“That’s because they only think of two things. Three if you count sleep,” Audrey teased.

  Eden snorted. “That is not true.”

  “It’s a little true.” Audrey gave Eden a wide-eyed ‘you know this is true’ look.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. Now, what is it he wants? Something you don’t wanna give?” Eden asked.

  Cassie sighed. “No. I don’t know what to think about him.”

  “So you like him?” Eden asked.

  “Yes. And no.”

  Eden chuckled. “Let me tell ya, I know that kind of man. I’m married to him.”

  “I’m scared of getting into a relationship like I’ve had in the past. Maybe I have too much baggage. I know he’s got a ton. Not to mention, he has an ex-wife and a daughter.”

  “Really?” they both said.

  Cassie explained the situation.

  “I mean no one knows about her. Wouldn’t you think you’d want people to know you had a kid? Nothing in his shop or his apartment reveals he’s a father. Total bachelor pad.”

  “Did he ruin my apartment?” Audrey poured another glass of lemonade.

  “Your cats ruined your apartment,” Cassie said.

  “Hey!”

  “Well, it’s true.” Cassie turned to Eden. “I know he cares about her. He moved here, didn’t he? He gets mad when he can’t see her, but she’s never been here. Never stayed with him and from what I can tell he must not have custody because if Lori says he can’t see Daisy Ray then he doesn’t.” Why wouldn’t he want custody? Or was he not telling her something? Like he was an unfit parent and the court had awarded Lori full custody. But that didn’t ring true. He was responsible, and his bark was much worse than his bite—he didn’t even bite. Although, the rejection at her house yesterday stung.

  She’d grilled the burgers and they ate in mostly silence then he left. Awkward at best.

  “Have you asked him about it?” Audrey asked.

  Cassie rolled her eyes. “I’m only so fluent in Grunt.”

  “Pray about it. First and best thing to do.” Eden stood.

  Cassie nodded. “I will.” She didn’t want to make a mistake. If this guy wasn’t right for her, then she didn’t want him. She wanted God’s best. Attraction and physical chemistry wasn’t enough. Not anymore. Besides, he may not feel either considering his abrupt kibosh on what might have been a delicious kiss.

  Over dessert they finished the Fall Festival plans, and Cassie grabbed her jacket. “Leaves are starting to turn. You mind if I leave my truck while I take a walk?”

  “Of course. Praying you hear from God, sweetie.” Eden pecked her cheek. “I’m gonna go check on Rachel. It’s almost her feeding time.”

  Cassie stepped outside. The sun was out but the wind had a bit of a bite. Knox had built their home near Pine Lake, but on the back of their property was a huge pond surrounded by a fortress of trees. Knox had carved a path out for walking or four-wheeler riding. Occasionally, she went with Eden and Audrey on walks back there.

  Leaves crunching under her feet, she made the trek, dreaming of her own home set in the woods. Smoke would filter from the chimney on cold days while she curled up with a quilt and a cup of steaming coffee—and her fuzzy socks—while watching the kids play in the snow. After a few cups, she’d join them and build a snowman.

  Jax’s face formed and she pictured her pelting him with a snowball. They’d laugh and take photos with the kids’ replica of Frosty. Cassie’s stomach twisted. It might be a little too soon to be imagining a future like that with a man she’d only known for about six months. And did she really know him? All she knew was what she’d experienced and what his ex wife said. It had held some weight Cassie wished it didn’t. He was easy to fall in love with but harder to stay in love with. But it wasn’t even that. It was the conversation about the furniture. And what it represented to Lori. The hurt in her eyes. Cassie couldn’t deny that Lori had loved Jax. But he had loved something more than her.

  Cassie wanted to be loved completely. Wanted that deep connection. Like Audrey had with Gabe and Eden had with Knox. If a man like Knox could have that kind of intimacy, then so could a roughneck like Jax. If God was involved. But it didn’t seem Jax had much thought toward God. He’d evaded her question about being a Christian when they’d had dinner at Little Italiano. If she dug one more thing out of Jax it was going to be where his faith lay. Or if he had any faith at all. Because that would be a deal-breaker if he didn’t.

  ***

  Jax stared at the princess headboard. Lots of colors. That’s what Daisy Ray liked. He should have asked which ones. Now he had about twelve buckets of paint and no clue where to begin. Lori had sent him a text early Sunday morning letting him know the weekend trip had gotten canceled, and if Jax wanted to see Daisy Ray for awhile on Sunday, he could come.

  He refrained from starting a fight about why she didn’t let him know Friday night. Or Saturday morning. As usual, Lori had given him frost. Fine. Whatever. Daisy Ray had been happy to see him. He’d taken her to a make-it-yourself pizza joint then to a bounce center where he’d watched her make friends as quick as work up a sweat bouncing in inflated castles and sliding down monstrous slides. After that he’d taken her home.

  Shuffling sounded out front, then Cassidy stood in the doorway, staring at the endless supply of paint near his feet. She raised an eyebrow and whistled. “Do I even want to know?”

  “It’s you. So yes.”

  “You’re right. I do want to know.” She perused the paint, her long blonde ponytail hanging in her face. Her hair wasn’t straight today but wavy. He liked it. Wondered if it was naturally curly. His was—as a kid. Not as much anymore unless it was damp.

  “Daisy Ray said she liked all colors.”

  “Her favorite is lime green, though.”

  “How do you know?” He raised his hand. “Never mind. I forget you’re the queen of questions.”

  Cassidy picked up a can of paint. “I say we go with all neon colors. Lime green, bright pink, purple, turquoise and orange. I don’t see orange paint. She mentioned orange.”

  “I don’t know why I’m still bothering to do this.” Lori had made it clear his bedroom furniture wasn’t going in Daisy Ray’s room.

  Cassidy’s face softened. “Can I tell you something and you not get mad?”

  “Doubtful.”

  She smirked. “That’s what I thought.”

  He bristled for the blow.

  “I think Lori thinks your business was the driving wedge between you. And that’s why she doesn’t want the furniture. It’s a reminder that you love this,” she pointed to his workroom, “more than you loved her.”

  What a crock! Jax ground his teeth and balled a fist. He wouldn’t deny his love for working with wood. Heck, he wouldn’t even deny he was passionate about it. It made him feel worth something. It was something he could do that his brother and sister couldn’t. The one place he felt he measured up. Where he didn’t screw up.

  The job had nothing to do with loving it more than Lori. It was about making money to provide for her in the way she wanted to be provided for, and then it was about providing for Daisy Ray. A man was to take care of his family. He was doing what was right. Wasn’t working hard for them honoring God?

  Lori had left. Taken his baby girl.

  Guess God didn’t much care about what Jax did or didn’t do to honor Him.

  “Jax? Don’t you have anything to say to that?” Cassidy studied him, her eyes begging for him to open up and spill like a book. Pfft. Feelings. Wished he didn’t even have any.

  “When did you become Oprah?”

  “I figured you’d say something along those lines.”

  He waited. She wasn’t done. Single sentences were rarely Cassidy’s thing. Truth be told, he wanted to know if she believed that about him. Did she think he would love his work over a woman? A daughter? Is that who she perceived him to be?

  “I have an idea. So you both win.”

  This ought to be good.

  Cassidy took a deep breath. “Paint the furniture and put it in Daisy Ray’s room here.”

  Jax kneaded his knotted neck muscles. “She doesn’t have a room here, Cassidy. You know this.”

  Jutting her chin out, she stuck her finger in his chest. Hard. “Well, she should. Don’t you think she wants to be wanted? You don’t bring her here. You don’t have a room or a home for her. You’re just some guy who pops in when he’s allowed, and then you take her to places where you don’t really get to know her.”

  He clasped her finger and removed it from his chest, a storm building in his gut. “You don’t know anything about my relationship with my daughter. You don’t know anything about my marriage or what I went through.”

  She tossed her hands in the air. “Because you won’t communicate. You won’t tell me anything.”

  “Why should I?” he barked. “You’re an employee. Part-time! You’re not my wife. My fiancée. You’re not even my girlfriend. I don’t owe you fuzzy feelings. I’m not one of your many pair of socks, Cassidy.”

  He’d done it. Done it bad. Knew it when something snapped in her eyes. “This is why she left you! And this is why you’ll be a lonely old man with a daughter who hates you for abandoning her! For not opening your life up to her.”

  “I didn’t abandon her. I moved states away to be with her.”

  “Just because you’re in the same vicinity or breathing space doesn’t mean you’re actually there.” She spun and sped from the shop.

  He should go after her. He’d hurt her, but her outburst couldn’t have all been related to him. That kind of anger had been simmering a long, long time. She was right, though. He was terrible at communicating, and while it was easier to blame Lori for wrecking the marriage with her infidelity, he’d had a part to play, too.

  Expressing anything other than frustration or happiness…he stunk at it. He never saw Dad expressing his feelings. A military man, he’d raised all of his children to be tough—including his sister. No sniveling or crying. Definitely not pouting. Mom seemed fine with it. Dad worked. He provided. What more was there?

  Feelings.

  Same thing Lori had asked him to share.

  Same thing that just sent Cassidy storming out of the shop.

  Running his hand over the princess crown headboard, Jax wondered if Cassidy might be right about Daisy Ray. But a whole weekend with her? She might be miserable and never want to come back. And that would kill him. Kill him more than her never stepping foot here at all.

  He trudged to the front counter, Cassidy’s perfume still lingering. Had her dad abandoned her? Did she see her deadbeat dad in Jax? The thought sickened him. He sat on his stool, ignored phone calls. He barely paid attention to customers that came inside.

  Finally, the door opened and Cassidy came back in.

  He stood. Tried to find the right words.

  Went with the ones that worked the last time he screwed up. Because he meant them.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Cassidy shrugged out of her coat. “Me too.”

  “I’m bad with words.”

  “You don’t say.” She rolled her eyes and grabbed his sleeve, tugging him down the hall into the back room. “Jax, maybe I overstepped my bounds, but I only did it because…”

  Her vulnerability moved him. “Did your dad leave you, Cassidy? Was he a deadbeat?”

  Cassidy rubbed her lips together and nodded. “I was nine when he left. He popped in and out of my life a handful of times. I built up in my head how magical our time together would be and that he’d come more often. Take me with him. He never did. He stopped coming at all when I was eleven. He sent me a few Christmas gifts. At first, I treasured them. But what I wanted most was simply him. And he didn’t want to give me that. Why? Because he never really cared.”

  The last thing Jax wanted was for Cassidy to compare him to her father. “I’m sorry. I really am.” He itched to wrap her in his arms and assure her that she hadn’t deserved it. Instead, he kept his feet glued to the floor.

  “Truth is he wasn’t the nicest guy to begin with but…he was my dad.” She sighed. “That little girl’s eyes lit up the second she saw you. And I know you care about her. I heard it when you spoke. ‘Hi baby.’”

  She mimicked his voice. His tone.

  His chest caved. He did care. He loved Daisy Ray fiercely.

  “And you aren’t my dad. You’re a good man.” She touched his forearm. “She wants to come here. To know you. She asked your favorite color, Jax.”

  Jax worked his jaw, holding back a truckload of emotion. Why had this woman come back? Why care? Especially after the way he blew up at her.

  “I prayed about it. Just now. I’m getting better at praying. I’ve only been a Christian a short time.” She paused as if waiting for him to respond somehow.

  “That’s nice, Cassidy.” He’d prayed that God would save his marriage.

  Disappointment sank her face. “Yeah,” she whispered. “Make a place in your life for your daughter. Build her a room. Knock out the wall between the two apartments and make one big apartment. Make a home.”

  The thought had crossed his mind. But he was afraid. Afraid too much time with him would prove to even Daisy Ray that Jax wasn’t worth much. Wasn’t good enough to be her dad. “I don’t know. Even if I did, Lori might say no.”

  Cassidy shook her head. “Don’t you want Daisy Ray?”

  “Of course I do.” Daisy Ray might not want him in the end.

  “Why don’t you have custody?”

  Shame seeped through his veins. “It was easier. I wanted Lori gone.” He regretted it every day. He’d been so hurt, he hadn’t even fought, and now…now he was just plain scared.

  Cassidy’s eyes filled with tears, and he panicked, his heart slamming into his ribs. “Don’t cry, Cassidy.” Why was she crying?

  “You don’t let people you love leave. You fight. Fight for your daughter, Jax. Or you will lose her. I’m calling it a day now. I just needed to come back and tell you this. I had to.” She grabbed her coat and slipped out the front door.

  Jax let Cassidy’s words sink into his soul. She was right. One hundred percent.

  Time to knock out a wall and consider seeing if God wouldn’t have some mercy on him. Because without divine intervention or an outstanding lawyer, Lori wasn’t going to let him have joint custody of his daughter. Ever.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Cassie sipped a cup of tea on her patio. After she’d given Jax a piece of her mind, she’d gone back to the pond behind the woods. Her sanctuary. A place to pray or to think. Wisdom had never been her thing but she felt deep in her heart that giving up on Jax wouldn’t be right. Jesus never gave up on Cassie even when she’d blatantly ignored him, when she’d blamed Him for the life she’d been born into.

  The way she figured, if she gave up on Jax and helping him see that his daughter needed more than a man to drop by and swing her into the Dairy Queen every so often, he’d lose a relationship that had big potential. She didn’t understand why a dad wouldn’t fight for his child. Daisy Ray didn’t deserve to grow up believing she was unloved. She’d end up like Cassie—believing God wouldn’t love her if a crummy dad on earth couldn’t, and then she’d give pieces of herself away to anyone who showed her an ounce of affection.

  And it wouldn’t fill the gaping need for a Fighter and Defender—a Dad-sized hole—in her life. After her walk, she’d gone back to the shop and tried her best to help him see that.

  Had she gotten through? Who knew. He wouldn’t open up.

  Like he said, why should he? She was nothing but a bigmouth who’d weaseled her way into a job. Fine. That answered that question. Regardless, she refused to let him give up on Daisy Ray. Something about that sweet little angel had wiggled into her heart. Probably because she saw a lot of herself in the girl.

  The sound of a vehicle in her drive had her coming off the chaise and winding around the side of the house.

  Jax was getting out of his truck.

  “What are you doing here?”

  He leaned against the hood. “Two things.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Crossing one foot over his ankle, he rubbed the back of his head. Even now he struggled with what he wanted to say. She only hoped she wasn’t fired. She needed the money.

  “I noticed your gutters haven’t been cleaned out in awhile, so I brought my ladder.” He looked up at the clear blue sky. “Still got some daylight.”

  “You want to clean my gutters out?” She shook her head. “Is that what you’re going to do every time we have an argument or disagree? Come fix something? Because I can pick a fight every day. I have a long list of repairs.”

  He smirked. “It needs done. I can do it…and not doing something good when you have the power to do it is sin.”

  Hope sparked in her heart.

  “And what do you care about sin?”

  “I thought I was doing everything right. But things didn’t turn out right. I prayed for my marriage. It bottomed out. I gave up.”

  Cassie set her tea cup on the porch railing and made her way toward Jax. “And now?”

  “Now, I want to clean out your gutters because a storm’s coming in and…and I want you to help me knock that wall out and decorate Daisy Ray’s new room.” He ran his tongue on the inside of his cheek, leaving a bulge in the side of his scruffy face. “You did good work on the porch and…and I was thinking if that’s her birthday gift, a week ain’t long. I need an extra pair of hands.”

  Cassie’s insides broke into a grin before it reached her lips, and she couldn’t contain it. She’d gotten through. No. God had gotten through. Answered the question she’d been afraid to come out and ask for fear Jax would say he had no faith. But he did. Or had. And he was going to attempt to fight for his daughter. If only Cassie’s dad had made an effort to fight for her.