Chapter 9
Cash stared out his office window but didn’t notice the beautiful sunny day or that a car had just pulled into the parking lot. These past few days since Whitney’s charity event had been the worst of his life. And the dark shadows beneath his eyes showed the tortured disbelief that she could have kept his daughter from him for seven years. Why would she do that? That wasn’t the Whitney that he knew and loved. What happened to that honest, levelheaded young woman of yesterday? Maybe she never really existed. Maybe he never really knew her at all. Tormented by conflicting emotions, part of him wanted to demand an answer, and the other knew how useless that was. She’d tried to contact him a few times, but he’d refused her calls.
He didn’t turn around when his door opened, or even when he heard Dixie’s voice saying, “There’s something you need to know.”
It wasn’t until she said, “It was your mother, bless her heart, who was responsible for Whitney not telling you about Mattie,” that he spun his chair around.
“Is that true?” He gave her a hostile glare.
With her hands on her hips, she confronted him. “Of course it’s true. Your mother threatened to ruin Whit’s business. So what was she to do, raise a child without an income or a roof over her head? Eve was afraid if you knew you had a daughter that you’d come running back here and your life would be destroyed. Guess she figured she knew what was best for you.”
His brain was in tumult, trying to comprehend what he was hearing. “This is all my mother’s fault.” Anger roiled inside him like a dam about to burst.
“Look, you can deal with your mom later. What you should do right now is go over to Whitney’s. She’s having a party for Mattie. You need to be there. That little girl shouldn’t go through one more birthday without her father.”
Dixie was right. He’d been so wrapped up in his emotions that he hadn’t even realized it was Wednesday.
“What about Whitney? Do you think she’ll mind if I’m there?” he asked, grabbing his keys off the desk.
Dixie let out an exasperated sigh. “I hope this is the last time I have to play mediator for you two. She’s crazy in love with you, just like you are her. Now stop wasting time. Get over there and show her some sugar.”
* * * *
Whitney had just finished putting the candles on the cake when Clarice started barking and racing around the patio.
Mattie clapped her hands together. “Dixie must be back.”
Whitney had forgotten to get ice cream, so when Dix offered to go get it, she didn’t argue. She already had enough to do as it was. However, when the good-natured redhead returned, she wasn’t alone. Cash was with her. Whitney’s mind spun with bewilderment, and all she could do was stare.
Mattie yanked on her sleeve. “Look, Mommy! It’s the man from your party. Who is that man? He looks a lot like me. We have the same color hair and the same color eyes.” Mattie scrunched up her face as she studied him, and it was quite evident that she was perplexed.
Cash walked over to her and got down on his knees, taking both of her chubby little hands in his. “That’s because I’m your father.”
Mattie’s eyes grew wide as saucers. “You are?” She looked over at Whitney, whose eyes were misted with tears. “Then where’ve you been? If you’re my daddy, aren’t you supposed to be married to my mommy?”
Whitney gasped, but she was even more shocked at the tenderness in Cash’s expression, and when he said, “Yes, Mattie I am, and your mommy and I will be taking care of that very soon,” her heart sang with delight.
“Yay!” Their daughter jumped up and down. “But can we celebrate my birthday first?”
Dixie stepped up and took Mattie by the hand. “Yep, we sure can, and let’s start by getting some bowls for the ice cream.”
When they disappeared inside the house, Cash got up, and in one forward motion, Whitney was in his arms. She relaxed, sinking into his embrace, and was conscious of where his warm flesh touched her. Her skin tingled at the contact.
“I meant what I said about us getting married. That is, if that’s okay with you,” he whispered into her hair.
She put her arms around his neck. “What do you think?”
Sunlight glimmered over his handsome face like beams of golden radiance. “I think from now on, no more secrets, no more putting work before us, and no more being apart…ever.”
Whitney couldn’t agree more, and for the first time in years, she was fully alive and blissfully happy. She offered him her lips, and his kiss sent new spirals of ecstasy through her. The past was forgotten and the future an open door. One the three of them would enter together as a family.
The End
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