Instant Daddy by Carol Voss Page B

to do when she’d pushed her snooze button the third time?
    Of course, if she’d been able to sleep, she wouldn’t have needed more z’s. But she doubted sleepless nights or the anxiety that spurred them were going away any time soon. At least not while Peter Sheridan was in town.
    She flipped off the mixers, grasped a bowl and rubber spatula and poured airy yellow batter for Mom’s Sunshine Cake into the ungreased tube pan. Ever since she’d decided to teach Peter about Jake last night, she couldn’t shake the feeling she was making it easier for him to steal her son from her. Her conversation with Maggie during their nightly walk hadn’t helped. But what else could she do? She had to protect Jake.
    “Smells good in here.” Jessie’s mom walked through the kitchen.
    “Hi, Mom.” Blowing the tendril of hair out of her eyes that had somehow escaped her kerchief, Jessie poured batter for Aunt Lou’s walnut cake into the prepared pan.
    “You look so stressed, dear.”
    “Not what I need to hear, Mom.” Grasping both cake pans, Jessie strode to the oven, popped them in and set the timer. “I’m muddling through with only a few minor mishaps.”
    “I see.” She spotted Jessie’s earlier attempt at Sunshine Cake on the counter. “New recipe for lemon pancakes?”
    “Ha,” she said half-heartedly. It was pretty obvious she’d been too distracted to beat something long enough, probably the egg whites. She checked the clock. Her mom was running late, too.
    “You know stress isn’t good for you, Jess.”
    Jessie blew out a breath of impatience. “I’m fine.”
    Mom washed and dried her hands at the sink. “Sometimes it’s okay not to be fine.”
    “ Now is not that time.”
    “All right.” Her mom threw up her hands as if giving up.
    Jessie didn’t believe it for a second. “Lots of people stayed in town after graduation yesterday. We’ll have even longer lines waiting at the door than we usually do on Sunday mornings. I haven’t had time to start coffee or set up out front yet.”
    “I’m on it.” She grasped the cash drawer Jessie had gotten ready earlier. “Your dad promised to bring Jake in plenty of time to allow me to get him settled for his nap before church. By the way, the bump on Jake’s head was barely visible this morning.”
    Jessie dragged in a breath, remembering Jake’s fall. Noticing the fatigue on her mother’s face, Jessie’s heart contracted. Her mom was stressed, too. Of course, what Peter did affected her parents, too.
    Please don’t take Jake from us, God. I don’t know what any of us would do without him. She pressed herfingers to her forehead to try to stop the flood of emotions. Her head felt like it might explode. “Do you think we could lose Jake, Mom?”
    “Oh, honey…” Her mother set down the cash drawer and gave Jessie a hug, then drew back and met her eyes. “After you told us about Peter’s life last night, I can’t imagine he thinks he can take care of Jake.”
    With her heart aching, Jessie shook her head. “If only I’d left it alone after Jake’s fall…but I couldn’t. He’s Jake’s daddy, and whether we like it or not, there’s nothing we can do to change that.” Jessie bit her lip. “It would be so much easier if he didn’t seem like a good man who wants to do the right thing.”
    “You don’t mean that, Jess. You wouldn’t want a bad father for Jake.”
    “No. But it would make it a lot easier to dislike Peter. As it is, I keep thinking, what little boy doesn’t need his daddy? Especially one who’s so interested in him?” She felt sick to her stomach. “But I’ll never forgive myself if I’ve set things in motion to give Peter the confidence he needs to take Jake away.”
    Mom patted her arm. “We need to put the situation in God’s hands, dear.”
    “How can you be so confident…after what happened to Clarissa?”
    Mom gave her a sad smile. “I pray the gospel prayer, ‘Lord, I believe. Help thou mine