Page 141 of Texas Glory
Leaning over his daughter, he pressed his lips to Dee’s, kissing her deeply, bringing forth all the love he held for her.
“Will you hit me if I thank you for giving me a daughter?” he asked quietly.
She buried her face against his neck. “No.Iwas so afraid you’d be disappointed.”
“Nothing you give me could ever disappoint me.”
A soft rap sounded on the door before it slowly opened. Houston stuck his head into the room. “Rawley’s been worried.”
Dee waved her hand. “Bring him in.”
Rawley shuffled into the room, cautiously approaching until he stood beside Dallas.
“Heard ya scream.”
Reaching out, Dee took his hand. “Sometimes, things hurt, but we get wonderful things in return.” She turned the baby slightly. “You have a sister.”
Rawley scrunched up his face. “A sister?”
“What do you think of her?” Dallas asked.
Rawley glanced up. “Think she’s butt ugly.”
Dallas grinned. “Give her a few years, and you’ll no doubt feel differently.”
“What are you gonna call her?”
Dee met Dallas’s gaze. “I was thinking of Faith,” she said quietly, “to remind us that we should never lose faith in our dreams.”
Dallas awoke to the sound of a small cry. The flame burned low in the lamp as he carefully eased away from Dee. He slipped out of bed and, in bare feet, padded to the cradle where he had laid his daughter earlier—after he had bathed her and marveled at her perfection.
Gingerly, he lifted her into his arms. “Hello, sweetheart,” he whispered. She stared at him with deep blue eyes, and he wondered if the color would change to brown.
He glanced toward the bed. Dee was curled on her side, her eyes closed, her breathing even.
Quietly, he crossed the room, pulled the curtain back, unlatched the door, and stepped onto the balcony. The warm night air greeted him.
Holding his daughter close with one arm, he pointed toward the distant horizon. “As far as you can see—it all belongs to you, Faith. Someday, I’ll take you to the top of a windmill and teach you to dream. When you reach for some of those dreams, you might fall … but your mother and I will be there to catch you because that’s what love means: always being there. I love you, little girl.” He pressed a kiss to his daughter’s cheek. “So much … it hurts. But I reckon that’s part of love, too.”
He stood for the longest time, holding his daughter, remembering a time when he’d been a man of small dreams, a man who measured wealth in terms of gold.
“What are you doing?” a sleepy voice asked.
He glanced over his shoulder as Dee sidled against him. “Just showing her the stars and wishing Austin were here.”
Dee slipped her arm around his waist and nestled her cheek within the crook of his shoulder. Carefully balancing his daughter within his embrace, he hugged his wife closer against him.
“He should have been here,” he whispered through the knot building in his throat. He still didn’t understand all that had happened, but in his heart, he knew his brother was innocent.
And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. The detective he’d hired had been unable to find any evidence to prove Austin’s innocence or another’s guilt.
Dee laid her palm against his cheek and turned his head, until their gazes locked. “He chose to hold his silence for whatever reason—”
“It was a damn stupid thing to do, whatever the reason.”
She smiled softly. “You’d never do something stupid to protect the woman you love?”
He recognized from the warmth in her eyes that she knew she had cornered him. He had done something stupid: going after her alone, knowing death waited for him. And he knew beyond a doubt that he’d do it again, would risk anything for her. How could he condemn his brother for sacrificing five years of freedom when Dallas would gladly give his life to keep Dee from experiencing any sort of suffering?
