He's Got His Daddy's Eyes Read online

  Sarah looked for Josh and found him standing perfectly still, staring at the two little boys, a glass of tea gripped in one hand. Her gaze flicked back to J.J. and she watched as he turned grave, uncertain eyes on Josh.

  Josh moved, dropping on one knee next to the two solemn little boys.

  “Yes, Wayne, I’m J.J.’s daddy. You’re right. Every boy has to have one of his own. And I’m his.”

  A smile spread like sunshine over J.J.’s face and he bounced up, throwing himself at Josh with a crow of delight to wrap his arms around his neck. Josh caught the little boy in a bear hug, the glass he held falling to the wooden floor, spilling ice cubes amid a widening pool of cold tea.

  The words were as solemn as a vow, the look on Josh’s face filled with quiet, sure commitment. Sarah sniffed quietly, surreptitiously wiping telltale tears from her lashes. A swift, sideways glance told her that Jennifer, too, was blinking moisture from her eyes.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Murphy snorted, thumping the floor with his cane. ’Of course you’re J.J.’s daddy. Any fool can see it—unless you’re blind.”

  Josh looked over the blond silk of J.J.’s hair at Murphy. The disgusted look he got in return didn’t clarify matters. “What are you talking about, Murphy?” he asked, puzzled.

  “I’m talkin’. about you bein’ that little boy’s daddy,” Murphy declared. “He—heck, I knew he was a Hightower the minute I set eyes on him. He may have Sarah’s hair, but he’s got your eyes. That funny tiptilted lift at the outer corners and those coal black eyelashes—yup, they’re your eyes, Josh. And the color’s just like your mama’s, green as grass.” Murphy could remember Anna Hightower, but Josh couldn’t. She’d deserted the family and left town when Josh was too young to remember her, and their father, enraged, had burned any belongings she’d left behind, together with any pictures of her. Tamping down old memories, Murphy repeated, “Like I said, any fool can see J.J.’s a Hightower.”

  Dumbfounded, Josh looked searchingly at JJ. The little boy had tilted his face back and was staring up at him. Not ten inches from Josh’s own turquoise eyes, black-lashed emerald green stared back at him. Josh shook his head, hardly daring to believe the answer to J.J.’s parentage could be so simple and easy to read.

  J.J. held tight in his arms, Josh turned slowly to look at his brother.

  “Lucas?”

  Lucas stared at the little boy in Josh’s arms, his eyes narrowed as he assessed JJ.’s unique features. “You know,” he said slowly, nodding, “I think Murphy’s right. I’ve never seen eyes like that— except for ours.”

  Josh’s gaze swung to Sarah. She was crying silently, one hand pressed against her lips. But a shaky smile fought to lift the corners of her mouth.

  “Okay.” J.J. patted Josh’s cheek and demanded his attention. “Now I’ve got a daddy.” At the bottom of the steps Rum surged to his feet, woofing deeply as a cat raced across the yard beyond the gate. J.J. wiggled and pushed against Josh’s hold. “Wayne and I have to go see what scared the cat”.

  Josh swung him to his feet on the porch floor and the two little boys, oblivious to the adults’ emotional upheaval, ran off into the yard, Rum loping at their heels, to investigate the cat.

  Josh watched them go, moving only when Sarah walked across the porch and slid her arms around his waist. Neither of them was able to speak for the emotion that clogged their throats; Josh could only hold Sarah tight. In his arms stood the love he thought he’d lost forever, and racing laughing across the grass was the little boy he’d grown to love, as his own.

  “I’d still want to be his daddy even if Murphy hadn’t said he was mine,” he whispered unsteadily against her ear.

  Sarah tipped her head back and smiled mistily up at him. “I know,” she said softly.

  Behind them, Jennifer sniffed and laughed. “I hope this means I get to plan a wedding,” she said to Caitlin. “I just love weddings.”

  Caitlin eyed her doubtfully. “I’ve never been to a wedding.”

  “You’ll like it.” Lucas tugged the end of her ebony braid and grinned at her. “Weddings are just an excuse for a great big party. Takes Jennifer at least a month to plan one.”

  “I might not be here,” the twelveyear-old said fatalistically. “In another month I’ll probably be back with my mom in L.A.”

  Sarah heard Caitlin’s response and lifted her head from Josh’s shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at him in inquiry and he nodded once, purposefully, determinedly.

  “Caitlin,” Sarah said, slipping out of Josh’s arms to face the wide wicker chair where the girl sat. Josh shifted to stand just behind her, his hand resting possessively on her waist. “Josh and I have been meaning to talk to you about your going back to L.A.. We don’t want you to leave. We want you to stay here in Butte Creek, live with us and go to school.”

  Caitlin’s eyes widened in surprise and she slowly lowered her feet to the porch, her hands gripping the wide arms of the chair. “You mean I’d stay here for school?”

  “Yes, but not just for this year. We want you to live with us until you go off to college.”

  “Oh.” The blaze of happiness that lit Caitlin’s face swiftly faded. “My mom would never let me do that,” she said with feigned indifference. “She says we’re stuck with each other until I’m old enough to go to work.”

  Josh stiffened, his muscles bunching, flexing with anger. Sarah bit off the angry comment that trembled on her lips about her sister’s stupidity.

  “I’ve talked with Margaret,” she said instead. “She’s agreed to let you stay with us, if you want to. Do you want to?”

  The hard shell of indifference cracked, leaving pure happiness shining from Caitlin’s green eyes, lifting her lips in a sweet smile of delight.

  “Yes.”

  Sarah opened her arms, and Caitlin left the chair to slowly walk across the porch and be enfolded.

  “You know,” Josh observed reflectively, eyeing the twelveyear-old, “this means no more swearing until you go off to college. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Sure,” Caitlin answered blithely. “Piece of cake.”

  “What about shoveling manure?” he asked.

  “Don’t push your luck, Unca Josh,” Caitlin responded, narrowing her eyes at him threateningly.

  Behind them, Murphy and Lucas roared with laughter.

  Sarah looked up at him, and Josh dropped a hard kiss against her mouth.

  Josh had his heart back.

  *

  eISBN 978-14592-7376-4

  HE’S GOT HIS DADDY’S EYES

  Copyright © 1997 by Lois Faye Dyer

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

  Printed in U.S.

  Table of Contents

  Cover Page

  Excerpt

  Dear Reader

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Books by Lois Faye Dyer

  About the Author

  Dear Reader

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

&nbs
p; Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Copyright