Beneath a Southern Sky - By Deborah Raney Page 0,70

become so out of control.

She lifted her head and listened for Natalie’s wails. She couldn’t hear the sound of crying any longer, and she wondered how long she would have to sit there before Cole would come after her. He owed her an apology, but she wasn’t sure she could ever forgive him.

She wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, then stood up and brushed off the seat of her jeans before quietly opening the door to the kitchen. The house was grey in the late evening shadows—and still, as though no one was home.

She flipped on the light over the kitchen sink and washed her hands, just to make some noise. There was still no sound from either Cole or Natalie. Curious now, she tiptoed down the hallway and peeked through the open door of Natalie’s room. It was dark in there as well, but she could hear her daughter’s deep breathing. Breaths of slumber, with the occasional shuddering of one who had cried herself to sleep.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that Cole was sitting in the rocking chair, cradling Natalie against his chest. His back was to Daria, and he rocked slowly, deliberately, and stroked Natalie’s tiny back in a soothing rhythm, never stopping. His right cheek rested atop the little girl’s head, and Daria could smell the salty mingling of sweat and tears and sleep.

The scene wrenched Daria’s heart. Natalie had forgiven her daddy. The thought caught her up short. Her daddy. What Cole had told Jack Camfield was right—he was Natalie’s father in every sense of the word. Why had she suddenly become so possessive of their daughter? Why had his strict discipline angered her so intensely?

The rocking chair creaked as Cole rose carefully, trying, she knew, to get Natalie into bed without waking her. As he turned toward the crib, he saw her leaning against the doorjamb, and he looked at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read in the semi-darkness.

He kept his hand on Natalie’s back until her breathing grew steady again, and then he motioned for Daria to follow him from the room.

In the hallway, he reached for her tentatively, and when she didn’t push him away, he took her face in his hands—gently, but with an urgency she understood fully—and brought his own face close to hers. “Daria, I’m sorry. That got ugly, and I put you in the middle of it. Please forgive me,” he whispered.

She wanted to hang on to the anger she’d felt. She wanted to hear him say that the whole fiasco was his fault, yet she knew that wasn’t entirely true, so she said nothing.

“Will you forgive me?” he repeated, brushing a strand of hair back from her temple.

“We need to talk, Cole.” In spite of her desire to nurse her grudge, she felt its hard edge softening.

He took her hand and led her to the living room, pulling her down on the sofa beside him. “Okay, let’s talk.”

While he listened, she poured out all her anger, all her doubts, and especially her chagrin at the fact that the blowup had occurred in front of the Camfields. “You couldn’t have handpicked anyone worse to humiliate me in front of, Cole,” she moaned.

At that he bristled. “I could say exactly the same thing to you, Daria. From day one those people have made me feel unworthy to be Natalie’s father. I can understand why it might be hard for them to see me with their granddaughter, but I don’t deserve their resentment. There is nothing I want more than to be a good dad to Natalie. And I don’t think I’m being unreasonable in hoping that Nate’s parents might even feel grateful that under the circumstances I’ve made Natalie’s and your life a little happier, a little more secure. I admit that I took my frustration out on Jack and Vera. That wasn’t fair after they drove all this way. But I truly felt it was important that we not give in to Natalie.”

Daria sat silently, refusing to look at him, mulling his words over in her mind.

After a few minutes he spoke again, “I am sorry, Daria. I was wrong. And I’ll call Jack and Vera and apologize to them.” He paused a beat, then muttered, “Much as it will pain me.”

She gave him a tiny smile.

“Oh, Cole,” she said finally. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so focused on myself that I didn’t even think about how this