Inherited:OneChild(31)

Even strip his defenses bare and allow her to cut him to shreds.

Without a word, he opened his arms to her. Time seemed to hold its   breath as he waited for her decision. Waited to discover whether he'd   know a lifetime of warmth and joy, or be forced to survive in an arctic   wasteland. With an inarticulate cry, she flew to him, and he breathed  in  life. He wrapped her up tight and buried his face against her silken   curls and simply inhaled her. The scent of her. The feel of her. The   sound of their hearts beating as one.

"I love you, Annalise," he murmured against the top of her head. "And I'm more sorry than I can ever express."

She lifted a glowing face to his. "Sorry you love me?" she teased.

A rusty laugh escaped. "I'm sorry I believed the worst."

"I should have told you about my relationship to Isabella. I was going   to." She made a gesture that emphasized her bone-deep weariness. "But I   should have done it before we married."

"Tell me now, Annalise. I gather Isabella was the result of that night you lost your virginity?"

"Yes." She closed her eyes and shuddered. "You have no idea how terrified I was when I realized I was pregnant."

"What about the boy?"

"He and his family had moved away by then. Dad contacted them, of   course. But they wanted nothing to do with me or the baby and were only   too happy to sign the adoption papers." She shrugged. "It was just as   well. Tommy was no more in a position to raise a baby than I was."

"I remember Joanne saying it was a private adoption, arranged through their lawyer."

Annalise nodded. "Dad met with Joanne and Paul and had them carefully checked out."

He eyed her curiously. "You never considered keeping Isabella?"

It was the wrong question to ask. Her chin wobbled for an instant before   she firmed it. "I wanted to keep her with all my heart. I dreamed  about  it every night. But I was sixteen when I got pregnant. I'd just  turned  seventeen when I had her." The confession was so soft he barely  caught  it. "I also know it was the most difficult decision Dad ever  made. He'd  been a teenage father himself, and he felt he'd done such a  poor job of  it, that it wouldn't be fair to repeat the cycle for  another generation.  He was right. I couldn't be selfish." Tears  overflowed. "I … I had to do  what was best for Isabella, not what was  best for me. So I hid my  pregnancy until the school year ended and went  to stay with my aunt  until after Isabella was born. Every summer after  that I'd go and stay  with her … and remember. Celebrate … and mourn."

He tightened his hold on her, her words tearing him apart. "I'm so sorry."

"I never knew who adopted her, but Dad kept track and would reassure me that she was safe and doing well."

Understanding dawned. "Until the plane crash."

"Yes. It was all over the news. At first, the media reported that   everyone onboard perished. I walked in while Dad was listening to the   announcement. He was crying. He tried to keep it from me, but it wasn't   hard to figure out why he was so upset."

"I gather you read that I'd taken custody of your daughter."

She nodded against his chest. "And that you were having a hard time   keeping a nanny. It seemed the perfect opportunity. I'd apply and see if   there was anything I could do to help with the transition. I planned  to  stay just a short time. Neither of you were supposed to discover the   truth. I didn't even intend to tell my father I'd taken the job. But   then … "

"Then?"

Her sigh rippled through her and into him. "I took one look at her and   fell head over heels. I would have stuck to my original plan if it   weren't for one other problem."

He stiffened. "What problem?" he managed to ask.

She lifted her head and looked at him, her heart in her eyes. "I fell in   love with you. One minute I was trying to build a world for you and   Isabella, and the next you became my world."                       
       
           



       

The inner coldness cracked, splitting apart like chunks of icebergs   beneath a spring thaw. He didn't resist any longer. He lowered his head   and kissed her. The kiss shouldn't have been any different from all the   other ones they'd shared. But it was. He didn't know if it was the   absence of secrets or the fact that they'd both allowed the last   bastions of their defenses to fall. Maybe the fact that they'd confessed   their love altered the elemental nature of the embrace. Whatever the   cause, he knew he'd remember this moment for the rest of his life.   Remember the heat and the generosity, the certainty and the passion.   Most of all, it was the awareness that he'd finally come home. That he'd   found what he'd spent most his life searching for-and he held her   safely in his arms.

"Come home now," he urged. "We're lost without you."

"I thought I was the one who was lost."

He forked his hands deep into her hair, allowing the curls to bind them   together. "The three of us ultimately found each other. That's all that   matters now."

He took her mouth in a lingering kiss, sinking into the softness and the   warmth. If they'd been anywhere else, he'd have fallen into the  nearest  bed and spent the next twenty-four hours making her his in  every  possible sense of the word. Reluctantly, he drew back.

"I never realized how empty my life was until you filled it up," he said.

Her smile was the most radiant he'd ever seen. "Let's go home."

Robert eyed them closely as they left the boat. Whatever he saw must   have satisfied him because he simply smiled in satisfaction. "I'd   appreciate having an opportunity to get to know my granddaughter," he   addressed Jack. "If you're willing."

"Anytime."

The drive to Lover's Folly seemed endless. But they finally arrived. It   felt like weeks since he'd last had his wife at home, instead of mere   hours. They walked hand in hand from the garage across the backyard. The   kitchen door flew open and a half dozen rambunctious puppies spilled   out, yipping and squabbling as they came, with Madam close on their   heels.

Behind them, Isabella appeared in the doorway and cut loose with a   shriek to end all shrieks. She took off at a flat run and arrowed   straight for Annalise. His wife released his hand and knelt, cushioning   Isabella's landing in a loving embrace.

"Hello, Baby Belle," Annalise greeted her daughter with a tearful laugh.

Isabella twined her twig-thin arms around Annalise's neck and buried her   face in the soft crook between neck and shoulder. Jack found he had to   swallow hard at the sight. Isabella pulled back and spared him a  brief,  nervous glance. He gave an encouraging nod, praying for a  miracle. And  then it happened.

With a shy look, Isabella said, "Hi, Mommy."