Natural Born Daddy by Sherryl Woods

head. “A big one, just like them.”
    Kelly grinned at her daughter. “I think a small might be better. You can have more if you want it.”
    Dani sighed heavily. “Okay, Mommy.”
    Jordan laughed. At a quizzical look from Kelly, he said, “She reminds me so much of you. Sometimes it’s spooky. It takes me back so many years.”
    Suddenly nostalgic, Kelly asked, “They were good times, weren’t they, Jordan?”
    He reached across the table and captured her hand in his. “The best.”
    Dani studied them intently, moving from Kelly’s face to Jordan’s and back again. “Tell me,” she insisted. “Tell me about way back then.”
    Jordan finally released her hand and leaned back in the booth. “It wasn’t that long ago, munchkin,” he informed Dani indignantly. “Your mom and I are hardly old codgers.”
    â€œWhat’s a codger?”
    Kelly grinned at Jordan’s apparent loss for words. Obviously he wasn’t used to a five-year-old’s insistence on explanations for everything she didn’t understand. Why and how come were among Dani’s favorite words.
    â€œA codger,” she explained, “is a cranky old person.”
    Dani nodded sagely. “Okay, you aren’t that cranky, I suppose. Except when I forget and leave my markers all over the floor and you slip and fall down.”
    â€œYes,” Kelly admitted. “I am definitely cranky then.” She leaned close to her daughter’s perfect face. “But I am not old!”
    â€œHow old are you?”
    â€œYou know,” Kelly said, not particularly wanting to be reminded that she would turn thirty in a few months. If she had the same kind of early mid-life crisis Jordan had experienced, who knew what craziness she was likely to indulge in.
    Dani looked at Jordan. “You know how old she is. Tell me,” she commanded with all the imperiousness at her disposal.
    Jordan waggled a finger to encourage her to come closer. Dani knelt on the seat and leaned across the table.
    â€œShe is almost thirty,” he confided in a stage whisper.
    â€œIsn’t that old?” Dani asked.
    â€œVery, very old,” he confirmed.
    â€œYou’ll pay for that,” Kelly warned him. She couldn’t really get angry at the lighthearted byplay. Watching the exchange between her daughter and Jordan warmed her heart. If only…She brought herself up short. That way lay heartache.
    Jordan looked intrigued by her mild threat. “Oh?”
    â€œWhen you least expect it,” she added.
    â€œSomething to look forward to,” he noted, clearly not the least bit worried.
    A slow, lopsided grin crept across his face. There was a knowing twinkle in his eyes that made Kelly’s stomach flip over. Obviously she’d chosen to taunt a master and he’d managed to turn the tables on her with no more than a dangerous look.
    The moment might have lasted far longer, if Dani hadn’t grown impatient at being ignored. She tugged on Jordan’s sleeve. “What was the baddest thing Mommy ever did?”
    His eyes were still sparkling. This time, though, it was clearly at some memory Kelly had the feeling she didn’t want him sharing with her precocious daughter. Thankfully, Anthony came out of the kitchen just then with their pizza. Kelly prayed that the distraction would get Dani’s mind off the past.
    It worked, too, for another five minutes. Long enough for Dani to take her first bite of pizza and her first sip of soft drink. Long enough for Anthony andJordan to spend time catching up, before Anthony retreated to the kitchen. Long enough for Kelly’s nerves to get entirely rattled in anticipation of which memories were crowding into Jordan’s head and which he might choose to share.
    Lord knew, she had her own. She remembered lazy summer days beside the creek, fishing poles in hand, as she and Jordan talked about