That she’d loved him didn’t bear thinking about. At least he and Sarah were closer than ever. But she needed more than a father. Sarah needed a mother. Someone to read her stories, to play with her. Someone like Meredith. It made him feel warm to think of Meredith doing those things with his daughter. In time she might even get over the past and start looking ahead. She might fall in love with him all over again.

His body reacted feverishly to that thought, and as quickly his mind rejected it. He didn’t want her to love him. He felt guilt for the way he’d treated her and he still wanted her, but love wasn’t a word in his vocabulary anymore. It hurt too much.

Letting her get close would be risky. Meredith had every reason in the world to want to get even with him. He scowled. Would Meredith want revenge if he could bring himself to tell her the truth about why he’d been so rough with her?

Not that he needed her, he assured himself. It was only that Sarah liked her and needed her. But Meredith wouldn’t come to the house. She wasn’t going to let him, or Sarah, get close to her, and that was the big hurdle. How, he wondered, could he overcome it?

He worried the thought for two days and still hadn’t figured out a solution, when he had to fly to Dallas on business for the day. But fate was on his side.

While he was gone, Mrs. Jackson’s only living sister had a heart attack and a neighbor called asking Amie to come to Wichita, Kansas, and help look after her. That left Mrs. Jackson with nobody to look after Sarah. She couldn’t take the child with her while she tried to care for a heart patient. She called Elissa, but she and her husband and child were out of town. Bess wouldn’t be able to cope with the angry little girl. That left only one person in Jack’s Corner who might be willing to try.

Without hesitation, Mrs. Jackson picked up the phone and called Meredith Calhoun.

Chapter 5

Sarah Jane was almost dancing with pleasure when Meredith came in the door. She ran to her, arms outstretched, and Meredith instinctively picked her up and hugged her warmly. Maternal instincts she hadn’t indulged since Blake had sent her running came to the fore, making her soft.

“Now don’t you give Meredith any trouble, young lady,” Mrs. Jackson cautioned Sarah Jane. “Meredith, this is my sister’s phone number, but I’ll call as soon as I know something and tell Mr. Blake what’s going on. I hope he won’t mind.”

“You know very well he won’t,” Meredith said. “I’m sorry about your sister, but I’m sure she’ll be all right.”

“Well, we can hope, anyway,” Mrs. Jackson said, forcing a smile. “There’s my cab. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Bye, Mrs. Jackson,” Sarah called.

She turned at the door and smiled at the little girl. “Goodbye, Sarah. I’ll miss you. Thanks again, Merry.”

“No problem,” Meredith said as the housekeeper left.

“We can play dolls now, Merry,” Sarah said enthusiastically, repeating the nickname she’d heard for Meredith as she struggled to be put down. She then led Meredith by the hand into the living room. “Look what my daddy bought me!”

Meredith was pleasantly surprised by the array of dolls. There must have been two dozen of them, surrounding a huge, whimsical tan teddy bear who was wearing one of Blake’s Stetsons on his shaggy head.

“He’s supposed to be my daddy,” Meredith said, pointing to the bear, “since my daddy’s away. But actually he’s Mr. Friend. My old Mr. Friend got lost, so Daddy bought me a new one.”

Meredith sat down on the sofa, smiling as Sarah introduced every one of her new toys to her older friend.

“I dropped the pretty hankie you gave me inside the fence,” Sarah explained excitedly, “and a big horse almost ran over me, but my daddy saved me. He yelled at me and I cried and hid in the closet, and he came to find me. He said I mustn’t ever do it again because he liked me.” She laughed. “And then he went to the store and brought me ever so many toys.”

Meredith was feeling cold chills at the innocent story. She could imagine how Blake had felt, the fear that had gripped him. She remembered so well the day he’d had to rescue her from a wild horse. She wondered if it had brought back memories for him, too.

Sarah looked up at Meredith. “My daddy has an awful temper, Merry.”

Meredith knew that already. She remembered his temper very well. A lot of things could spark it, but embarrassment, fear, or any kind of threat were sure to ignite it. She could imagine how frightened Sarah had been of him, but apparently toys could buy forgiveness. She chided herself for that thought. Blake could be unexpectedly kind. It was just that he seemed so cold and self-contained. She wondered if Nina had ever really touched him during their brief marriage, and decided that it was unlikely.

Meredith got down on the floor with Sarah, grateful, as they sprawled on the carpet, that she’d worn jeans and a yellow blouse instead of a dress. She and Sarah dressed dolls and talked for a long time before Meredith got the small girl ready for bed, tucked her in and helped her say her prayers.

“Why do I have to say prayers?” Sarah asked.

“To thank God for all the nice things He does for us.” Meredith smiled.

“Daddy talks to God all the time,” Sarah said. “Especially when I turn things over or get hurt—”

Meredith fought to keep her expression steady. “That’s not what I meant, darling. Now you settle down and we’ll talk.”

“Okay, Merry.” She moved her dark head on the pillow. “Merry, do you like me?”

Meredith looked down at the child she might have had. She smiled sadly, touching Sarah’s dark hair gently. “Yes, I like you very much, Sarah Jane Donavan,” she replied, smiling.

“I like you, too.”

Meredith bent and kissed the clean, shiny face. “Would you like me to read you a story? Have you any books?”

The small face fell. “No. Daddy forgot.”

“That’s all right, then. I can think of one or two.” She sat down on Sarah’s bed and proceeded to go through several, doing all the parts in different pitches of her voice, while Sarah giggled.

She was just in the middle of “The Three Bears,” doing Baby Bear’s voice when Sarah sat up, smiling from ear to ear and cried, “Daddy!”

Meredith felt her face burn, her heart start to pound, as he came into the room, dressed in a gray business suit, sparing her a curious glance as he handed something to Sarah.

“Something from Dallas,” he told the child. “It’s a puppet.”

“I love him, Daddy!”

It was a duck puppet, yellow and white, and Sarah wiggled it on her hand while Blake turned to Meredith with a cool smile.

“Where’s Amie?” he asked.

She told him, adding that Amie had promised to phone as soon as she knew something. “She couldn’t get Elissa, and there wasn’t anyone else, so she asked me.”

“We had lots of fun, Daddy!” Sarah told him. “Merry and me played dolls and watched TV together!”

“Thank you for taking the time,” Blake said, his whole attitude antagonistic. He’d done nothing but think about the irritating woman for days. And there she sat, looking as cool as a cucumber without a hint of warmth in her cold gray eyes, while his body had gone taut and started throbbing at the very sight of her.

Meredith got to her feet, avoiding him. “I didn’t mind. Good night, Sarah,” she said, running a nervous hand through her loosened dark hair to get it out of her face.

“Good night, Merry. Will you come back to see me again?”

“When I can, darling,” she replied absently, without noticing the reaction that endearment had on Blake. “Sleep tight.”

“Go to sleep now, young lady,” Blake told his daughter.

“But, Daddy, what about the monsters?” Sarah wailed when he started to turn out the light at the door.