She hadn’t anticipated getting into this before she’d even had her first cup of coffee. In fact, she hadn’t intended to get into it with her daughter at all, at least not until the matter was more settled with Jordan himself.
“When?”
“That’s hard to say, sweetie. There are some things we have to work out.”
“Like what?”
Kelly thought of all the doubts that had chased through her mind. None of them were things she could share with her daughter. “Just things,” she said evasively.
Dani studied her intently and apparently concluded Kelly still wasn’t convinced that Jordan would make a proper daddy. “I like Jordan,” she informed her mother firmly. “I think he would make a very good daddy.”
Kelly wondered if her daughter had insights into Jordan that hadn’t come to her yet. “Why is that?” she asked.
“He brings me candy.”
Kelly refrained from labeling the candy what it was—bribery. Hadn’t he tried the very same tactic on her? She’d already told Jordan half a dozen times to cut it out or he’d be paying Dani’s dental bills.
“Don’t you like Jordan?” Dani inquired worriedly. “You used to be bestest friends, that’s what you said.”
“Most of the time I like him very much,” Kelly conceded.
“More than Daddy?”
Ah, now there was a mine field if ever Kelly had seen one. She had prepared an answer to that long ago, knowing sooner or later that rather plaintive question or one very similar was going to come up. Dani was too precocious not to ask difficult questions about the man who had sired her but spent very little time in her life.
“Your father is a fine man,” she said, almost by rote. “He and I just weren’t well suited. We were very young and we made a mistake getting married.”
Dani contemplated that for a while, then turned a troubled look on Kelly. “Was I a mistake, too?”
Tears sprang to Kelly’s eyes. She wrapped Dani in a hug and squeezed, peppering her worried little face with kisses. “Never, not in a million years. You are the very best part of my life. I wanted you more than anything.”
“Daddy, too? Did he want me more than anything?”
Kelly cursed the man she’d once been married to for putting her on more tricky turf. Paul had never been inclined to have children, had agreed to Kelly getting pregnant only after frequent arguments. It had been yet another mistake on Kelly’s part. She had thought Paul would love being a father, once he’d gotten over being terrified by the idea of it. She’d been convinced he would take to it. He hadn’t. It was one reason she’d watched Jordan’s behavior with Dani so closely, one reason she had fretted over how well the two of them would get along. Now, thankfully, she knew there was no comparison.
All of which didn’t give her an easy answer to Dani’s question.
“Your father loves you very much,” she said, forcing a note of conviction into her voice that Paul didn’t deserve. She wouldn’t be the one to ruin his relationship with his child. He was doing that very nicely all on his own. She hoped someday he would wake up and realize how much he’d missed and suffer regrets for the rest of his life.
“Then why doesn’t he ever come to see me?” Dani asked.
“Because he’s very busy.” The excuse came automatically. She’d been uttering it since the day of the divorce. And for a long time before that, for that matter.
“Jordan’s busy, too,” Dani stated. “He has a great big company to run and he comes. He’s been here a whole week now. He even reads me a bedtime story every single night. Daddy never does.”
Kelly thought of her ex-husband’s difficult childhood, a childhood he’d used to excuse his need for excess, for more money and more women, just to prove his own worth.
“I don’t think anyone ever read to your father when he was little,” she said, trying to give Paul the benefit of the doubt one more time. “He doesn’t realize how important it is.”
Dani shot her a confiding look. “Jordan says he likes to read to me.”
Kelly had noticed that herself. After his initial reservations, Jordan had seemed to enjoy the quiet evening time with Dani as much as she always had. “Does he now? Did he say why?”
“Because he likes all those stories, but grown-ups look silly reading fairy tales to themselves. He says he’s going to teach me to read one all by myself for the times when he’s not here.” She turned her dark, velvet blue eyes on Kelly. “I really, really hope you make Jordan my new daddy fast.”
In an unfortunate bit of timing, Kelly heard the screen door open just then.
“I really, really hope so, too,” Jordan chimed in, winking at Dani, who bolted from the table and threw herself into his arms. They both regarded Kelly hopefully.
Kelly might have been able to hold out against Jordan’s powers of persuasion for a little longer, just to assure herself that the decision she’d reached in the dark of night made sense in daylight. Teamed up with her daughter, though, he was an irresistible force. She could do a lot worse than Jordan Adams. In fact, she already had.
She lifted her gaze and met his eyes and saw something there that stunned her—uncertainty. Jordan was vulnerable where she was concerned. It was hardly a declaration of undying love, but it was a start, something to build on.
“Set the date,” she said.
He didn’t bat an eye. “Next weekend,” he said, his serious gaze never wavering from hers. “We’ll fly to Vegas.”
What an appalling idea! Kelly regarded him indignantly. “Not on your life. This may not be a traditional marriage, but we are going to have a traditional ceremony. We’ll have the service and the reception right here.”
Jordan turned and cast a dubious look around the house, which for all of her hard work was undeniably shabby in spots. “Here?” he
