Her Little Secret, His Hidden Heir(33)

His thumb rubbed slowly back and forth across her cheek, and she felt herself melting.

"If I had known, if I had truly understood what you were going through, I   would have stopped it. I never would have let things between us turn   out the way they did."                       
       
           



       

Her throat was so tight, she couldn't speak, but she believed him. After   what he'd just done, how he'd stood up to his mother and walked away   from his family home for her, how could she not?

"I love you, Vanessa. I've always loved you and I'm so sorry for all the time I've wasted being a blind, stupid fool."

She sniffed as happy tears filled her eyes and balanced precariously on the tips of her lashes.

He leaned in, pressing his brow to hers, and said barely above a   whisper, "If I could go back and do things differently, I would never   let you go."

A near-sob rolled up from her chest, causing those tears to spill over and roll down her cheeks.

"I love you, too," she told him. "And I never wanted to leave, I just couldn't live that way anymore."

"I know that," he said with more understanding than she'd heard from him in longer than she could remember.

"And I didn't plan to keep Danny a secret from you. I really did try to   tell you, but after Trevor refused to let me speak to you, I was so   angry and hurt, thinking the directive came from you … " She trailed off,   barely certain anymore of how she'd felt or what had led her to make  the  decisions she had.

"I know," Marc murmured, one corner of his mouth lifting in a kind,   loving half smile. He looked at their son with a father's love and pride   burning in his eyes before brushing a hand over the baby's downy-soft   head.

"We both made mistakes and let small issues become big ones. But we won't let that happen again, will we?"

She shook her head, doing her best to blink back fresh tears.

Framing her face with his big, strong hands, he brushed his lips lightly across hers. "I really do love you, Nessa. Forever."

"I love you, too," she tried to say, but his mouth was already covering   hers, kissing her deeply, with all the passion that had bloomed between   them since the first moment they'd met.





Epilogue




Two years later …

Marc strolled down the sidewalk of Summerville's Main Street, nodding   and waving a greeting to friends as he passed. And he was whistling, for   heaven's sake. He never used to whistle, but lately, he'd caught   himself doing it more and more often.

Which just went to prove that small town life wasn't quite as dull or   restrictive as he'd once believed. In fact, he kind of liked it.

Of course, he didn't think his current happiness had as much to do with   where he was living as it did with how he was living … and with whom.

Hiking Danny higher on his hip, he continued to whistle-the theme from   Thomas the Tank Engine, no less-and grinned at his son's hearty chuckle.   He was wearing a pair of denim trousers with an official Sugar Shack   infant tee and tiny yellow sneakers.

The Sugar Shack merchandise had been Marc's idea and had been an   immediate success. In addition to baked goods, they now sold T-shirts,   sweatshirts, baby clothes, coffee and travel mugs, and even key chains.   In his opinion, it was the best advertising Vanessa could get other  than  plain old word of mouth.

The sneakers were because Danny was walking now … well, toddling, was more   like it … and because he was starting to want to dress more like his   daddy. Marc's heart gave a lurch at the thought and he squeezed his son   even tighter against his side.

"We're going to see Mommy," he told the little boy, then added, "Maybe she'll give you a cookie."

"Cookie!" Danny yelled at the top of his lungs, lifting his arms and clapping over his head.

Marc laughed, wondering how much trouble he would get in when Vanessa   found out he was plying their son with promises of sugar first thing in   the morning. But then, she ran a bakery, so she shouldn't be surprised.   "Cookie" had been Danny's first word … followed by "mama," "dada" and   "cake." He was working on "baklava," but at the moment it came out more   like "bababa."

Reaching The Sugar Shack's wide glass storefront, he pulled open the   door to the distribution side of the business. An elderly woman was just   shuffling out, so he held it for her and wished her a good day before   slipping inside.

Vanessa was behind the counter, but as soon as she saw them, she smiled   and started around. Her copper curls-longer now than when Danny had  been  an infant-were pulled back in a loose ponytail, and a pristine  white  Sugar Shack apron covered the front of her short-sleeve blouse  and  shorts.

"Cookie!" Danny cried, wiggling to be put down.

Vanessa arched a brow. "His idea, I'm sure," she murmured half under her breath.                       
       
           



       

"Of course," Marc replied. "But then, what can you expect when his   mother owns the best bakery in the state? You're lucky he isn't asking   for pastries morning, noon and night."

"He is, but that doesn't mean he'll get them," she answered primly.

Leaning in, she bussed Danny on the cheek, running her fingers through   his toffee-brown hair, which was rather in need of a trim. They'd been   talking lately about having it cut and Marc was inordinately excited   about taking his son for his first visit to the barber shop. An   honest-to-goodness barber shop!

When she lifted up on tiptoe to kiss him, too, he slipped his free arm   around her back and pulled her in for something much longer and deeper.   Trapped between them, Danny giggled when they stayed locked at the lips  a  bit too long and started slapping their cheeks with his small hands.

They pulled apart, and Vanessa chuckled, her face flushing a becoming   shade of pink. Marc, however, was far from embarrassed; he was busy   calculating how many hours were left before she closed up shop and he   could convince her to go to bed early.

Too damn many, that was for sure.

"I have a surprise for you," he told her as she moved back behind the counter.

He watched her loosen the ties of her apron and slip it over her head,   then dig inside a small plastic container that she kept filled with   cookies just for Danny. Their son's love of sweets had prompted her to   experiment with a few recipes for healthier cookies and desserts. Ones   with less fat and sugar, and substitutions such as applesauce and raisin   paste for the oils.

Coming around again, she handed Danny the cookie, and Marc set him on   one of the high countertops to eat it, remaining close enough to keep   him from toppling off.

Without the apron, Vanessa's four months of pregnancy were much more   noticeable. And just like every time he saw that tiny baby bump, Marc's   chest constricted with love and pride and the overwhelming relief of   knowing that-even though they'd cut it damn close-he hadn't let her get   away.

As much as they'd suspected it for a while, she hadn't been pregnant   when they'd walked away from his family's home. Instead, they'd had some   time to settle in Summerville and adjust to once again being together.   Not that there had been a lot of adjustment needed, at least not on  his  part.

They'd bought a large, very nice house on the outskirts of town. One   that had been built years before by a wealthy businessman who'd decided   to move closer to the city after he and his wife divorced.

It was smaller than Marc was used to, but exceptionally large and   impressive for the area. It also had plenty of room for their growing   family, and came with enough acreage to afford complete privacy, as well   as room for Danny and his future siblings to play.

They had also gotten remarried. At the courthouse this time, with a   minimum of fuss and muss. Only Helen had been in attendance as their   witness, as well as Vanessa's matron-of-honor and Danny's   stand-in-nanny. He actually thought she might be coming around to liking   him, but he knew he would have to prove himself all over again to be   worthy of her niece's affections before he could truly win back the   woman's favor.

After everything they'd been through, it had been easy to agree that   another big wedding wasn't necessary. They just wanted to be together   again, undoing the divorce that they both wished had never taken place   in the first place.