Page 86 of The Sandbar saga

Callie turned to Race and put her arms up. He looked at Katie for what to do, and she nodded. He picked up his daughter.

"Let's get you out to the car." Leading the way, he couldn't help looking back at Katie.

What was she thinking? Would she interrogate Callie to find out what they'd talked about?

"Where do you sit?" he asked Callie.

His daughter pointed. He opened the car door and swung Callie inside. She climbed up on the car seat, and after a couple fumbled attempts, he managed to get the seatbelt around her and in the slots.

"I'll see you on our next appointment, Callie." He smoothed her flyaway hair off her forehead. "I had fun."

Callie kicked her legs, grabbing his hand and giggling. Not wanting to see her go, he slowly backed away and shut the door. He hadn't lost the awe of being around his child. In fact, being with her for an hour, he wanted more time. He wanted to learn her personality, find out how she spent the day, what she liked to eat, how she acted when she was happy, tired, angry, frustrated.

All he knew was what he'd learned in one hour of being around her. She was a smart kid, listened well, and wasn't afraid of displaying emotions.

"I'll bring her at the same time on Thursday." Katie stared at the window of the car instead of meeting his eyes. "Next week's days might change. I got a new job and will have to figure out my schedule. I'll be sure to give you plenty of warning, and if it doesn't work out for you, we can even make the visit in the evenings, though she goes to bed at seven o'clock."

"What are you doing, Katie?" He held up his hand. "I'll take her any time I can, but why are you making it look like our daughter is coming to see me for professional care?"

"I'm...not." She looked at him. "I want her to get to know her father, and if she has trouble adapting to you, I hope you, as a psychologist, can smooth out any problems you can see coming in the future. But, of course, I want the time you spend with her to be father-daughter time. Eventually, she'll love that, I'm sure."

"I told her I was her dad today," he blurted.

"You did? On the first day?" Katie's eyes widened in shock. "I thought that would come later."

"She's four years old. I could've told her I stepped on an ant, and got the same reaction from her." Finally, letting his disappointment show, he stepped away from the vehicle. "Make sure you don't make her disappear from my life, the way you did."

"Race..." said Katie.

He walked away, shaking his head. Even though he had days of acknowledging he had a daughter, none of it seemed real. An hour here, an hour there. He wanted more.

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