older and to pull you from your home—“

Indignation burned like acid in the pit of his stomach. “She knew what kind of man my father was.”

“Did she? Have you ever asked her about it?” She saw the answer in his face. “Maybe it’s time you made peace with her. Maybe it’s time you let go of the past.”

“The past made me what I am now.” The words seemed to strafe his throat as he spoke them. “The past is what sent me to prison.”

He saw the flash of fear in her soft eyes at the reminder. Knowing Nina, she’d persuaded herself to block his manslaughter conviction from her mind. How else could she live with him? Allow him near her son?

He could have cleared away that fear with just a handful of words. The truth wouldn’t frighten her as much as his reputation did. Yes, he wanted her to understand the extent of his grandmother’s sin, and he might be able to bolster his case with the truth. But he hated giving his grandmother any credit for his redemption.

Nina reached across the table and gripped his hand. “I don’t care what you think of her, how much you hate her. Nate deserves a chance to meet her, to get to know her on his own terms. If she’s as cruel as you say she is, he’ll find out soon enough.

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