Free And Then Forever by Shirley Jump Page A

life.
    Darcy remembered having the same conversation with her mother. Her mother had shown her a picture of a handsome man in an army uniform, a guy with a toothy smile and short dark hair, and explained that they’d met when he’d been on leave, had a brief affair, and then he was gone. He’d died in a training exercise a year later, and her mother had been left to raise Darcy alone. There were times when Darcy wondered if maybe her mother drank because she was so overwhelmed by solo parenthood. If there had ever been a great love in her mother’s life, Darcy suspected it was that man, given the way her mother’s face softened and her voice grew wistful whenever she spoke of him.
    Somehow, Darcy needed to explain Emma’s lack of a father in her life. But there just didn’t seem to be a way to do that without lying. And that was one thing Darcy never wanted to do with her daughter.
    Two hours later, Nona arrived, and Darcy gathered her things for work. Emma ran up to her mother, pressing her body into Darcy’s. “I want you to stay home tonight, Mommy. We can watch Frozen . And have lots of popcorn.”
    “I would love that, monkey, but I really have to get to work. Tomorrow morning, we can do that first thing.”
    “Have popcorn for breakfast?”
    “Sure. Why not?” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to Emma’s hair, inhaling the strawberry scent of her shampoo. It was the scent that Darcy carried in her heart, the one that most reminded her of the day she’d first held Emma, and kissed her tiny, wrinkled newborn body.
    “Okay.” Emma gave Darcy one last hug, tight and sad.
    “You know what, Emma?” Nona said, stepping in and giving Darcy an I understand, don’t worry smile. “Mrs. Watson left her cat home while she went to visit her new grandbaby. Want to go over there with me and feed her?”
    The idea of a cat distracted Emma, and she scampered off to find her shoes, her mood lighter, a smile back on her face. “Thank you,” Darcy said to Nona. “I’ll try not to be too late. There’s a chicken in the crock-pot for dinner.”
    Nona looked over her shoulder, then turned back to Darcy. She lowered her voice and her eyes filled with concern. “I wanted to tell you that she’s been asking about her father over the last few days. Apparently, there’s a father-daughter picnic coming up at school, just before the end of the year. And Emma wanted to know if I could find her daddy and have him bring her.”
    “That’s where all those questions came from this morning.” Darcy ran a hand through her hair and let out a sigh. She’d known this day would come, but now that it was here, it gave Darcy a moment of panic. What would she say? How could she handle this? And what was she going to tell Emma for all the future daughter-father events that her father would miss?  “Maybe I can ask Whit to go. He’s been more of a father to her than anyone else.”
    Though there were a few who suspected Kincaid might be Emma’s father, the only ones who knew for sure were those closest to Darcy—Whit and Grace, and Jillian. Over the years, the rumors had faded and people moved on, and forgot that one crazy summer the Foster son crossed over to the other side of the island. But now Darcy wondered if his reappearance would ignite the rumor mill again. Yet another reason not to go running around town with Emma.
    “Or you could ask her real father to take Emma to the picnic. Considering he’s practically next door.” Nona’s gaze softened when she read the panic in Darcy’s face. “I’ve been as close to that little girl as I was to my own two girls. Not a lot of people have eyes that color.”
    Then Darcy remembered Nona had worked for the Fosters one summer. She’d been Kincaid’s sister’s tutor that year, something about helping Abby improve her SAT scores so she could go to Brown. Of course Nona would realize it. Put that together with her dating Kincaid that summer, and the rumors became fact. Those