Miracles and Dreams by Mary Manners

Author:Mary Manners [Manners, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 9781611162509
Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group
Published: 2013-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

6

“Is that her?” Jack stood and walked over to the refrigerator, taking a photo from the collage Misty had tacked together with magnets. His fingers trembled as he studied the image of the little girl, her contagious smile captured in time. The child’s long, black hair echoed his texture and Misty’s length. Her eyes mirrored his while her button nose had a gentle slope, just like Misty’s. “Is this Allie?”

“Um…” Misty hesitated. Her fingers clenched and unclenched as if itching to snatch the photo from him. “Yes, that’s her.”

“She’s beautiful.” Jack’s gut tumbled. “My daughter.”

“Quit saying that.” Misty leapt from the chair, jarring the table so coffee sloshed over the rim of her mug and splattered the file folders scattered there. “Having a child doesn’t make you a father, Jack. Being there for the child…that’s what makes a man a father.”

“So, now you’re an expert?” He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, holding tight to the photo as a storm swept through, threatening to rip his insides apart. A huge, bushy-haired black cat wandered into the room to see what the commotion was all about. He took one look at Jack and then wandered over to Misty, plopping onto the floor and curling into a fuzzy ball at her feet. “Come on, Misty. Give me a break.”

“Give me a break, Jack. Five years—almost six—of changing diapers, soothing nightmares, reading bedtime stories—” Misty tore a healthy wad of paper towels from the holder beside the sink, “—and helping with homework, to name just a few things, has made me an expert.”

“Ouch again.” Jack rubbed his eyes, turned slightly so she couldn’t see the tears that burned. Outside the bay window, he noticed toys scattered along the overgrown lawn. The space could use a decent play set and maybe a sandbox. Did little girls like to play in sandboxes? “How many daggers do you have in that pouch you’re carrying, Misty? You can’t know how much it hurts to hear this.”

“No, I can’t.” She sopped up the spilled coffee and lobbed the soiled towels into a trash can tucked beneath the sink. “And you can’t even begin to know how much it hurt the day you left here—just walked away without a second thought.”

“That’s not true. I’ve thought about you every day.” His heart fractured in a way no spackle could mend. “And the only reason I didn’t think about Allie is because…well, I didn’t know about her.”

“Yeah, right. Nice cover.” Misty grabbed her mug, marched to the coffeemaker and filled it again. “Does the lie ease your conscience?”

“I’m not lying, Misty.” Jack turned back, his gaze capturing hers. “I’ve never lied to you. I didn’t know about Allie. Really, I didn’t.” He tugged a letter from his pocket.

“That’s the letter I wrote you. So you did get it. I’m not hallucinating.”

“Yeah, I got it all right…in the mail yesterday. It’s the first I heard…the first I knew.”

“That can’t possibly be true.” Misty shook her head vigorously. “I came to see you the night before you left for California.

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