Jillian Hart - Heaven Knows

“I sure did. He slept at the foot of my bed every night and watched over me while I slept.” Alexandra sighed, softening a little at the rare good memory from her childhood, and secured the seat belt. “I miss him to this day. When I was eleven, we moved to a different house and couldn’t take him with us, so I had to leave him with the neighbors.”

“I bet that made you real sad.”

“It did.” Alexandra swiped an unruly lock of brown hair behind her ear, looking down at her scuffed tennis shoes. She couldn’t help noticing Hailey’s brand-new ones, already scuffed, with bright purple laces. “Why don’t you tell me about your dog?”

“Don’t got one. Daddy is really mean and won’t let me have one.” Hailey grinned.

“That does sound mean.” Alexandra never knew it was so easy to tease.

John’s dark gaze warmed with mild amusement as he lifted one thick-knuckled hand from the steering wheel to ruffle his daughter’s unruly hair. “Alexandra, don’t get the wrong opinion of me. Hailey isn’t quite old enough for the responsibility of taking care of a dog. She still can’t pick up her room every day.”

“Can, too.” Hailey’s chin jutted out. “I don’t got a lotta time. I’m very, very busy.”

Alexandra stifled a chuckle. “Busy, huh? I bet a pretty girl like you has a full social calendar.”

“Yep. I got swimming lessons and ballet lessons and piano lessons, ’cept I’m not so good at that, but Gramma says I gotta keep practicing my scales, even if I hate ’em.”

“Wise woman, my mother.” John found his gaze straying from the road again and in Alexandra’s direction. “You can see how lonely a dog would be waiting for Hailey to get done with all those lessons.”

“I’m not taking your side.” She shook her head, scattering those rich brown locks that seemed shot full of light. “No way. I’m sticking firmly with Hailey. A girl needs a dog of her own. It’s one of those rules of life.”

“Like death and taxes?”

“Exactly. I’m so glad you understand.”

“Daddy didn’t have a dog when he was little.” Hailey leaned close to whisper. “Don’t ya think that means he’s gotta have one now?”

“Makes perfect sense to me,” she whispered back.

“You’re getting me in trouble, Alexandra.” John guided the big pickup around a curve in the road. “Have pity for a poor beleaguered dad.”

“Yeah, you look like you have it tough.” She didn’t feel an ounce of pity for him—only admiration. For the obviously comfortable and good family life he had. His daughter didn’t sit quietly, afraid to make too much noise. No, Hailey wasn’t afraid to sparkle. The affection between father and daughter was clear.

No, John didn’t have it tough. From where Alexandra sat, she figured he had everything important in life.

Everything she’d never had.

“Hey, enough about us.” John cut into her thoughts. “Tell us where you’re headed once you get your car fixed.”

Alexandra tensed. It was a perfectly innocent question. She knew that. John didn’t mean any harm. She knew that, too. He couldn’t know he was asking the impossible. She couldn’t talk about where she’d been and never where she was going. She had to leave her past behind, and lying was the only way to do it.

The story she’d been rehearsing since that first frightening night on her own was right on the tip of her tongue, but it felt wrong. She couldn’t do it. Not to this man and his daughter, who were being so nice to her.

So what did she say? Her stomach clenched as tight as a fist. Simply thinking about where she’d been sent panic lashing through her. She stared at the road ahead, slick with rain. A wind gust roared against the side of the truck and she wished the winds were strong enough to blow away the bad memories she’d left behind, and she was able to find a way to answer him honestly. “I’m not sure where I’m going. I’m just driving.”

“You’re the adventurous type, is that it?” John slowed the truck as town came into view. “You decide to vacation and go where the road takes you?”

“Exactly.” She said nothing more. She was looking for a new life.

And praying she would know it when she found it.

The rain ended and the wind died down as they drove along the main street of town. Modest shops were open for business, and a few cars were parked along the curb, but no one was in sight. Maybe the rain had scared everyone inside.

“Daddy, can we stop for ice cream? Please, please?”

“What do you need ice cream for? You’re sweet enough already.”

Hailey rolled her eyes. “Gramma says a girl’s gotta have chocolate.”

“Gramma ought to know. She’s a wise woman.”

Hailey didn’t know what a lucky little girl she was, to have a kind man for a daddy, Alexandra thought as the pickup slowed to turn off the street and into the gravel lot. Then again, maybe like Alexandra’s father, this was how John acted in public—polite and deferential.

Home had been a different matter.

She’d learned the hard way it was difficult to really know a person from outward appearances. It was a tough lesson to learn but one she’d never forgotten.

John pulled up to the drive-through window at the same little stand where she’d eaten her lunch in the shade. On friendly terms with everyone, it seemed, he greeted the blond-haired woman by name after she slid open the glass partition.

“Hi there, Misty. We’ll have three chocolate cones, double dipped.”

Before Alexandra could protest, the woman smiled brightly. “Three it is. I’ll be right back.” Then she disappeared into the shop.

“Consider it terms of accepting a ride with us,” John explained easily. “Where there’s Hailey, there’s chocolate ice cream. It’s best not to fight it. Just accept it as a law of nature.”

“Then it should be my treat in exchange for the ride to town.” She peeled a five-dollar bill from the stash in her wallet.

“No, it’s not my policy to let ladies pay.” He held up one hand, gallant as any fine gentleman.

“It’s my policy to pay back good deeds when I can.” She pressed the bill on the dash in front of John and gave him an I-mean-business look.

“This goes against my grain,” he told her, handing the five to Misty at the window in exchange for three huge chocolate-encased cones. “Thanks. Hailey, pass one down.”

“These are awesome.” The girl’s eyes shone with pleasure as she handed the biggest cone to Alexandra. “You gotta be careful ’cuz the ice cream is all melty.”

“I see.” The rich chocolate smell was enough to die for. Her mouth watered as John put the truck in gear and circled around to the shaded picnic tables.

Random raindrops plopped onto the windshield from the trees reaching overhead. “This looks like a good place to have a car picnic,” John announced. “What do you say, Hailey?”

“A truck picnic, Daddy,” she corrected with a roll of her eyes. “My Grammy loves car picnics. Don’t you, Alexandra?”

“A car picnic, huh?” She’d never heard it called that before, but it wasn’t hard to see at all, sitting in this comfy truck with the heat breezing over their toes as father and daughter picnicked right here, out of the weather. It was way too much for her and far too tempting to stay.

A gust of breeze buffeted the side of the truck, reminding her that she was like the wind. On the move, with no place to call home and no reason to linger.

There was nothing else to do but to tuck her purse strap firmly on her shoulder. “You two enjoy your picnic. This is where I go my own way.”

“No! Wait,” Hailey protested. “You gotta eat your ice cream.”

“I will, I promise.” Alexandra popped open the door and her feet hit the rain-sodden ground. “I hope you get your puppy. John, thanks for the ride.”