He smiled crookedly at the look on her face. “That arrangement must sound very cold and bland to someone your age. But it suits us.”
Kelly wondered if Jack Morrison was capable of really loving anyone. And she wondered how much she had inherited from him besides his eyes. “Then I wish you well.”
“Thank you.” He picked up his menu. “Shall we order?”
Kelly glanced at the menu in front of her. She couldn’t imagine eating anything now. “Would you mind terribly if I don’t stay for lunch? There are several things I need to do, and I think you and I have said all we need to say.”
Jack closed his menu and set it aside, his expression resigned. “Before you go, there’s something I want to give you. Call it a Christmas present.”
“Another bicycle?” she couldn’t resist asking.
Giving her a faintly chiding look, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, Christmas-wrapped box. He set it on the table in front of her. “Open it.”
Hesitantly she picked up the box and slipped off the ribbon. Her fingers felt unusually clumsy as she peeled away the paper. Her breath caught when she saw the hinged, gold oval nestled on the cotton inside the small box.
“Look inside,” her father urged.
Very slowly, she opened the locket. There were two photographs inside. One depicted a young couple, the man in uniform, the woman in traditional German dress, her hair in braids around her head. She was smiling, Kelly noted with a lump in her throat. She looked happy. The second photograph was of a baby girl, chubby and laughing, dressed in foaming lace. She, too, looked happy.
“Your mother gave me that when we decided to split up. I’ve carried it with me ever since. I thought you might like to have it.”
For the first time since she had arrived, Kelly found herself on the verge of tears. “Thank you,” she murmured.
Her father’s smile was tinged with sadness. “You can show it to those kids you’ll probably have someday.”
She nodded, and reached for her purse. “Goodbye, Daddy.” She added the term deliberately this time, bidding farewell as much to the dream as to the man.
“Goodbye, Katarina,” he replied, using the name her mother had always called her. “Take care of yourself.”
“I always have,” she said, and then turned and walked away without looking back.
She didn’t cry until she was at home in her apartment, the locket open in her hands. Only then did she acknowledge to herself that she’d had a secret hope that her father would have a very good reason for staying out of her life for so long. That he would convince her that he deeply regretted missing those years with her. Maybe she’d had a childish fantasy that he wanted to be a father to her now, that she would finally have a family of her own.
Once again her father had disappointed her. She allowed herself to shed a few tears in reaction, and then she dried her eyes and put the locket away.
She had things to do, she told herself. A life to get on with. She didn’t need her father; she didn’t need anyone, really.
She had learned long ago not to expect too much when it came to her personal relationships. It was a lesson she wouldn’t forget again.
It was Friday, the week before Christmas, and Shane had never been in less of a holiday mood. It was all he could do to socialize nicely with his family and with Brynn and Joe D’Alessandro, who had joined them for dinner.
Molly had a school assignment during the holidays to do an in-depth interview of someone other than her parents who had a career she found interesting. She and Shane had discussed the careers available to her within her extended family—accounting, advertising, charity administration, private investigation and real-estate sales. She had expressed an interest in Joe’s orthopedic surgery, and Joe had graciously agreed to answer as many questions as she wanted to ask. Cassie had said the least she could do was prepare a nice meal as repayment, and since everyone knew how much Cassie enjoyed entertaining, the evening had evolved from there.
Shane, Jared, Cassie and Brynn moved to the den to visit while Molly questioned her cousin’s husband at the dinning room table after dinner. “I warn you,” Cassie said to Brynn, “This might take a while. Molly’s been doing her research. She has a long list of questions about bone screws and joint replacement and vertebra fusing and heavens knows what else.”
Brynn smiled. “I’m sure Joe is loving every minute of it. He loves to talk about his work.”
Cassie glanced at her watch. “We’ll rescue him in an hour. I think that’s long enough.”
“Are you all going to Michelle and Tony’s house tomorrow evening for Katie’s birthday party?” Brynn asked.
“Of course we’ll be there,” Cassie answered on behalf of her family.
Jared sighed. “There sure are a lot of parties this time of year.”
Shane chuckled. “In this family, there are a lot of parties at any time of year.”
“I happen to like that,” Cassie said. “Especially at this time of year when things are slow enough here at the ranch for you and your father to have time to attend most of the gatherings.”