Finding Our Forever(75)
“I’m the child you gave up.”
“Twenty-eight years ago,” she whispered, her eyes filled with nostalgia and pain. “Twenty-nine on February 21.”
“Yes. I—I hope you’re not upset that I went to such great lengths to find you. And that I didn’t tell you from the start. I’m not here to remind you of anything that might be painful or to bring you any unhappiness. I just... I’ve always craved a connection. And now that I have one, I’m glad. You are everything I ever hoped you would be!”
She sprang to her feet and backed away as if Cora had slapped her. “No, you have no idea who I really am. What I...what I did.”
Cora stood, too, and caught hold of her hands. “That’s just it, I do know. And it doesn’t change anything.”
A tortured expression claimed her face. “But I’m so ashamed—”
“Don’t be,” Cora broke in. “Let it go. All the people you know love you in spite of whatever you did in the past. I want to share my life with you as the daughter I am. But as far as I’m concerned, your mother, the rest of your family, everyone else can know me as your daughter-in-law.”
“I won’t ask you to lie for me,” Aiyana said.
“You’re not asking me to lie. We’ll keep this to ourselves for their sakes. Why would they need to know? Why open that old wound? They never knew I existed in the first place, so they aren’t missing anything. I’m perfectly satisfied with that and would be thrilled if only...if only you could forgive yourself and let yourself love me in return.”
“I do love you,” Aiyana said. “I have never forgotten the day you were born. I can’t tell you how many millions of times I’ve thought of you and wished...wished I could at least know where you were, if you were happy, if you had what you needed.”
Which was why she’d made it her life’s mission to love every orphaned child she could, why she’d adopted so many. Cora could easily see the correlation—her attempt to compensate. “The past is the past. It can’t be changed. Just don’t deny us a future. Please?”
“I never would.” Aiyana squeezed her hands. “I can’t believe I have you back, that nearly thirty years of wondering and worrying has come to an end.”
Cora smiled through her tears. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” She pulled her into a tight embrace. “I’ll never let you go again.”
Epilogue
“What do you think of this?”
Cora turned to see Aiyana holding a lovely teal bridesmaid dress. Although she’d done most of her wedding shopping in LA with Lilly—who’d made it her new life’s mission to throw the most spectacular wedding in the world and had dived in as if they’d given her only six weeks instead of a full six months to plan everything—they’d been unable to find the right bridesmaid dresses. Cora had been hoping to visit Santa Barbara to see if she could find anything different, so she’d invited Aiyana to drive over with her and have lunch.
“Oh my gosh! That’s it!” she exclaimed. “Finally! Do you know how many shops I’ve visited?”
“More than ten?”
“More than twenty!”
“Lilly must’ve loved such an in-depth hunt.”
Cora smiled at the sparkle in Aiyana’s eyes. They both knew how much her adoptive mother enjoyed shopping. “She did. I’m sure she’ll be slightly disappointed that we came up with this on our own.”
“I’ll have to tease her about that,” Aiyana joked.
“It’s a good thing she likes you.”
“I never realized that by getting my daughter back, I’d also be getting such a good friend.”
They checked the price, sent Lilly a picture and, after receiving her exuberant reply, ordered one in the appropriate size for Jill, Darci, an old childhood friend who Cora kept in touch with every few months, two other friends from high school and a teacher she’d met while substituting at Woodbridge High.
“Well, it’s exciting to finally meet with success, but finding the dress so early cuts our day short,” Cora said as they left the boutique. “I didn’t expect to buy from the first shop we visited.”
“We can start searching for something else on the list. What’s left?”