Celina was tickled to death to find out we’d been invited to cook out at her father’s house. My mother, on the other hand, didn’t take it so well.

“After all the trouble that boy has already caused you, and you’re running right back into it. Honestly, Brinkley, it’s like you don’t even try to think.”

“Whatever, Momma. You don’t know all the details, and believe me when I tell you, I’m sparing you by not giving them to you. I’ll just say this. You’d be wise to take it easy on Dane James. He’s not the awful person you think he is.”

“I didn’t say he’s an awful person. I just said he’s brought you enough pain, don’t you think?”

“Dane never brought me pain, Momma. You and Alton did that just fine without him.”

With that, I turned on my heel and walked out of the room. Half an hour later, there was a knock at the front door. I knew it was Dane. I didn’t have to look at the clock to know that it was three on the nose.

I answer the door. He’s wearing khaki shorts, a forest green shirt, and a smile that turns my stomach inside out, even though it’s not for me. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You two ready?”

“Let me get Celina.” I turn to invite him in and go get my daughter, but I nearly roll over her when I do. She’s right behind me, all smiles. “Oh, well, I guess we’re ready then.”

Dane steps back and Celina runs out the door. I throw a courtesy goodbye to my mother over my shoulder and am not the least bit surprised when I get no response.

When I close the door, Dane asks, “Hard feelings?”

I roll my eyes. “Very.”

I smile as I walk behind him and Celina and listen to what they’re saying.

“I’ll give you three guesses what I’m making and the first two don’t count.”

“Something on the grill!” she responds with no small amount of sarcasm, albeit the teasing kind.

Dane glances back at me then says to our daughter with a wink, “Got a smart mouth like your mother.”

“She got all her good traits from her mother. Everything else came from your gene pool, Dad.”

Dane beams. That’s the only way I can think of to describe the ecstatic brilliance that breaks over his face. My heart shines with the reflection of it. I don’t entirely feel like I’m a part of this, because this is so very much between Dane and our daughter, but it thrills me nonetheless. For Celina. And for Dane. Two people I’ve loved since I’ve known them.

I hear him tell Celina, “To be honest, I’m kinda glad you got your looks from her. I’m not a pretty dude. I’m handsome as hell, you know, but these legs could never look good in a dress. Your mom’s on the other hand…”

“Ewwww! You’re as bad as she is.”

Dane laughs. Celina laughs. I laugh. He doesn’t see it, but his comment makes me so happy. It’s a compliment, and considering how upset he is with me, that feels like a huge step forward.

We climb into Dane’s truck. I let Celina sit in the front. She and her father chatter all the way to his house while I reflect on the conversation I had with my daughter this morning when I explained that I’d told Dane he was her father. She was over the moon that he was already so interested in her.

“What did he say?”

“He wanted all the details. He wants to help however he can.” She said nothing, so I continued. “He wanted to know all about you, what kind of baby you were, what you were like growing up. And he loved that you have a birthmark on your belly.”

At that, Celina raised her head and looked at me. Her lips curved upward and her eyes were wide with delight. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. He said that was ‘so cool’.”

That garnered a genuine smile. “I think he’s cool.”

“You think?”

She nods. “Yeah. And he’s smart.”

“He’s definitely smart. That’s where you get it.”

“What else do I get from him?”

And so I repeated for my daughter all the things that I’d told Dane. I acquainted her with her father, and with all the similarities they share, and I placed the first stitches that will knit my child and the love of my life together.

Even now, thinking back on it, I can’t ever remember feeling such great peace. Not all at once at least.

When Dane pulls up in front of a beautiful two-story log cabin, Celina leans down to look up at it through the windshield. “Wow!”

I’m thinking the same thing, but I keep it to myself.

Celina bolts out of the truck as soon as it comes to a stop, and Dane comes around to help me out of the back. He offers his hand, which I take, and he stares right into my eyes as I step out and onto the ground. His eyes aren’t quite as cold, aren’t quite as brown. They’re a little warmer, a little lighter. I know it’s mostly to do with Celina, but it still gives me hope for us.

Dane takes my daughter and me on a grand tour of his impressive home. It’s big and well-done, right down to the luxurious appointments around every corner, but it’s also understated. It isn’t gauche or ostentatious. It’s quietly stunning, and I love it instantly.

There is a formal living room and dining room just beyond the foyer. All the bedrooms except the master, he says, are on the second floor. He points at the top of the gracefully winding staircase, but doesn’t take us there.

We pass through the state-of-the-art kitchen with its warm woods and pale greens to the den, which is clearly where Dane lives and breathes. It has touches of use and comfort on every surface, from the worn taupe leather of the sofa to the remote controls lined up on the dark wood table. From there, we go outside to an intimate backyard. Tall cyprus trees provide privacy while still looking lush and blending with the landscape, and a koi pond bubbles soothingly opposite the patio.

“Frisbee before I start cooking?” Dane is looking at Celina when he asks, who nods enthusiastically. It’s the first thing that makes my antennae twitch.

“Don’t overdo it, babe.”

She gives me a breezy, “I won’t, Mom,” and then she’s running off to the center of the yard with her father.

I take a seat at the round glass-topped table and watch them. A profound sense of serenity and of rightness wraps its arms around me in a tight hug of emotion. I watch half of their play through a thin veil of tears.

The two play and laugh effortlessly, like they’ve known each other forever. And, seeing them, no one in their right mind would question their genetic bond. Celina moves with the same easy grace as her father. They’re like two pieces of the same person, and I wonder if Dane can see it. I wonder if he can sense it.

My phone rings as I look on. It’s a number I don’t recognize, so I ignore it. This time is all about my child and her father. Nothing is more important.

Until I get home at nearly eleven p.m. and realize that my mother is gone.

And that the call was from the hospital.