Free The Secret She Kept by Amy Knupp

of my being.”

CHAPTER EIGHT
    J AKE MADE HIS WAY UP the stairs to Savannah’s place late Sunday afternoon, knowing full well she didn’t want to see him. Several days had passed since he’d learned Allie was his daughter, and he’d been fixated on all the years they’d missed. He shared the blame for that, but only to a certain point. He still thought Savannah had had plenty of opportunity to track him down and tell him he had a daughter. He couldn’t deny that continued to tick him off, and probably would for a while.
    He knocked on her hallway door, hearing a TV on inside and sensing movement. But no one answered. He knocked again and heard Savannah’s voice just before she opened the door.
    “You need a peephole,” he told her. “What if I happened to be a serial—”
    “If I’d had a peephole, I wouldn’t have opened up,” she said in a low voice so the kids didn’t hear.
    Logan was watching cartoons in the living room, but Allie was nowhere in sight.
    Savannah hesitated, then smiled—a forced one, he would guess—and moved back to allow him to enter. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
    Her hair was piled sloppily on top of her head and she wore an old sweatshirt and sweatpants with a hole in one knee. Her eyes were weary and had shadows under them, as if she hadn’t slept for a couple of nights. He stepped past her and looked around. “Hey, Logan.”
    The boy turned his attention from the TV and smiled when he saw him. “Hey, Jake! How come you’re here?”
    “Logan, that’s not polite,” Savannah said to her son. She turned back to Jake. “But I’m dying to know as well….”
    Allie emerged from a different room then and her face lit up when she recognized Jake. He couldn’t deny the power her smile had over him. His daughter . And she seemed to like him.
    “Hi,” she said somewhat shyly, but she moved closer.
    “What are you drawing today?” he asked. “More horses?”
    “I’ll show you. Wait a minute.” She went back to the bedroom.
    Savannah appeared nervous, still hanging near the door. “Why’d you stop by, Jake?”
    “I thought maybe we could all go somewhere for dinner.” He glanced toward the kitchen but didn’t smell any food cooking. “Did I catch you in time?”
    Allie came out of the bedroom again just as he spoke. She cheered and pulled at her mother’s sleeve. “Can we, Mom?”
    Savannah eyed her daughter. “I already have meat thawed.”
    “Please?”
    “You can save it for tomorrow. It’ll keep,” Jake said.
    He studied Savannah’s face and could tell she didn’t want to go. But if she said no, she’d be the bad guy, and she knew it. Jake was sure he’d hear about it later, but he didn’t care. Getting an earful wouldn’t be enough to keep him from spending time with his daughter.
    “I’d have to take a shower,” Savannah said. “I smell like kitchen cleaner.”
    “We’ll wait.”
    Allie jumped up and down and said, “Yay!” Then she held out her drawing to Jake. It was of a saddle propped up against a barn wall.
    “You drew this yourself?” he asked with a smile, knowing she had.
    “I used a picture from a magazine.”
    “I really like it, Allie.”
    Savannah leaned in to view the drawing upside down, and Jake was shocked that Allie hadn’t shown her yet. He remembered that when he’d been Allie’s age, he’d always rushed to show his mom his latest work—until she’d died. Now that he thought about it, that was when he’d stopped drawing altogether.
    “It’s wonderful, honey,” Savannah said, but Allie didn’t respond.
    Jake spotted the hurt that flickered over Savannah’s face. She met his gaze then and he braced himself.
    “Why don’t you go put this on your bulletin board, Allie.” As soon as their daughter skipped off, she moved closer and spoke quietly. “You don’t have to manipulate me. I’ve made up my mind to let you get to know her—as long as I’m around, too.”
    “I’m glad to hear that. It’ll