hlia's excited call snapped

e once-empty courtyard now

re scarf casually draped, and impeccably

atures effortlessly handsome, and his calm gaze

n her hand resting protectively on her

urprise and something complex

hat she was four months pre

to freeze a step-like a mischievous child caught red-handed-bit

red touch grazed her wrist th

the man before her, her voice

hought: What could she possibly justify? The child inside her was the product

ars and married for three, yet G

back when she'd learned he was leavi

sence, she had resorted to administering a

, biting her lip to keep her

reached for Ophelia's hand

nd you're-' His gaze flickered to her stomach before he

s breath

her chest. 'G-Gideon, you... y

r inside, his touch impersonal,

, 'The forecast says heavy snow tomorrow. Ma

was

urance. Just a prac

ope in her ch

*

rapping the Garnett est

ceiling. Except tonight, for the fi

s his b

te rooms. Gideon made th

spent a night in this bed was because she

k. And he hadn'

nancy softened him? Or was it just

t the reason. She ca

or too long. His presence, even if d

hand, hesitated, t

o say someth

exhaustion in his eyes. The weariness pressed into his

ted. Then sh

han another unan

*

the nightmar

dding-the grand spectacle sh

t she didn't believe his engagement was real. That she would never stop unless she was convinced that Gid

Fed him enough half-truth

Gideon

icent. A grand affair,

e aisle, marrying a man whose heart she had

od by the window, looking out over the ci

light traced the sharp angles of his face-bre

he told her. 'I won't lov

tter. 'You're a doctor. You save

dn't

he didn'

the newlywed

was soaked

away, one stubborn, unshake

e me because I

elieve he was in

r, she didn't

, she stil

had to be her fault, someth

he t

d water-learned to cook. She burned her hands,

n, even though she had never

e, so she bought a house f

s she had brought with her, keepi

r was miserab

n built a swing in

is own

t. Begged, really. But the fa

he thought-maybe, just maybe