A Mother for Amanda by Anna Schmidt

Author:Anna Schmidt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2000-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Greg lay in bed and watched the slow arrival of dawn. He hadn’t had a lot of sleep. In fact he’d noticed that ever since Beth Baxter’s arrival in the park, sleep had been in short supply for him.

He considered their encounter at the waterfall and the hike back to town. By the simple act of taking her hand and not letting go, he had changed everything. No longer could he pretend to ignore the way his heart tripped every time he saw her walking across the compound or heard her laughter. No longer could he dismiss the fact that he was always watching for her, watching out for her. No longer could he postpone dealing with the fact that he was attracted to her in a way that went beyond mere interest or casual friendship.

“Morning, Dad.” Amanda plopped herself onto the foot of his bed.

“Morning, kiddo.”

“Are we going to church today?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think Beth will be there?”

She always was. She always sat in the third row right where he could see her clearly as he sat in the choir.

“Probably so.”

Amanda pulled one of his pillows around and lay down. “I like her—Miss Baxter,” she said as she studied the ceiling. “I didn’t think I was going to and then I did. Funny, huh?”

“That’s the way things go sometimes,” Greg replied but his mind was on Beth.

“She always looks so pretty, especially when she’s in church, don’t you think so, Dad?”

Greg grabbed Amanda and began tickling her. “I think that if a certain young lady doesn’t get back to her room and start dressing, we’re going to be late.”

Amanda giggled and broke away from him. “I’m going,” she said, still laughing. “Hey, Dad, how about pancakes?” she called.

He got up and made her pancakes, and continued to think about Beth. He couldn’t get the woman out of his mind.

Of course, any idea of an actual romance between them was destined to be heartbreak for somebody. Beth was strong-willed. She was also a firm believer, and that was the real problem.

She would only tolerate his nonbelief for so long before trying to change him. That would lead to arguments. Then she would leave. And what of Amanda, getting more and more attached to her? If he did anything that might encourage Amanda’s obvious hope that something might develop between them, Amanda was bound to end up brokenhearted.

Weeks earlier when Beth had surprised him with her quiet perception and understanding of his point of view at the book discussion group, he had permitted himself to consider the possibility of getting to know her a little better.

That night in her place when she had baked cookies and cared for his daughter, comforting her when he wasn’t there to do it, he had settled on friendship as the best course. He needed to stick with that. Good-buddy-no-strings friendship. That was the ticket.

He poured batter in nearly perfect circles in the hot skillet and smiled.

The woman had certainly gotten herself in a fix yesterday with that elk.

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