Raw Edges by Sandra D. Bricker

Author:Sandra D. Bricker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Fiction
Published: 2013-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

When “Crazy Love” came up as the next selection on the CD, the three of them were seated on the floor around the coffee table playing their second hand of Old Maid.

Gray looked across at Sadie and noticed how mature she looked as she inspected the cards gathered in her small hands. When she suddenly glanced up at him, her focus broke and she gasped.

“Hey, I think I remember this song, Daddy.”

“It was your favorite lullaby of all,” he told her. “C’mon. Dance with your old man.”

Sadie dropped her cards, lunged to her feet, and circled the table. He lifted her gently and set her feet down on top of his, holding her by both hands as he swayed to the soft rhythm of the song.

“You have your mother’s smile,” he told her as she grinned up at him.

“She had a good smile,” she commented, and Gray’s chest pinched in reply.

“Yes, she did.”

He looked over the top of Sadie’s head as Annabelle pushed up to her feet. She hiked up her long dress slightly and sat down on the sofa, folding her legs underneath her and leaning back into the cushions. Her greenish eyes glinted with moist emotion as she looked on, and she brushed her hair away nervously when she noticed that he’d caught her watching.

When the song ended, Sadie continued to sway for a moment. “Let’s dance to another one, Daddy,” she finally said.

“That’s all the dancing for tonight,” he replied. “Why don’t you go on upstairs and get into your pajamas. I’ll come up in a few minutes.”

“Maybe Annabelle could come instead?”

Gray searched Annabelle’s eyes for a long moment before she finally nodded. “I could do that.”

“Then kiss your old man goodnight.”

Sadie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek so firmly that it ached a little. “Love you, Daddy.”

“I love you, too. Be sure and brush your teeth.”

Once she thumped up the stairs, Gray knelt down on the other side of the table and helped Annabelle in her effort to clean up after the evening’s game-fest.

“I had a really good time tonight,” she said. “I know I wasn’t officially invited, but I really am happy I came.”

“I am, too.”

She tucked the cards into their tattered box and sealed it before handing them over.

“Do you remember where her room is?”

Annabelle nodded and rose to her feet.

“I’ll brew some decaf and pull up the quilt data on my computer,” he said. “Come on into my office whenever you’re ready.”

Once she’d followed Sadie’s bedtime trail up the stairs, Gray roamed into the kitchen. Instead of making coffee, he stood in front of the window and peered out into the dark backyard, pondering the queer way that music could transport a person backward. He could almost smell the sweet, gentle fragrance of Jenna’s glossy auburn hair . . . just like in those days of dancing in the dark together to soft strains of Van Morrison and Norah Jones.

A different kind of music clinked against his heart now

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