Free A Family Homecoming by Laurie Paige Page A

down.”
    â€œWhat was his name?” Kyle asked.
    â€œDillon Pierce. I never liked him,” Angela said, her nose wrinkling in distaste.
    Sara pulled away from Kyle. She placed both hands over her mouth. Danielle looked on, puzzled, as Kylewatched their daughter intently. She leaned her head over so she could see Sara’s face, but the child kept her head down and her hands over her mouth.
    â€œSara is tired. I think it’s time we were getting home,” Kyle announced suddenly. He stood and offered to take Sara, but she shook her head and buried her face in Danielle’s neck.
    Danielle saw the quick flash of pain in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just…it’s not you personally,” she finished lamely.
    â€œI know. She’s wary of strangers, all strangers.”
    His smile broke her heart. She looked away, feeling sad and confused and uncertain.
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    Danielle roused from her introspection when Kyle pulled up in front of the house. The lights spilling from the windows looked inviting…like home.
    â€œWait,” Kyle said when he pulled into the garage and turned off the engine. He came around the truck and lifted the sleeping child from her arms.
    Sara woke, looked from Kyle to her, then settled her head against his shoulder and went back to sleep. Danielle quickly went ahead and unlocked the kitchen door and held it open. Kyle carried Sara to the bedroom.
    He watched while Danielle removed Sara’s coat, then her clothing and slipped warm, footed pajamas on. She saw a smile dance at the corners of his mouth for a second before his expression became unreadable again.
    â€œLet me,” he murmured when she started to lift Sara.
    He picked their daughter up and held her whileDanielle pulled the covers back on the youth bed. Sara opened her eyes when she was tucked in. She pointed to the books crammed into the headboard of her bed and gave Danielle an expectant look. A story was part of their bedtime ritual.
    â€œIt’s late,” Danielle told her. “You watched a video with Jenny—”
    â€œI’ll read her a story,” Kyle volunteered.
    There was a beat of silence while Sara looked at her father warily, then she nodded.
    Danielle didn’t have the heart to deny Kyle the moment with Sara. Besides, Sara needed to learn to trust some males again if she was ever to have a normal life. Nodding absently—she didn’t want to make a big thing of it—Danielle busied herself around the room.
    After Sara and Kyle had selected a book, he sat on the floor beside the low youth bed and began reading in his deep, pleasant voice. He liked to sing and had a fine singing voice, Danielle had discovered after their marriage, but he never used it in front of other people, only her.
    When she had asked why, he shook his head and said nobody wanted to hear his caterwauling. Later, she had realized he was shy about it, except with her.
    Her heart gave its usual hitch at memories of their former life together. She quickly gathered her nightgown and robe and went to the bathroom to change.
    If only a person could excise the past from their brains as easily as a surgeon could cut out a defective organ, she mused as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Finished, she drifted down the hall and stopped at the bedroom door.
    Kyle finished the story and closed the book. He pulled the covers up around Sara’s neck, then hesitated. Slowly, he reached down and touched her cheek with his lips.
    Danielle held her breath.
    Sara stared up at her father, their identical blue eyes only four inches apart. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a shy kiss on his jaw.
    â€œGood night, punkin,” he murmured, brushing a hand over the unruly curls spread over the pillow.
    Danielle hurried away, down the hall and into the kitchen, her heart thumping for reasons of its own. He was a hard man in some ways. There was