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  “Good. Me, too.” She gave him her best smile, the one she used to get her way. Erin was immune, but it worked like magic on Parker.

  He knelt on the flagstone porch and opened his arms to gather the little girl close. She went willingly, flinging herself at him and holding on tight.

  Erin watched them cling to each other. She’d prepared herself for this moment, but even so she felt a twinge of sadness. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. She and Christie were no longer just two against the world.

  She studied them, the tall man and the little girl. Sunlight illuminated their heads. Parker’s hair was dark brown with no hint of any other colors. Christie’s was lighter and showed the reddish tint shared by Erin and Stacey.

  Parker’s large hands dwarfed the child. He could span her back from shoulders to hip. She’d insisted on wearing her favorite shorts set for the visit-lime green shorts and a T-shirt covered with cartoon fish. Matching green ribbons held her hair in pigtails.

  Christie stepped back a little and smiled. “You smell nice. Different from Mommy.”

  Erin agreed. When she’d first come to the house and spoken with him, she’d noticed the faint fragrance of his spicy after-shave and the musky undertone of pure male.

  There was a sound in the foyer of the house. Erin saw the housekeeper hovering in the background. Parker saw her, too, and rose to his feet. “Kiki, this is my daughter. Christie, this is Kiki. She takes care of things here.”

  “Hi.” Christie studied her for a moment. “That’s a pretty color,” she said, motioning to the brightly colored jogging suit the woman wore. “Are you my daddy’s mother?”

  Kiki smiled. She looked to be in her mid-fifties, with short blond hair and bright blue eyes. Her smile was warm as she bent toward the child. “I’m the housekeeper, Christie. I’m in charge of the cooking and I look after your father. Do you like cookies?”

  “Yes.” Christie nodded vigorously.

  “I’ve just taken some from the oven. Would you like to help me bring them to the terrace?” Kiki turned to Erin. “If you don’t mind.”

  Erin glanced at Parker. He looked a little shell-shocked. They both needed a moment to catch their breath. “It’s fine. Go on, honey, but you behave.”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  Christie took the hand Kiki held out and skipped next to her as they moved down the hallway. When they had disappeared, Parker shook his head, as if clearing it.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Fine.” He glanced at her. “She’s amazing.”

  “Oh, she has her moments. Don’t let the charming smile fool you. Christie is a bright, curious and very sweet-natured child, but she also has her share of faults.”

  Parker stared after the girl for a moment, then seemed to remember his manners. He stepped back and motioned to the house. “Please come inside,” he said, then closed the door behind her.

  He escorted her to the terrace. His fingers rested on the small of her back. Erin swore she could feel the heat of that light touch clear down to her toes. The accompanying shiver made her nervous, but she was determined to ignore the sensations.

  The table they’d sat at before had been covered with a white linen cloth and set with dessert plates, flatware and glasses.

  “Kiki is preparing an assortment of treats for Christie,” Parker said, holding out a seat for Erin. “She’s spent the last three hours in a cooking frenzy.”

  “I wish she hadn’t bothered,” Erin said. “Christie isn’t a fussy eater. Anything that remotely resembles dessert is fine with her.”

  He took the seat opposite and leaned forward. One corner of his mouth quirked up in a deprecating half smile. “I don’t know where to begin.”

  “I know this is very sudden,” she said. “Why don’t you let me tell you about the two of us, and when you think of a question, you can ask?”

  “Sounds great.”

  His dark eyes mesmerized her and she couldn’t look away. You’re acting like a fool, she told herself firmly, mentally using the same tone she used when her daughter was misbehaving. Unfortunately it didn’t work nearly as well.

  With a conscious act of will, she shifted her gaze to the view beyond the terrace. The sky was a typical brilliant shade of California blue. The Pacific Ocean twinkled, the swaying waves sparkling with light.

  “We live in Palmdale,” she said. “You couldn’t find a place more different from this and still stay in the same state.”

  “Where is Palmdale? I’m not familiar with the name.”

  “Most people aren’t. It’s in the high desert, about ninety miles north of Los Angeles. Remember where they used to land the space shuttle?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s by us. It’s cold and windy in the winter and hot and windy in the summer. You know, a hundred and ten, with zero humidity.”

  He frowned. Well-shaped dark eyebrows drew together. “I think Stacey might have mentioned something about it. I can’t remember. But she didn’t go to a university there. I recruited most of my interns from Stanford.”

  “Stacey was at Stanford.” Erin bit back a sigh. There hadn’t been enough money for both of them to go to an expensive university, so they’d compromised. Stacey had gone to Stanford, while Erin had attended a local state college. When they both graduated, Erin was to have applied for a graduate degree. But that had never happened. Stacey had died and Erin had been responsible for a newborn. There hadn’t been time for graduate school.

  “She calls you ‘Mommy,’” he said.

  “Christie knows that Stacey is her birth mother. As much as she can, after all she’s only four and the concept of death is difficult to comprehend. She knows that we’re twins and look alike. She’s seen the photos. But I’ve raised her from the day she was born. Make no mistake, Christie is my daughter.”

  She made the statement quietly but firmly. She’d wrestled with this for a long time, wondering if she was doing the right thing by letting Christie think of her as her mother. Then she’d realized she didn’t have a choice. Stacey was gone forever and Erin was the only mother Christie would ever know.

  “I’m not judging you,” he said. “I think you made the right decision. I’m still having a hell of a time with this.”

  There was a noise by the far door. It opened and Christie stepped out, proudly carrying a tray covered with cookies.

  Parker stared at her. “Five hours ago I didn’t know she existed and now she’s here.”

  Erin glanced at his strong profile and the obvious pride in his expression. She’d wondered what the reclusive man would think and say when he found out about his child. She hadn’t expected him to be quite this pleased. Not that his feelings changed anything. She was still going to stick to her original plan. Christie deserved to know her father and Parker had the right to get to know his daughter. As long as a few simple rules were followed, everything should be fine.

  Christie made it all the way across the terrace without spilling a single cookie. Kiki followed behind with a pitcher of lemonade.

  “I tasted the chocolate chips cookies,” Christie said as she handed her mother the tray. “They’re ‘licious.”

  “I can tell.” Erin set the tray on the table, then leaned forward and wiped a few remaining crumbs from the corner of her daughter’s mouth. “How many did you taste?”

  “Just one,” Kiki said as she poured lemonade into three glasses. She gave Erin a quick wink. “She tried to convince me she was starving.”

  “We just had lunch,” Erin said.

  “I was starving. For cookies.” Christie grinned.

  Parker grabbed a handful. “I’m hungry enough to eat anything. Someone here forgot about my lunch.”

  Kiki turned to him and covered her mouth with her fingers. She shook her head. “Parker, I’m sorry. I was so busy making the cookies and lemonade.”

  “Yeah, yeah, no problem. Maybe you could make me a sandwich or something.”

  “Sure.” She took two
steps, then paused. “Erin, can I get you a sandwich, too?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Kiki returned to the kitchen. Christie scrambled into the seat between Parker and Erin. She picked up her glass of lemonade with both hands and took a drink. Some of the liquid ran down her chin and onto her shirtfront. Erin wiped it away with a napkin.

  Christie set the glass down and grinned. “I’ve never had a mommy and a daddy before.”

  Erin brushed the girl’s bangs off her forehead. “You’re going to milk this for all it’s worth, aren’t you?”

  “It’s not milk, it’s lemonade,” Christie said, pointing to the pitcher. “Can I have some more, please?”

  “I’ll get it.” Parker reached for the pitcher and filled her glass.

  “And cookies.”

  “Just one,” Erin told her.

  Parker handed the child the plate. Christie took one, then reached for a second. “I’d like two.”

  Parker stared at the girl, then looked at Erin. “I-”

  “I warned you about her,” she said, and took the plate from him. “One,” she repeated.

  Christie stuck out her lower lip, but didn’t say anything. She’d learned that whining usually resulted in her losing the treat she already had.

  “I was telling your father about where we live,” Erin said. “Why don’t you tell him about your preschool?”

  Parker broke one of his cookies in half. “You go to school?”

  “Every day. I’m very smart. When I grow up I’m going to be smarter than everyone. Except Mommy.” She paused and studied him. “Are you smarter than Mommy?”

  Parker had popped half the cookie into his mouth and started to chew. He tried to swallow it quickly and only succeeded in choking. As he coughed, Erin handed him his lemonade. He took a sip, coughed again, then said weakly, “What was the question?”

  “Are you smarter than Mommy?”

  “Think before you answer that,” Erin said, then took a small bite of her cookie. It was still warm and the chocolate chips were soft and sweet.

  “I probably know more about computers than she does,” he said carefully. “But she knows more about other things.”

  “Nice save,” Erin said.

  He flashed her a grin.

  The cookie turned to tasteless crumbs in her mouth as a bolt of awareness slammed into her chest and roared down to her toes. She blinked, waiting for it to go away, or at least fade. It did neither. Instead she was acutely aware of Parker and a sensation in her chest that felt suspiciously like heat.

  So the man was vaguely attractive. So he was nice to Christie. So he had a sense of humor. It was the salt air, or the cookies, or the sunshine. It was the fact that she’d spent the past four years getting her teaching credential, finding a job and being a single mom. She hadn’t had the time nor energy to think about having a man in her life. Something long dead was finally coming to life. Nothing more. Really.

  Christie munched on her cookie. “Do you have a dog?” she asked, giving her mother a sideways glance.

  Christie had been angling for a puppy of her own for nearly a year. Erin understood the girl wanting one, but life was hectic enough without adding more responsibility.

  “No, sorry,” Parker said.

  “Dogs are very nice.”

  “I’m sure they are.” He looked faintly confused. “Do you have a dog?”

  Christie raised her shoulders and let go with an exaggerated sigh. “No. Maybe when I’m older.” She took a drink. “Do you have any other little girls you don’t know you have?”

  This time he was drinking instead of chewing when he started to choke. He coughed for a few minutes, then cleared his throat.

  “This seems to be a chronic problem for you,” Erin said, refilling his glass.

  “It’s very recent,” he said and coughed again. “No, Christie, I don’t have any other little girls.”

  “So I’m your ownliest daughter?”

  “Yes.”

  She wrinkled her nose, then tilted her head so one of her pigtails brushed against her shoulder. “It would be very nice to have someone to play with.”

  “I don’t know of any other children around here. I can ask Kiki.”

  “If there aren’t children, I could play with a puppy.”

  “Enough about the puppy,” Erin said.

  “It wouldn’t have to be very big.”

  “Christie!” she said sternly.

  “Yes, Mommy. I’ll be good.” She glanced at Parker out of the corner of her eye. “Sometimes I’m a handful.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  Father and daughter smiled at each other.

  Since finding her sister’s diary, Erin had spent several sleepless nights wondering if she was doing the right thing. Everything she’d read about Parker Hamilton had convinced her he was a decent man and that he would want to know about his child. She’d been concerned about his reaction and a little nervous about allowing someone into the special world she’d built with her daughter. But now, staring at the two of them, seeing the similarities and differences, she knew she’d made the right decision.

  Everything was going to work out perfectly.

  Chapter Three

  Christie finished her cookie and lemonade without mentioning the puppy again. Parker couldn’t help staring at her. She was small, smaller than he’d imagined, but very lively and bright. Her eyes were a few shades lighter than in the photo, but still brown. She glanced at him, then smiled. A dimple appeared on both cheeks. He couldn’t help smiling back.

  “You’re very pretty,” he said without thinking.

  The dimples deepened as she grinned. “Mommy says so, too. Angela Bedford is beautiful. She’s got long blond hair and blue eyes and she’s made a ‘mercial.”

  “A what?”

  “A commercial,” Erin said and reached for her glass. “Mrs. Bedford is hoping to get her daughter into television.”

  “Why would anyone want to do that?” he asked.

  She laughed. “My thoughts exactly.”

  Her shoulder-length hair brushed against her cream sweater as she tilted her head and glanced around the terrace. Parker felt as if he’d gotten sucked into one of his video games. In the space of a few hours, his whole world had been turned upside down.

  Erin was Stacey’s twin sister. The longer he was with Erin, the more he remembered about her sister. Yet he had no sense of déjà vu. Despite the physical similarities, he knew Erin was a different personality. They might look alike, but they projected two completely different people. Stacey had been-He frowned trying to remember what she’d been. Intense, driven; she’d been one of the hardest workers on the project. She’d also been underfoot. He remembered the feeling of not being able to escape her.

  He didn’t know Erin at all, yet even after spending such a short period of time with her he sensed that she was more relaxed and accepting of things. She handled her child easily, without being overbearing.

  Her child…his child. He swore silently and wondered what on earth he was going to do with a kid. Not that he didn’t like Christie, but he wasn’t the paternal type. He hadn’t been around children since he was one.

  Kiki came out onto the terrace and walked to their table. “Does anyone need more cookies or lemonade?” she asked as she placed a sandwich in front of him.

  “Christie and I are fine,” Erin said.

  Parker took a big bite of his sandwich. “Great,” he mumbled.

  Kiki gave him her “don’t talk with your mouth full” look, but fortunately, she didn’t say it out loud. Kiki had been with him seven years and was worse than his mother had ever been. He didn’t know how he would survive without her, though.

  Kiki squatted down next to Christie and touched the girl’s shoulder. “I bet you have your own room back home,” she said.

  Christie nodded. “Uh-huh. I’ve got a big girl bed and bookshelves.”

  “You like to read?”

  “Yup.” She scrunched
her nose. “I can read lots of words by myself, but for the extra-long stories, Mommy reads those to me. I want to read big girl books. When I go to school in the fall, I’m going to really learn how to read. And numbers, too.”

  “Good for you. Do you go to school now?”

  “Yes, but it’s not real school. Not with the big kids.”

  Erin leaned forward. “She’s in a preschool. Christie can’t wait to start elementary school. She wants to learn everything, don’t you honey?”

  Parker listened to the exchange, all the while eating his sandwich. Kiki didn’t have any trouble talking with the girl. She just asked the same sort of questions she would ask anyone visiting. Maybe there wasn’t a trick. Maybe he should just talk to Christie as if she were a regular person.

  Kiki stood up. “Parker, I’m sure Erin and Christie would like to see the gardens and maybe go down to the beach.”

  “Good idea,” he said, then popped the last bit of sandwich into his mouth. He wiped his hands on a napkin, then glanced at his daughter.

  She looked at him. “I love the beach,” she said seriously, as if her goal in life was to see his.

  Erin laughed. “You’ve only been to the beach once. How do you know if you like it?”

  “It was very nice,” Christie said, still serious.

  “You’re going to love this one,” he told her and stood up.

  Erin rose gracefully, then helped Christie out of the chair. Parker motioned for them to go through the living room and out the front. They turned left and circled around the house.

  “There’s no way to get from the terrace to the beach,” Parker said as he led them to a wrought-iron gate and pulled it open. “The stone fence is built into the house itself. This is the only way down to our private beach. It’s not very big, but it’s nice when the tide is out.”

  Erin glanced back at him as she walked by. “What happens when the tide is in?”

  “Depending on how high it is, the beach can go underwater. Not often, though. It’s pretty safe.”

  “Is there a lock on that gate?”

  Parker followed her gaze to Christie. “Yes. We haven’t been using it, but we can.” Of course the child was too small to be trusted down on the beach by herself. He made a mental note to mention locking the gate to Kiki as soon as they returned.