Page 121 (1/2)

Jack sed thickly, wishing he were the kind of lib statements of sentiment He wanted to say, ached to say, Hi, Savannah, I ret in his throat He knew they wouldn't be enough; not for Savannah, whose youthful eyes had seen tooheart he

278

had broken He had to show her, every day, in every way, that he was sorry And most of all, that he loved her with all his heart

"Hi, Vannah," he said quietly, using the pet name he hadn't used since she was a toddler

She blinked in surprise Her hold on the schoolbooks relaxed a little "H-Hi, Daddy"

"I brought presents," he said lamely

"You did?" three feminine voices said at once

Jack stooped down and picked up the three brown-paper-wrapped packages He handed little ones to Katie and Lissa, and a big one to Savannah

All three of the at the twine bows The crinkling sound of folding paper and giggling girls filled the kitchen

Katie sidled alongside Lissa in a wordless bond that caused a sers worked feverishly on the thin twine bow and then yanked back the brorapping paper Three bright red grosgrain ribbons lay tangled alongside a beautiful doll

Katie squealed in delight and clutched the treasure to her chest She hopped excitedly for a second, then twirled and threw herself into Jack's arms

"Thank you, Daddy, oh, thank you"

Jack coiled his ar "You're welcome, baby," he said in a thick voice "Jack!"

At Lissa's ahisper, he brought his head up and looked at his wife

Lissa eased the beautiful silver and pearl necklace froht "Oh, Jack, it's beautiful"