Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
I nodded firmly. I never would.
A man sits opposite Jessie, a big glowing smile on his face. He’s several years older than me and has a rugged appearance, the sort of look a man gets when he’s spent years doing hard manual labor. But he has his daughter’s eyes, and lots of people say he has Anna’s smile.
Finding Jessie’s dad was not easy or cheap, but once she said she’d like to try, nothing was going to stop me.
I sent PI’s down to where her mother had fled, leading to a paper trail that spanned months… and finally led us here, to our very city, to a warehouse where Kenny Reynolds has been working mere miles from his daughter for years.
Finishing my coffee, I pull open the door and head inside.
Kenny’s dog, Fletcher, lopes in after me, the Jack Russell terrier’s coat damp and glistening with dew. He leaps up on my leg, pawing for attention.
With a grin, I lean down and pick him up.
“Needy little guy, aren’t you?” I tease, as he laps at my face.
Kenny and Jessie turn to me as I approach the table.
Putting Fletcher down, I reach for my daughter, wrapping my hands around her and hugging her to my chest. Jessie smiles at me in that way she has, when I’m with our daughter, like all the love in the world is about to burst out of her.
She’s never looked more beautiful, wearing a baggy T-shirt and PJ bottoms on this Sunday morning, her hair in gorgeous disarray around her shoulders. Even now, I have to be careful not to stare too long, because I know what perfection hides under all those baggy clothes.
“I can’t believe it.” Kenny pulls Fletcher into his lap as he speaks. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to believe it. A few months ago I had no family. You know my story.”
He pauses, smiling away any dark thoughts. Kenny was orphaned at a young age and doesn’t have any siblings, no wife, no kids – well, none that he knew of until recently – so finding Jessie was a huge celebration for him.
“And now I have a daughter, a grandkid, hell… a son-in-law.”
He grins over at me and I chuckle. He’s only ten years older than me, but he hasn’t made any comments about my and Jessie’s age gap. In fact, there’s been very little of that talk. It’s like, once everybody sees how true our love is, they can’t help but approve.
“My only regret is I never knew you existed sooner,” Kenny says with a sigh.
“Hey, it’s okay, Dad.” Jessie puts emotive emphasis on the word Dad, the way she always does. “It’s not your fault. And we’ve got plenty of time to get to know each other. And you’re always going to be in Anna’s life. I’m just glad you didn’t tell us to get lost when we found you.”
He shakes his head firmly. “I can’t explain how happy I was. A ready-made family, a granddaughter to love… It's a miracle. I really believe that.”
I smile as I hold Anna softly, feeling her little heart beating fast against my chest.
“I never used to believe in miracles,” Jessie whispers, watching us with that starry twinkle in her eye. I love how emotional my wife gets about our little Anna. “But I do now. I know they exist.”
I smile at her, love brimming inside of me, so much so I can hardly believe it sometimes. But my love only gets fiercer, more certain, more special every single day.
“I love you,” I murmur, and then I kiss my daughter on the cheek. “And you. All of you. Even Fletcher, the little madman.”
We all laugh as Fletcher lets out a yap, grinning up at us.
Extended Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Jessie
Aunt Claire pulls a tray from the oven, grinning up at me as steam wafts around her. She’s flowered ever since leaving her dead-end jobs and starting the bakery. I’ll never stop savoring the warmth in her face. We’ve worked hard over the past decade to make the business a success, meaning we get ample leisure time…
Like today, a perfect Sunday with the house full of laughter and happiness, and love.
“I think it needs a few more minutes,” she muses, staring down at the chicken. “What do you think?”
“Hey, you’re the whiz in the kitchen,” I tease, leaning against the marble kitchen counter. “I’m just the brains of the organization.”
We both laugh, but there’s some truth in the comment.
As Claire worked her butt off to catch up on lost time and learn every aspect of the baking craft, I did the same on the business side, even working to pay off the loan Jaxon gave us to get it up and running. Now, we’re a self-sustaining franchise of bakeries, an aunt-niece team I never could’ve dreamed of all those years ago.