With an apologetic, shy smile the girl shifted her gaze onto Creed. A flush crawled over her cheeks. “I didn’t know you weren’t alone.”
Mindy slid to the edge of the chair, feeling a heavy pounding of realization in her chest. She stared at the pretty girl as thickness lodged in her throat. She’d know Creed’s child anywhere and she should because the child looked so much like Jane.
“Livvy, I’d like for you to meet an old friend of mine. This is Mindy Sage,” Creed offered. “She’s Rusty’s daughter.”
“Hi,” Livvy gave a bashful wave.
Mindy stood shakily. She could feel Creed’s curious gaze on her as she absorbed meeting his daughter—his other daughter. “Hi. Livvy is such a pretty name.”
“Thank you,” Livvy answered. “It’s short for Olivia.”
“You look like your father.”
The teen looked from Creed and back to Mindy several swipes. “I guess.” She shifted in her flip flops. “Where’s grandma, Dad?”
“She’s running errands. Do you need something?” Creed stood, hooking his thumbs in his front pockets.
“I just need to ask her something.” The teen glanced down at the floor for a quick second.
“Can I help?” Creed asked.
“You don’t know how to make cookies.”
“I know how to make cookies. Maybe I can help?” Mindy offered. The girl looked so much like Jane that Mindy wanted to hug her. She blinked back moisture in her eyes, feeling caught in a swirl of emotion. The weight of guilt grew like a boulder in her chest.
Livvy blinked, hesitating. “I don’t have a recipe.”
“That’s okay. We don’t need one.”
“Well, if you want…”
“I love baking. It’s one of my favorite things to do, besides figure skating, of course.”
“You ice skate?” Appreciation spread over Livvy’s face.
“I started when I was younger than you. Are you thirteen? Fourteen?”
She gave a shaky nod. “Fourteen.”
“I’ll understand if you want to wait for your grandma—”
“No. Well, I’d like your help. Unless you don’t want to.”
“I won’t ever turn down a chance to bake cookies. What’s your favorite?” Mindy rounded the coffee table and she and Livvy started for the kitchen.
“Chocolate chip.”
“Do you want to make chocolate chip? Or were you wanting to try peanut butter or oatmeal? We can even try snickerdoodle.”
“You can make all those?”
Mindy laughed. “Yes. My daughter and I would spend hours in the kitchen baking.”
“What’s her name?”
“Jane. She’s eighteen and she started her freshman year in college.”
After an awkward hesitation, the teen shrugged. “Grandma usually makes everything.”
“I have a recipe for a special chocolate cookie if you’d like to try. They’re my daughter’s favorites.”
“What do we need to make them?” Livvy slipped off the rubber band she had around her wrist and pulled her thick hair into a high messy bun. The action made Mindy stare for a long moment. Remembering how her daughter did the same before she’d bake. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine.” She listed the ingredients they’d need while Livvy went into the pantry to retrieve them.
She came back carrying an armload of ingredients and set them on the cutting board island.
“Looks like we have everything we need.” Mindy looked over the items. “Would you happen to have an extra rubber band for my hair?”
“Sure. I’ll grab you one.” The teen raced up the back stairs.
Mindy preheated the oven then grabbed milk and butter from the refrigerator. Hanging from a turtle magnet was a picture of a Creed holding Livvy when she was a baby. Mindy’s heart pounded against her ribcage. She could barely breathe and tears filled her eyes.
“Can I help with anything?”
Alarmed by the voice behind her, she swiveled and met the curious gaze of Creed who was standing in the doorway. She forced air into her lungs, hoping he didn’t see straight through her. “The picture…you look very happy. I didn’t know you had a child…a daughter.”
“You haven’t been to Cooper’s Hawk in a long time,” he answered softly.
“Dad! You can’t be in here. We’re making surprise cookies,” Livvy said when she returned, shooing her father back out into the living room. “Found one.” She handed over the elastic.
Hair up, hands washed, aprons on, they started on the cookies.
Livvy measured the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl, “I know who you are.”
Mindy looked at the teen’s profile. “You do?”
She gave a jerky nod. “You’re in the picture that my dad keeps in his drawer.” She tucked her bottom lip in as she fixated on folding the wet ingredients into the dry.
Livvy’s divulgence made Mindy suck in a breath. Creed kept a picture of her. A tingling sensation skipped through her. “Your dad and I, well, we used to be very close.”
“We used to be also,” Livvy admitted.
“You’re not anymore?” Mindy cleared the dirty measuring spoons from the workspace and placed them into the dishwasher.
The long hesitation warned Mindy that Livvy might refuse to answer.
“He works a lot. And he doesn’t understand girls. How were you close to him when he doesn’t get us at all?”
Mindy smiled. “Believe it or not, your dad was my best friend. He was about the only one who did get me. I don’t think you’re the only teenager who thinks that their parents don’t understand what they’re going through. When my Jane was your age, she told me all the time that I didn’t know what it was like to be a teen.”
“Really? You seem very nice.”
“Thank you. I too used to tell my dad all the time that he didn’t appreciate how girls ticked.”
“My grandma lives here with us. She has since my mom left.”
“Do you see her often?”
“She’s an actress,” Livvy said with exaggerated enthusiasm. “She’s on TV. She works a lot too and says she can’t get away right now. She told me she
