The Doctor's Secret Bride(120)
Michelle settled more comfortably into his arms again. “I really thought I’d lost you that night when Bridget answered the phone. I knew you would make love to a woman only if you were in love with her.”
“And that’s the honest truth, my angel.” Erik’s lips gently brushed the bridge of her nose. “I never touched Bridget Ashley.” He paused. “She told me what she said to you at the mall. I apologize for her unkind words.”
“You can tell her I say there are no hard feelings there. Everybody was competing for somebody else’s love. All’s fair in love and war.”
“Precious told me she had seen you that day at the mall. She showed me the doll you bought her. She also said you were getting fat, but I was too stupid to put two and two together. He smiled and pressed his palm against her as the baby leaped in her womb again. “He’s an active little fellow, isn’t he?”
Michelle chuckled and placed her fingers through his as she marveled at the constant thumping of their child inside her. “He’s happy to hear his father’s voice.”
“That must be it.” Erik smiled. “He probably wants to know what my intentions are towards his mother, and I don’t want to keep him waiting. We only have two weeks.”
“For what?”
“To get married before he arrives. I should also tell you that I’m returning to Granite Falls,” he said with a cautious tint to his voice.
“I know. Mrs. Hayes told me you put the Amherst house on the market.”
“It hasn’t sold yet. My parents want Precious and me to move in with them, but I went ahead and put down a deposit on a home in Granite Falls. I guess somewhere in the back of my mind, I was hoping we’d get back together eventually, and I wanted you to have your own home. Perhaps I should have waited since you’ll have to give it your stamp of approval before we make any final decisions,” he added.
“Tell me about it.”
“It’s three stories. The third floor is ours, and it’s soundproof.”
She chuckled. “We need soundproof. I don’t know how I’m going to face my neighbors tomorrow. They’ve never heard these kinds of noises coming from this unit before. Well, not since I moved in here.”
Erik laughed. “I’m sure they’ll understand. Anyway, the house is on Crystal Lake. In addition to the master suite, it has seven bedrooms and six bathrooms, a white picket fence and a huge back yard for our seven children to play in.”
“Sounds perfect.”
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“Would you go with me, then? I know you have the center and the kids.”
“I’ll go with you.” Michelle brushed the pad of her thumb back and forth across his lips. “My work here is done. I got the kids a new center. I published my first book. My place is with you and our children. I love what I’ve already seen of Granite Falls. I want all our babies to be born and raised there. I’m ready for a fresh new start. Besides, their grandparents are there. I want Philippe and Felicia to play active roles in their lives.”
Tears filled his eyes. He drew her close and kissed her. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Erik, I need to tell you something, and I hope you won’t get mad at me.”
“Nothing could ever make me mad at you again.”
“Well, when we were in Granite Falls, I asked Precious about her maternal grandparents. She told me that her grandpa died before she was born, but that she doesn’t see her grandma because she’s sick. What’s going on?”
He was quiet for a long moment and when she thought he would never answer, he said in a gravelly voice, “Cassie’s mother is in a mental institution in Connecticut.”
Michelle closed her eyes and her mouth. Anything she said would sound trivial.
“She’s been there for several years, long before Cassie died. She hears voices. After her father died, Cassie had to commit her to keep her from hurting herself. Anyway, shortly after Cassie’s death, I took Precious to visit her. It was horrible. Being in that scary depressing place and seeing all those sick people was too much for her. She had nightmares. I’ve never taken her back. But I still go down to see Sarah from time to time, even though she doesn’t know I’m there. She has no other family. Cassie was her only child.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Life’s a crapshoot and we have to play the hand fate deals us. I mean, you had a horrible childhood, but you survived to be here with me, give me a second shot at happiness.”
“Erik, I know that a special part of your heart will always belong to Cassie. I’m not jealous of that. I just want to know that I have the best and the most of what’s left.”