Free Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury Page A

and frustration. But he had that look he always had when he sleepwalked. “Every time I try they won’t let me.”
    Dayne hesitated. “Okay . . . now they said they’ll let you. The next time you try you’ll win for sure.”
    Katy’s heart melted. Dayne was compassionate with the child, and she realized that other than her CKT kids, she hadn’t seen him interact with children before. They’d talked about kids, but this was the first time she’d seen Dayne act like a daddy. She kept watching.
    The fear in Ricky’s eyes faded, and he yawned. His arm was still around Dayne’s neck, and now he added his other arm for a full hug. “That’s all I wanted.” He pulled back and shrugged. “But they wouldn’t let me win.”
    “They will now.” Dayne’s voice was confident, his tone reassuring.
    “I don’t have to win every time.” He blinked, and his face looked more alert, as if maybe he was waking up a little.
    “I know.” Dayne stood and took Ricky’s hand. “Let’s go back to bed.”
    Katy smiled. She pulled one knee close to her chest and watched Dayne lead Ricky across the room and around the corner up the stairs.
    After a few minutes, she heard Dayne quietly coming back down. When he came into view, he stopped and pressed his hand to his heart. “I love that kid. We get to his room, and he asked if Cody was home yet.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah.” Dayne took his place facing her on the sofa again. “I told him that Cody was still in the hospital, and we’d have to keep praying for him.” He smiled. “So the little guy yawns and says Cody’s going to be fine. Jesus already told him.”
    “He’s a sweetheart.” Katy looked at a portrait of the Flanigan family that hung on the wall near the patio door. “It’s always interesting to me how Ricky was the one who had emergency heart surgery when he was three weeks old, and now he’s the one with the most tender heart.”
    “I forgot about that.”
    “His scar goes from the middle of his back and curves around his shoulder blade to his side. He’s perfectly fine now. A real miracle boy.”
    Dayne put his arm on the back of the sofa and leaned his head against his fist. “How many kids, Katy? Two? Three?” He grinned. “Six like the Flanigans?”
    Katy laughed. “Probably not six.” They’d talked about this before, but their answers changed every time. “Jenny told me they planned on two, but God planned on six.” She raised one shoulder. “That could happen, I guess.”
    “I guess.” Dayne looked like he felt dizzy at the thought. “We could have ten, and the way God’s been with us, He’d see us through somehow.”
    “He would.” Katy reached out and took his hand. She loved that here away from Hollywood and the pace of his filming schedule, their conversations sounded like they belonged to people with perfectly normal lives. Not the insane paparazzi chase and movie contracts and filming schedules that had dominated their talks when he lived in Los Angeles.
    Katy ran her thumb over Dayne’s fingers. “As long as you get your little girl.”
    Dayne gave a slow shake of his head. “I can’t imagine how it would feel, watching you have a baby and holding my daughter for the first time. It’s something I barely let myself dream about. Especially after . . .”
    He didn’t have to finish the sentence. Katy knew he was thinking about the baby he lost, the one that had been aborted. “That moment will be special in a lot of ways.”
    “Yes.” After a few seconds he grinned. “I can only say heaven help the boy who tries to date any girl of mine.”
    Katy wanted to slide closer and kiss him, tell him she felt the same way and that—girl or boy—she could hardly wait for that day. Instead she leaned back against the arm of the sofa. “I guess we better talk about the wedding.”
    “Before we plan the nursery, you mean?” A crooked smile flashed on his face.
    “Yes. Before that. Now this wedding coordinator . . . do