Pete nodded, his daughter's small hand enveloped in the warmth of his. "When. . when she went out west she stopped and met her mother. She'd started a new life. Remarried, had two little boys." He sighed. "I never told Kar much about her mother, so she was confused as to why she wasn't welcome. Her mother, she told Karen I made her have her, she never wanted her and she was just a mistake."
He sighed. "When Karen called me I was worried she'd feel that way about this child." He gently brushed hair from her cheek. "But it's like you said, she's amazing. Nothing at all like her mother." He smiled at Caleb again. "I know she's not interested in that sort of thing but, if I could ever pick a 'son-in-law' or an equivalent figure in her life, couldn't pick a better one than you."