perched on one hip. Amanda hadn’t seen or spoken to Samantha since the night of Jason’s party, she realized in surprise.
“Oh, wow; I don’t even have to ask who her daddy is. She looks just like Cade!” Samantha exclaimed.
“She does,” Amanda agreed.
“How are you and Cade anyway?” Samantha queried.
“I haven’t seen Cade in a few years now,” Amanda admitted.
“Amanda!” Samantha’s eyes grew dark with concern.
“Hey, Mandy,” Troy interrupted and hugged her before dropping an arm around Samantha. “Did Sam tell you the good news?”
“No; what good news?” Amanda smiled at him.
“We’re getting married this fall.”
“Congratulations!” Amanda hugged them both again.
“She looks like her daddy,” Troy took Cadey-Lynn’s hand and playfully shook it.
Samantha shot him a look of warning.
“How is Cade?” Troy asked obliviously. “What?” he asked when Samantha sighed.
“I haven’t seen Cade in a few years but I am seeing someone. He’s very nice and he’s here with me today,” she let them know they didn’t have to tiptoe around her. Cadey-Lynn wiggled to get down and reached for her Uncle Trent as he passed. He reached for her and Amanda let her go.
“What happened?” Troy was frowning at her in confusion.
“My dad and Trent ran him off and I never heard from him again; he’s never even seen his daughter,” she admitted.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Troy argued.
“What doesn’t make sense?” David joined them.
“David; how are you?” Amanda offered him a hug.
“Good; I moved off to granola country; I live in San Francisco now.”
“Granola country; that’s funny,” Amanda laughed.
“Some nice but strange folks around there.”
“How are you, David?” Troy greeted his old friend.
“Good; you?”
“I’m great. Sam and I are getting married in a couple of months.”
“Hey, congratulations! I’m still waiting to meet the right woman. Now what doesn’t make sense?” David queried.
“Cade leaving Amanda,” Troy offered.
“What?” David frowned at Amanda.
“Her father and brother ran him off and she hasn’t heard from him since,” Samantha explained.
“That doesn’t make sense. I knew the night he beat the hell out of Chris that Cade was in love with you, Amanda,” David looked truly perplexed.
“Obviously we were all wrong,” Amanda shrugged. “I’ve moved on; life happens,” Amanda assured him.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Amanda,” David looked troubled.
“Thanks.”
“I see Jenny finally got her man,” David was smiling now.
“You knew?” Amanda smiled at him quizzically as Troy and Sam excused themselves to say hi to the others.
“Yeah, Jenny and I had fun together but we were both interested in other people.”
“That’s a little odd,” Amanda informed him.
“Nah, it was easier than sitting around alone,” David shrugged.
“I guess I can see that,” she mused as she recalled her own experience with Kevin.
“I know my timing is probably terrible, but I am only in town for a couple of days; could I take you to dinner?” David requested.
Amanda laughed nervously. “Wow, um,” she watched Reece approach, Cadey-Lynn in his arms and felt relief wash over her. “David, I would like you to meet Reece Foster; Reece this is David Lewis. Reece and I are dating,” Amanda explained.
“Right, sorry; I should have realized you would be seeing someone,” David nodded.
“This is my daughter, Cadey-Lynn,” Amanda added.
She watched David survey Cadey-Lynn with a frown.
“Cade left knowing you were carrying his child?” David looked confused now.
“No; he didn’t know about Cadey-Lynn,” Amanda informed him.
David shook his head, his expression confused. He glanced between her and Reece and seemed to reconsider whatever had had been about to say.
“Good luck to you, Mandy. It was nice to meet you, Reece,” David, his expression was still baffled, nodded and hurried off.
“What was that about?” Reece asked her.
“I hadn’t seen David in years; he didn’t know about everything,” Amanda shrugged.
“Did I hear him ask you out?” Reece was watching her closely.
“Yeah,” Amanda reached for her daughter. “I see Cadey-Lynn made it back to her favorite person,” she teased to change the subject. The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly enough but her encounter with David had left her shaken. That night she wrote:
Cade,
Today several of my old classmates met in the park for an unofficial reunion; Chloe organized it. I hadn’t seen several of them since that night Jason invited us all to his grandparent’s place. I still smile when I think about that night. It was so nice to see everyone today and yet it was difficult too. Many of them met Cadey-Lynn for the first time. Not a single person asked who her father is; not one. Instead they all seemed puzzled that you were gone. It’s reassuring to know I’m not the