Page 87 of The Sandbar saga

Chapter 34

"Callie?" Katie stoodat the bottom of the stairs. "Are you ready to go to your dad's house?"

The last three days had gone extremely fast. Thanks to Darla, who accepted the offer to babysit Callie regularly now that Katie was working for Seashore Realty, they were slowly falling into a routine. Sometimes it felt as if Callie would start kindergarten before she brought any kind of order into their new life in Astoria.

Callie appeared on top of the stairs, dragging a towel behind her and wearing a swimsuit. Katie put her hands on her hips. "What are you wearing, silly girl? I put the purple shorts and Elsa T-shirt out for you to wear. You'll need to go change, or we'll be late."

Her daughter continued down the steps. "I'm wearing my suit."

"Why?"

"Cause I want to go swimming at the doctor's house." Callie walked past Katie and stood by the front door. "Hurry, mommy."

Callie must've seen Race's pool from the cottage. Not knowing how Race felt about having a young child in the water, she wasn't sure it was a good idea to let Callie get her hopes up.

"Remember, you don't have to call him Doctor. You can call him Dad or Daddy, whatever you like." She kneeled down and inspected Callie's face to make sure it was clean. "Here's the deal. I'll let you wear the swimsuit for your visit, but if your dad tells you that you can't go swimming, you need to mind him and stay out of the water. Okay?"

"He'll take me swimming." Callie slung the towel over her right shoulder. The end still dragged on the ground.

"Here, let me have that before it's all dirty." She took the towel, picked up the bag she'd packed earlier to take to Race's house for Callie, and opened the door.

Once her daughter was in the seat, she drove over to Race's house. Thankfully, they only had to go one street over. Her whole body vibrated the entire way, and she drove slowly, trying to delay seeing him.

In all the years she'd known Race, not once had he ever shown disappointment or frustration toward her. Until now.

She understood why. She'd kept his daughter from him.

All the anger aimed at her, she deserved. But she had a hard time accepting it.

Her feelings had never changed toward Race. Sure, there were nights when she was pregnant when she cried into her pillow, hating that he'd denied their love. But she never wished him harm or heartache.

She knew better. No matter how many ways Race had tried to convince her that her thoughts were her own and were not responsible for her father dying on the sandbar, she never let go of the fear that he was wrong.

Even when she went through every emotion possible during her breakup with Race, she never stopped loving him. She always would, and that was something she would need to deal with now that Callie was in Race's life.

His disappointment in her was harder to take than she'd imagined it would be. When he stood in front of her, she had an urge to throw herself in his arms and beg him to forgive her.

Witnessing the hurt she'd inflicted on him played havoc with her emotions. If it hadn't been for Callie being in her life, she would've got in her car and drove away. She never wanted to cause Race pain.

But, Callie was here, and she hoped Race would get to know his daughter, and the hurt she'd inflicted would soften.

Five years apart was a long time. Probably longer for him than her, because she'd been a single mother. Those months, those years, were centered around her baby.

As a mother, she couldn't explain how quickly five years had gone by. To her, it all happened in the blink of an eye.

During those years, while Race wasn't with her physically, he was there inside of her. She replayed her whole life in her head. She remembered. She took comfort. She pretended he was there.

It wasn't the healthiest choice, but it was her only option. It was true when she'd told him it was impossible to live without him.

Because she'd failed to move on, past Race, beyond her life with him, she was able to survive raising her daughter.

Race probably had a diagnosis for what ailed her, but she simply called it love.

Seeing him twice a week was making her lose her mind. The need to talk with him, love him, touch him, and be with him was just as strong today as it had been five years ago. She'd missed him.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, honey?" She glanced in the rearview mirror.