Rafe's mouth suddenly felt dry and he coughed. With shaking hands he picked up the glass of cool water sitting on the table and brought it to his lips. The liquid coated his tongue and slid down his throat moistening his vocal cords.
"Your mother didn't think you'd recognize me." He coughed again, resting the glass back on the table.
The little girl reached in her pocket and pulled out something shiny. "She doesn't know I have this, that's why."
Rafe reached over the table and took the object from her. In his hands sat the locket he'd given Rosie years ago. It was slightly rusted around the clasp, but you could still make out the engraving on the back. And inside was a picture of Rafe at barely nineteen years old.
"I remember that picture, the day it was taken."
"How come if you loved Mommy enough to buy her that, you didn't marry her?"
He sighed and bit the inside of his cheek. When he'd run the scene of his meeting with Roslyn in his head the night before she'd never asked that question. He hadn't prepared for it and had no idea how to answer. Rafe didn't want the first thing he ever said to his daughter to be a lie, yet no matter how he worded his response in his head, it sounded like one. Over the years the charming pilot had been able to talk his way out of trouble with countless women but the littlest of said women seemed to be the biggest of problems.
Then suddenly he was saved, with a jingle of the bell above the door, entered Rosie. Like a vision from years past, she lit up the room. Dark brown curls bobbing up and down around her slender shoulders. In that instant Rafe lost track of all time and space. He was in high school again and she was his tomboy sweet heart.
"Mommy!" Rosalyn's voice shattered her father's daydream and it fell around him like glass.
"There's my little girl, hi sweetie." Rosie lowered herself into the booth beside the child. "I'm sorry I interrupted you two, but Noland agreed to watch the shop for the rest of the day.
Rafe's mouth began to salivate as his ex picked a lint ball off her bosom-caressing sweater. Just twenty minutes before she'd been covered in grease and dressed in overalls. Now she was feminine and lovely. Why must she torture him that way?
Rosalyn smiled happily at the sight of her mother and father together. "Momma said you knew her when she was my age, even before."
"I did." Rafe concurred. "I met your momma when she was five years old, that's half as old as you are."
"What was she like?"
"Well, she was really little, itty bitty even. She used to like to get dirty and play in the mud. Sometimes she'd come over to my house and play with my best friend Danny and me. Your momma liked to act like a boy."
Rosalyn nodded solemnly, that didn't sound anything like the women that had raised her. The Rosanna Gadry the little girl knew was mature and womanly. Nothing like her father was describing her.
"What was she like when you fell in love?"
Rosie coughed on the sip of Coke she'd taken from her daughter's glass. Choking and puttering she blinked her dark eyes. Were they ever truly in love or was it more of an infatuation caused by the long friendship they'd shared? A silly little high school crush but nothing more? She'd have to wait and hear Rafe's reply to know.
"When we fell in love…" Captain McCawley cracked him knuckles and cleared his throat. "Well…uh, we were a bit older then you then. Actually allot older then you, I was eighteen when I first wanted you Momma to be my lady. She was sumthin' else I tell ya. She used to work your Grandpa at the garage on the weekends, then come see me and she'd be all greasy. Feisty too, she once broke a boy's jaw at a Memorial Day barbecue. Oh and she loved to fly, your mother was a real good pilot. For my part, I thought she was the most beautiful girl in Shelby."
Hazel eyes crossed the table and stared deeply into dark ones. A strong male hand slid slowly over the smooth tabletop, until his fingers were just barley touching hers. Rosie couldn't deny in her heart how much she'd missed Rafe. So many nights she'd spent lying awake, wondering where he was and if he was thinking of her. Electricity flowed between the two, their passion more then history, it was still very much alive.
However the little girl was too young to notice the tension blooming between her parents and with a voice full of excitement exclaimed. "You flew planes Mommy? You never told me that you flew planes, only that my Daddy did."
"I, uh…" The woman shook her head to clear her thought and swiftly pulled her hand from Rafe's. "I… um didn't think it mattered, since you're still not allowed to fly."
"Maybe I could take her up a few times. If she really wants to fly that is." Rafe interjected.
Before Rosalyn said more then the expression on her face already had, Rosie clearly declared. "No."
Rafe looked baffled. "Why not, I am her father after all.'
"Eagle, go sit by Daisy for a minute, please." Rosanna instructed calmly, yet once the child was seated with her Nanny, the mother turned bitter. "No Rafe, I am her father, I am her mother, her father and everything else in her life. That precious little girl is all I have and I'm not losing her to you. You gave up your right to be her father the day you married Evelyn. That's right, I know all about your wife. I know how much Danny cared for her and that she was the first girl since Beth that he loved. I know how you married just as soon as he died, after you treated him like garbage for falling for her when they both thought you were dead. And I know that that boy you're raising is not your son, he is spitting image of Daniel Walker. So tell me Rafe, did Danny know about his child?
I may not be a sophisticated Navy nurse from Chicago, Rafe McCawley, but I'm not that silly grease monkey whore anymore. I will not let you hurt me or my daughter ever again. You're not her father, you're a disgrace." With that she collected Rosalyn and stormed out, leaving Rafe dumbfounded.
"Your mother didn't think you'd recognize me." He coughed again, resting the glass back on the table.
The little girl reached in her pocket and pulled out something shiny. "She doesn't know I have this, that's why."
Rafe reached over the table and took the object from her. In his hands sat the locket he'd given Rosie years ago. It was slightly rusted around the clasp, but you could still make out the engraving on the back. And inside was a picture of Rafe at barely nineteen years old.
"I remember that picture, the day it was taken."
"How come if you loved Mommy enough to buy her that, you didn't marry her?"
He sighed and bit the inside of his cheek. When he'd run the scene of his meeting with Roslyn in his head the night before she'd never asked that question. He hadn't prepared for it and had no idea how to answer. Rafe didn't want the first thing he ever said to his daughter to be a lie, yet no matter how he worded his response in his head, it sounded like one. Over the years the charming pilot had been able to talk his way out of trouble with countless women but the littlest of said women seemed to be the biggest of problems.
Then suddenly he was saved, with a jingle of the bell above the door, entered Rosie. Like a vision from years past, she lit up the room. Dark brown curls bobbing up and down around her slender shoulders. In that instant Rafe lost track of all time and space. He was in high school again and she was his tomboy sweet heart.
"Mommy!" Rosalyn's voice shattered her father's daydream and it fell around him like glass.
"There's my little girl, hi sweetie." Rosie lowered herself into the booth beside the child. "I'm sorry I interrupted you two, but Noland agreed to watch the shop for the rest of the day.
Rafe's mouth began to salivate as his ex picked a lint ball off her bosom-caressing sweater. Just twenty minutes before she'd been covered in grease and dressed in overalls. Now she was feminine and lovely. Why must she torture him that way?
Rosalyn smiled happily at the sight of her mother and father together. "Momma said you knew her when she was my age, even before."
"I did." Rafe concurred. "I met your momma when she was five years old, that's half as old as you are."
"What was she like?"
"Well, she was really little, itty bitty even. She used to like to get dirty and play in the mud. Sometimes she'd come over to my house and play with my best friend Danny and me. Your momma liked to act like a boy."
Rosalyn nodded solemnly, that didn't sound anything like the women that had raised her. The Rosanna Gadry the little girl knew was mature and womanly. Nothing like her father was describing her.
"What was she like when you fell in love?"
Rosie coughed on the sip of Coke she'd taken from her daughter's glass. Choking and puttering she blinked her dark eyes. Were they ever truly in love or was it more of an infatuation caused by the long friendship they'd shared? A silly little high school crush but nothing more? She'd have to wait and hear Rafe's reply to know.
"When we fell in love…" Captain McCawley cracked him knuckles and cleared his throat. "Well…uh, we were a bit older then you then. Actually allot older then you, I was eighteen when I first wanted you Momma to be my lady. She was sumthin' else I tell ya. She used to work your Grandpa at the garage on the weekends, then come see me and she'd be all greasy. Feisty too, she once broke a boy's jaw at a Memorial Day barbecue. Oh and she loved to fly, your mother was a real good pilot. For my part, I thought she was the most beautiful girl in Shelby."
Hazel eyes crossed the table and stared deeply into dark ones. A strong male hand slid slowly over the smooth tabletop, until his fingers were just barley touching hers. Rosie couldn't deny in her heart how much she'd missed Rafe. So many nights she'd spent lying awake, wondering where he was and if he was thinking of her. Electricity flowed between the two, their passion more then history, it was still very much alive.
However the little girl was too young to notice the tension blooming between her parents and with a voice full of excitement exclaimed. "You flew planes Mommy? You never told me that you flew planes, only that my Daddy did."
"I, uh…" The woman shook her head to clear her thought and swiftly pulled her hand from Rafe's. "I… um didn't think it mattered, since you're still not allowed to fly."
"Maybe I could take her up a few times. If she really wants to fly that is." Rafe interjected.
Before Rosalyn said more then the expression on her face already had, Rosie clearly declared. "No."
Rafe looked baffled. "Why not, I am her father after all.'
"Eagle, go sit by Daisy for a minute, please." Rosanna instructed calmly, yet once the child was seated with her Nanny, the mother turned bitter. "No Rafe, I am her father, I am her mother, her father and everything else in her life. That precious little girl is all I have and I'm not losing her to you. You gave up your right to be her father the day you married Evelyn. That's right, I know all about your wife. I know how much Danny cared for her and that she was the first girl since Beth that he loved. I know how you married just as soon as he died, after you treated him like garbage for falling for her when they both thought you were dead. And I know that that boy you're raising is not your son, he is spitting image of Daniel Walker. So tell me Rafe, did Danny know about his child?
I may not be a sophisticated Navy nurse from Chicago, Rafe McCawley, but I'm not that silly grease monkey whore anymore. I will not let you hurt me or my daughter ever again. You're not her father, you're a disgrace." With that she collected Rosalyn and stormed out, leaving Rafe dumbfounded.