For You I Will

“Do you want some more soup, Jessie?”

Jessie bobbed her head as she slurped up the rest of the thick soup. Kai had gotten her out of her damp clothes and put her in an oversize T-shirt and pink sweat socks that pooled around her ankles. But at least she was warm and dry. She’d groomed and towel-dried the thick hair.

While Jessie played with Jasper, Kai had placed a call to the local police office only to be told by the secretary that the officers were out on an emergency—missing child. But when Kai advised her that she’d found the girl they were looking for, she was told that the police would be there right away.

Kai hung up the phone, only mildly mollified. They should be there any minute and Jessie would be reunited with her very irresponsible parent. Just thinking that anyone could have been so careless as to let a four-year-old get out of the house caused her head to pound. Anything could have happened to her. It was only by the grace of God that Kai had found her and not some stranger that could have... She didn’t want to think about it. Jessie was safe. No thanks to her father, whoever he may be.

Not more than ten minutes later, the sound of cars pulling into the drive drew her to the window. She pulled the curtain back. A police car and a black SUV.

Jessie was busy playing with Jasper.

“You wait right here.” Kai went to the front door and pulled it open in unison with the car doors opening and slamming shut. She stood beneath the overhang to keep dry from the rain that had gone from a light shower to a steady downpour. Fog hung heavy over the trees and settled around the homes and rolling hills like a scene from an old English movie.

She recognized Officer Cobb from town, who was trudging up the walk through the rain and was nearly pushed aside by the man who’d come up behind him breaking through the fog.

Kai’s chest constricted and held her breath in its grip. It was him. Him, the man in the photo, the man she’d seen walking the streets, then that night at the gallery. The one who’d invaded her thoughts and her dreams. Her lips parted but no words came out as he took the steps two at a time and was right on top of her.

Anthony’s gaze ignited with hers and his forward motion froze. He blinked, started to speak.

Kai found her voice first. “She’s...in the kitchen.” She stepped out of the doorway, turned on shaky legs and led him into the house.

“Is she...is she all right?”

“She’s fine. Sneezing a bit, and she has some bites on her legs. I put some ointment on them. Got her dry and cleaned up.” She came to a stop at the entrance to the kitchen and turned to him. Her breath drew in sharply. Her heart pounded. He was staring right past her and into the depths of her soul. A shiver fluttered along her spine and for an instant they were locked in an invisible embrace.

“Daddy!”

The spell was broken.

Jessie scrambled up from the floor and leaped against her father’s thighs. He snapped to attention and snatched her up in his arms. He pressed her against his heart, covered her cheeks and hair with kisses until she giggled.

“Jessie, Jessie,” he breathed as relief swept through him. He looked over her head into Kai’s wide gaze. “Thank you,” he said on a rough whisper.

Her skin heated at the sound of his voice. “I’m not sure how long she was out in the weather.” Her voice took on a chastising tone that Anthony didn’t miss.

He momentarily glanced away. “Thank you, Ms....”

“Dr. Kai Randall,” she offered.

“Anthony Weston.” He smiled.

Her stance softened. “Take care of her.”

“I intend to.”

“Dr. Randall, I’ll need to get a statement from you,” Officer Cobb said from the doorway while he shook the water off his hat and broke the tenuous thread between Kai and Anthony.

Kai folded her arms. “Sure.” She led Officer Cobb over to the kitchen table and provided the details of how and when she’d found Jessie.

“Is it okay if I get Jessie home?”

“Of course, Mr. Weston,” Officer Cobb said, closing his notebook. “Thank you again, Doctor.”

She nodded and led them to the door. A crack of thunder seemed to shake the foundation of the house. Kai took an umbrella from the rack by the door and a jacket that she kept hanging there. She put the jacket around Jessie and handed the umbrella to Anthony.

“She doesn’t need to get wet.”

Jessie sneezed as if to confirm Kai’s statement.

“And you behave yourself, young lady. No more leaving the house to follow squirrels. Promise?”

“Promise,” she chirped then buried her face in the curve of her father’s neck.

What would it be like to press her lips against his neck, inhale his scent?

“Thank you...again.” The hint of a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

Kai ran the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip. She held the door open. The trio stepped out into the rain. Anthony glanced back once, then darted to the SUV.

She stood in the archway until the cars were only memories. It was then that she realized she’d been holding her breath or, at least, it felt as if she had. She pushed the door closed. Her thoughts tramped through her head as she tried to make sense out of the chaos that had come when she saw the man who’d only been something fleeting become real flesh and blood and stand in her house.

Back in the kitchen, she pulled out a chair and sat, her chin propped up on her palm. How incredible was that? If someone had told her this had happened to them, she wouldn’t have believed it. It was the kind of thing that happened in Lifetime movies...no those were the ones where the woman always killed the husband or boyfriend. But...anyway, it was just hard to believe.

As if stung, she sprung up from her seat and darted upstairs to her attic. She flipped thorough the photographs that she’d mounted in a large book. Her pulse kicked. There was the picture that she’d taken that rainy afternoon....

She slipped the black-and-white photo out of the plastic sleeve and held it up. Anthony Weston.

* * *

“Crystal, she’s fine. I swear to you. No...there’s no reason for you to come back. Apparently she went out of the back door, wandered off and got lost. She wound up at a doctor’s house of all places.” He squeezed his eyes shut against his ex-wife’s barrage. He deserved it. He still couldn’t wrap his head around how it had happened. “As soon as she wakes up, I’ll have her call you. Yes. She’ll call. All right.”

Anthony heaved a breath and disconnected the call. At least that hurdle was over with. Crystal had every reason to be furious, hysterical and accusatory. If he was hundreds of miles away and received that kind of call from her, he would have reacted the same way or worse.

He ran his hand across his face, then went into the room to check on Jessie. He stood over her sleeping form and slowly shook his head as the events of the day ran in his mind like an endless reel. His gaze lifted from his sleeping daughter and the image of Kai Randall emerged in front of him. His gut flexed. Jessie stirred, moaned softy.

Anthony shook off the sensation, tucked the light blanket around Jessie and eased out of the room, leaving the door open. The last thing he needed to have on his mind was a woman, even if she was the woman that rescued his daughter. What he needed to be thinking about was never letting what went down that morning ever happen again. He was going to have a long, serious talk with his daughter when she woke up.

* * *