teeth sinking into the soft fullness of her bottom lip in what he recognized as one of her nervous gestures.
Colin waited for her response, silently daring her to deny what was now so painfully clear.
“This is—” she cleared her throat “—Uncle Shaun’s brother.”
Uncle Shaun’s brother.
The words were a double-edged sword—slashing through him with the denial of his parental relationship and the startling realization that his brother had been privy to the deception.
The child tipped her head back to study him more carefully. “Are you my uncle, too?”
At another time, Colin might have been impressed by her deductive reasoning. Now, however, he was too stunned to speak.
“Colin, can you, uh, just give me a minute? Please.”
He heard the plea in Nikki’s voice, the desperation.
He wanted an explanation and he wanted it now. After more than five years, he didn’t want to wait another minute. The numbing shock that had settled over him earlier had been supplanted by bubbling hot fury. He wanted to shout, to rage, to demand. He wanted to shake Nikki, as he’d been shaken by this revelation. But he knew that the worst thing he could do right now was confront his ex-wife about her lies in front of their daughter.
He nodded tersely.
“Come on, Carly.” Nikki put an arm around the child’s shoulders, pointedly ignoring her earlier and still unanswered question. “Mommy will tuck you back into bed.”
Colin watched them walk back into the house together, unable to tear his attention away from his little girl.
He’d never given much thought to the possibility of having a family. But faced with the indisputable evidence that he had a child, there was no doubt in his mind that he needed a chance to be her father. A real father—the kind of dad he’d never had.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure he’d get that chance. He was on the run, hiding out from someone who wanted him dead. How could he pursue any kind of relationship under those circumstances? How could he expect to be her father when he might have to leave town without a moment’s notice?
This time he did hear the creak of the screen door, and he turned as Nikki came back out onto the porch. Tension radiated from her slight frame in waves, but she faced him defiantly. “Her name’s Carly. She’s four-and-a-half years old.”
“She’s mine,” Colin said.
It was a statement rather than a question, but Nikki nodded anyway. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She looked at him, her eyes filled with sadness and regret, but she didn’t respond.
He slammed his fist against the wooden post, and Nikki flinched. “Dammit, Nicole. Why didn’t you tell me?”
He caught a glimpse of tears in her eyes before she averted her gaze.
“I think I deserve some answers.” Colin’s voice practically vibrated with tightly restrained anger. He didn’t care. He figured he was well within his rights to be angry, and the fury was more tolerable than the fear that had followed him across the country and easier to deal with than the inexplicable longing to take her in his arms.
Nikki drew in a deep breath, nodded stiffly again.
“It’s been more than five years, and you never said a word. Not one-single-goddamned word.”
A single tear slipped onto her cheek, trailed slowly downward. “I’m sorry. I never wanted you to find out this way.”
“Or maybe you never wanted me to find out at all.”
She shook her head. “I wanted to tell you—I was going to tell you.”
“You’re five years too late.”
“No.” She managed to glare at him through her tears. “You’re five years too late.”
There was just enough truth in her words to infuriate him. “Don’t try to blame this on me. You should have told me as soon as you found out you were pregnant. Or didn’t you know at the time that it was my baby?”
He wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but her already pasty cheeks paled further.
“There was never any doubt,” she said softly. “But if that’s what you think of me, then maybe it doesn’t matter what I did or should have done.”
“Maybe it doesn’t,” he agreed callously.
Nikki managed to hold back the tears until Colin had stormed off. She listened to the slam of the car door, the gunning of the engine, the squeal of tires as he pulled out of the driveway. She waited until his vehicle was out of sight before she went back inside, then she tiptoed up the stairs to check on her sleeping daughter.
She brushed the soft curls back from her forehead, then pressed a gentle kiss to one rosy cheek. Carly didn’t even stir. Whatever unpleasant dreams had disturbed her slumber earlier had obviously been banished, and she slept deeply now, contentedly.
Of course, she had no idea that her life as she’d always known it was about to change.
Or maybe not.
Colin had been shocked to learn that he had a child; he was furious that Nikki hadn’t told him about their daughter. But maybe, once he had some time to think about it, he’d decide there was no place in his life for a child. Maybe this revelation would inspire him to leave town as unexpectedly as he’d returned—forever this time.
Nikki sighed, knowing in her heart that although Colin’s disappearance might be the easiest solution to the problem, it wasn’t what she wanted for Carly. Despite the emotional scene on her porch, she was glad he’d come back, relieved he finally knew.
There had been so many times over the years when she’d wanted to call him, so many times she’d wanted to share her feelings—her hopes and dreams for their child, so many milestones she’d wished he’d been a part of.
She slipped from the room, closing the door softly behind her, and for the first time since Carly was born, she allowed herself to cry for everything she and Colin had lost. Everything their daughter had missed out on by not having her daddy in her life.
When Arden came home a short while later, Nikki’s tears were finally spent. Her cousin dropped a copy of the Fairweather Gazette on the coffee table before sitting beside Nikki on the sofa. “I guess I don’t have to ask if you’ve seen him.”
Nikki shook her head.
“What happened?”
“He showed up here and Carly decided to make an impromptu appearance.”
Arden winced. “Not the best way he could have found out.”
“I know. And I know you warned me.” For the past five years, Arden had been trying to convince Nikki
