CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THEOSTAREDDOWN at the divorce papers that had just been delivered overnight to his Paris office. Along with Emmie’s diamond engagement ring.
Emmie hadn’t gotten a high-powered attorney to fight for her rights, as she should have done. These papers looked like something she’d printed off the internet. She didn’t ask for the penthouse or any other residence. She wanted no alimony, not even the million dollars the prenup had entitled her to. She asked only for two things: child support, which he was already legally required to pay. And the used minivan he’d bought on impulse in Queens.
Closing his eyes, he exhaled. It was so Emmie. She wouldn’t protect herself, so he’d do it for her. He’d tell his own shark of a lawyer to give her more than she’d asked for. Far, far more.
It had been two months since he’d left her in the hospital, and though he’d immediately returned to Paris and tried to bury himself in work, he still felt her absence, every second, every moment. For the first few days after he’d abandoned her, she’d tried to call and left messages. Then she’d abruptly stopped. Emmie finally must have accepted what they both knew to be true.
But he hoped she was happy. God, how he prayed she was, her and his son. He’d almost reached out to Wilson, the penthouse’s butler, just to confirm Emmie and the baby were all right. But he hadn’t. He was barely holding on as it was. He had to make a clean break.
Theo was looking at that clean break right now. Holding it in his hands. All he had to do was forward the divorce papers to his lawyer in New York to get the ball rolling.
Divorce.It was what Theo had wanted. Wasn’t it? So why didn’t he feel at peace? Why did he feel like punching the wall?
“Stop—wait—you can’t go in there,” his elderly secretary protested in French.
“Try and stop me,” came the pert response in the same language, and suddenly the door to his private office was flung open, and his sister strode in. Sofia’s eyes lit up when she saw him. “Thank heaven I caught you. I need you to take my present with you.”
What was she talking about? He stared at her as his secretary came in, clearly discomfited.
“I’m sorry, monsieur, she—”
“It’s all right, Gertrude.” Theo gestured for his secretary to close the door. After she left, he lifted an eyebrow at Sofia. “You couldn’t call first?”
“I tried that. You always ignore my calls when you’re at work.”
Through the window, he could see the gray rain over Paris, the eternal traffic around the Arc de Triomphe. “I call you back eventually.”
“You take too long.” With a tsk, Sofia sat down in the hard chair across his desk. “And even then, you’re too busy to talk. Sensible people go out to dinner with friends and enjoy life. You just work, exercise and sleep!”
“That is how I enjoy my life.” But even as Theo spoke those words, he knew he was lying. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed anything. Even Paris’s famous cuisine tasted like ash in his mouth.
“Nobody could enjoy the life you live. Spending two months away from your wife and child! It’s lucky for you I’m here to make sure you’re not utterly miserable.” His little sister smiled at him, and for a moment he almost smiled back.
He’d never intended to have a regular relationship with Sofia. But since she’d returned to Paris last month, after a summer traveling the world, she’d absolutely refused to take his hints that he’d prefer to be left alone. No. She showed up at his hotel room and suggested a stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg. She’d twice phoned him in a panic, once claiming her date had abandoned her and later that her purse had been stolen, and when he arrived in a rush, he’d found her smiling like a cat with a canary feather hanging from its mouth, standing in front of a chic restaurant, where she’d gotten them reservations. “It’s the only way you’d come,” she explained. As if that excused it!
For the last two months, no matter how hard Theo tried to push her away, Sofia had persisted.
“That’s love.”
He heard the words as if Emmie had spoken them in his ear.
Theo sucked in his breath. No. He couldn’t let himself think that way. Not now. Not after everything he’d done—
“So, what do you want?” he demanded now.
“Not much, big brother.” Sofia sat back in her chair serenely. “Just a small favor. Very small.”
She’d really changed since they’d left Lyra, he thought. The young woman looking at him now, in her red lipstick and chic little suit, had deep self-confidence and a determined glint in her eye. She’d come into her own. But no wonder, when... He did mental arithmetic. He was almost forty. That meant Sofia was almost thirty.
How the hell did that happen?
“What favor?” he growled.
“It’s nothing.” She placed a small blue box on his desk. “Just this.”
Theo stared down at the wrapped present with its big blue bow. “What the hell is that?”
Sofia sighed. “I got your wife’s invitation. I meant to RSVP weeks ago but then got caught up with my new job at the museum. Also, I’ve been seeing someone, and...” She snorted. “Why am I explaining? You understand. You always wait till the last minute. I was counting on it when I came here.”
“Emmie invited you to a party?” Theo was bewildered.
She rolled her eyes. “I felt bad about ignoring her when we were in Lyra, so I decided to blow her away at the shower.” Smiling down proudly at her wrapped gift, she confided, “They’re little blue baby booties I knitted myself.” Lifting a manicured hand high in the air, she pretended to do a mic drop. “Now, that’s how you make amends. But I didn’t finish making them till last night, and by then, even the fastest shipping wouldn’t make it in time. Then I remembered you were still in Paris. I must say, sometimes it’s nice to have a workaholic brother with his own plane.” She grinned, rising to her feet. “Thanks, big brother. I really appreciate this.”
“She’s having a baby shower.” He’d gotten that much.
“Yes.” Frowning at him, she spoke with exaggerated slowness, as if explaining something simple to someone not so bright. “And I need you to bring it with you when you fly to New York today. For the party tonight.”
His throat suddenly hurt. “Sorry. I’m not going.”
“Of course you’re going. The invitation said coed. I assumed you were the reason. Emmie wanted you to be there.” Her brow furrowed. “Are you really not going?”
Theo felt a hard twist in his chest. He cleared his throat.
“I’m too busy to leave Paris at the moment.” To prove it, he moved the cursor vaguely around his computer screen. “We’re about to break ground on our project. The biggest in central Paris in decades. That doesn’t leave much time to loll around eating cake with friends.”
Sofia looked at him pityingly. “I see.”
And that was just it. He was afraid she did see.
Theo rose to his feet. “I’m sorry I can’t take your gift personally, but my secretary will arrange it to be sent in time by express courier. Where’s the party?”
“A friend of hers is hosting. Some beach house in the Hamptons.”
Beach house. That meant Honora and Nico. His closest friends, other than Emmie. He felt a razor blade in his throat.
Pushing papers around his desk, he said hoarsely, “Thanks for coming by, but I have a lot of work to do...”
Sofia didn’t move. She was staring at those papers. “Theo.”
He followed her gaze to Emmie’s diamond ring resting on the divorce papers.
“Emmie’s leaving you?” Sofia breathed. She looked up. “What happened?”
He set his jaw, looking away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You can’t have broken up. Why?”
Turning from his desk, Theo went to the large arched window and looked out at the gray drizzle of Paris. Leaning his arm against the glass, he looked down at the busy lanes of traffic swarming around the Arc de Triomphe. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to say, “Emmie and I realized we weren’t suited for marriage. It was a mutual decision.”
“No way.” His sister’s voice was incredulous. “The woman I met in Lyra was totally in love with you.”
Theo set his jaw. For a moment, he thought of ordering her out.
But this was his little sister. Was he really going to shut her out of his life? Now, after everything?
He’d lost Emmie, who’d been his best friend, first as his secretary, then as his wife. He figured he’d lost Nico and Honora, too. He didn’t want to hear their criticism, so he hadn’t returned their messages. He’d left them as gifts to Emmie, along with his penthouse, his cars, his fortune.
And his son. He suddenly realized he didn’t even know the boy’s name. The only way he’d survived the last two months was by avoiding knowing.
Cold. He had to stay cold.
But as he folded his arms, he was suddenly sweating in his tailored suit. “She’s better-off without me. You know what I am.”
“What are you?”
Theo stared at her bleakly.
“A murderer,” he whispered.
Sofia came forward, her eyes wide. “No.”
“She died because of me.”
“Mama made her choice. You tried to save her, you tried. But she chose him over us. Over and over.”
“I should have found a way.” His voice caught. As he sank into his desk chair, his eyes were stinging.
His sister put her hand on his shoulder. “You were only fifteen, and you saved us—both of us. Because of you, I had a good life. You sacrificed everything for me,” she said quietly. “Don’t you remember?”
“No.” The emotions he’d repressed for decades seemed to be whirling around him, making him dizzy. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He yanked off his silk tie.
“After Mama died, Mrs. Samaras wanted to take me in. But I wouldn’t go there without you. I clung to you. The social worker was going to send both of us to the orphanage instead. Then you took me aside and said I had to go with nice Mrs. Samaras. You said I’d be warm and loved with plenty to eat. You told me you had somewhere wonderful to live, too. It was only later I realized you were lying. You were alone.”
Theo stared at her. In the brutal aftermath of the fire, he’d wanted to cling to his baby sister, too. She’d been his only family left. But he’d known Sofia would have a better life if she was adopted by Eleni Samaras, a childless widow who baked fresh bread in her tidy kitchen and had a garden full of flowers and chickens.
He closed his eyes. “You were young, innocent. The fire wasn’t your fault.”
“It wasn’t yours, either. You still ended up starving on the street.” Her hand covered his. “You’ve watched out for me your whole life. Protecting me from my father. Finding me a home. Sending me to college. Even letting me butt in, when you returned to Lyra and wanted to demolish the house alone. You’ve always put me first.” She took a deep breath. “Mama taught us all the wrong things about love. But Theo...you showed me what the best of love could be.”
Theo stared at her, shocked into silence.
His sister smiled. “It’s why I’m taking you to dinner next week. To tell you about the man I’ve met.” She blushed. “It’s getting serious. He’s going to ask me to marry him. And I’m going to say yes.”
“Sofia...”
She grinned. “So expect a phone call from me soon, with me in a fluster about my Fiat getting a flat tire. Right in front of a very nice two-star tavern in the Septième.” Her smile faded, even as her eyes shone in the gray light of the Paris office. “Because I finally found a man who can live up to my brother. The kindest, strongest, most loving man in the world. A man who protects those he loves. At any cost.”
Theo’s heart was pounding. The way his sister described him was so different than how he saw himself. Not a monster? A hero?
He was the one who’d taught Sofia how to love?
“Love means putting the other person ahead of yourself,” he said slowly, repeating the words of his wife.
Sofia smiled through her tears. “Exactly.”
Against his will, Theo pictured Emmie, imagining her holding their child tenderly, singing a low lullaby. He could see her beautiful, luminous face.
What did their baby look like now, at two months?
Would he suddenly be thirty, and a man—turning into an adult, as Sofia had suddenly, when Theo wasn’t paying attention?
Had Emmie moved on, too, since he’d left? Had she given up on Theo and found a better man? Had she found a replacement father for their son?
Theo suddenly felt like he was on fire. He yanked off his tailored jacket, dropping it to the floor. Dripping with sweat, he unbuttoned the collar of his shirt.
“Emmie doesn’t want me,” he whispered. “I’m not good enough for her. Or our baby.”
“If she thought that, why would she name the baby after you?”
He froze. “What?”
Digging into her purse, Sofia produced an invitation. “See?”
He snatched it up. Decorated with baby animals, the invitation listed the party details, along with the baby’s weight, length, and name. Theodore Karl Katrakis. Emmie had named their child after him.
He knew his wife loved their baby more than her own life. Why would she name her adored son after the man who’d deserted them?
Was it possible she still loved him? Believed in him? In spite of everything he’d done to drive her away?
Love means putting the other person ahead of yourself.
Theo looked up with an intake of breath. His heart was racing like a motor as he turned to the divorce papers sitting beneath the cold sparkle of Emmie’s diamond ring.
Was it too late?
Looking around his elegant cream-colored office with the oil paintings, he realized he’d been lying to himself about what he was doing in Paris.
All this time, he’d told himself he was pursuing his big dream, building a real-estate development blending mixed-use retail, housing and green space that would be his legacy.
The truth was the real thing he’d been building in Paris was a wall around his heart. Around himself.
The only way to be free was to let himself feel.
Forget being cold. Forget being strong.
The only way to live was to let himself love her.
Theo looked up with a gasp.
“I have to go,” he told his sister, and grabbing the gift, he ran for the door.
The autumn evening was fresh and clear and cool. The sprawling terrace of the Ferraros’ beachside mansion, with a view of the Atlantic, had been elaborately decorated for a baby shower, with colorful lights hanging across the trees with yellow and orange leaves, heaters between the tables to keep them warm.
Emmie had dressed up a bit for the occasion, beyond her usual T-shirt and jeans, wearing a soft pink dress that was comfortable and flattering to her still-curvaceous figure. Her hair was in a casual ponytail, but at least it was freshly washed. Her only makeup was tinted lip balm. She’d never win any beauty contests but she didn’t need to. She didn’t need to prove anything to anybody. She was Bear’s mother, and Karl’s daughter, and good with numbers, and a hard worker. She baked really good fika pastries, too, from her mother’s recipes. Being on her own for the last two months, she’d had two choices: either collapse in despair or decide she was okay, just as she was. She had a baby to look after. So she’d decided to be okay.
“Thank you all for coming,” Honora said as Nico left to put their yawning toddler Kara and baby Ivy to bed, and their household staff cleared the dinner plates from the tables. “Now—who’s ready for some shower games?”
Honora was in her element as hostess. Now visibly pregnant, she’d welcomed them with her husband and young children, Honora’s grandfather and his wife. Emmie’s father was there, of course, and all four of her brothers, even Daniel, who’d flown all the way from Tulsa. Sam had also brought his girlfriend, Imani. Things were getting serious there.
Surrounded by her friends and family, Emmie had forced herself to smile all night till her cheeks hurt, pretending she was enjoying herself. She wanted to.
She’d told Honora she wanted men allowed at her baby shower, which was traditionally a female affair, because she wanted her father and brothers there. Secretly, Emmie had hoped for a miracle. But by the time they’d mailed out the invitations last month, she’d realized how ridiculous her hope was, and she’d thrown Theo’s invitation in the trash.
She needed to stop hoping. Longing for him, waiting for him, crying for him. Hope was poisoning her. She’d always love Theo. But he didn’t love her. He didn’t want to be married to her. He’d made that clear.
She had to let him go.
So two days ago, she’d filled out the divorce papers. She wondered how he’d reacted when he’d gotten them yesterday in Paris. She assumed he’d been relieved. She’d given him exactly what he wanted.
As October twilight fell across the ocean, Emmie surreptitiously wiped her eyes. She had to believe there was a better life waiting for her. She couldn’t settle for unhappiness. She’d take inspiration from Harold Eklund, the elderly plumber she’d nearly married last June. She’d seen him in Queens last week, and he’d told her he was engaged to Luly Olsen, of the outrageous hats.
“I thought with my wife gone, I could never be happy again,” he told Emmie. “I was going to settle for second best. But now, Luly and I...we’re so in love. I guess it’s never too late.”
Emmie was glad for him. She didn’t even mind being referred to as second best because for Harold, that’s exactly what she’d been. Without love, what was the point?
Bear gurgled happily nearby from his bouncy seat, and she focused back on her baby with a smile. But her throat still ached. Had she done the right thing?
“Are you happy, sweetheart?” her father asked quietly beside her. “Truly?”
She watched as her brothers bobbed for pacifiers—instead of apples—with the intense rivalry of a party game. Daniel rose from the bucket of water triumphantly with a pacifier in his teeth, his whole head wet.
Emmie smiled, though her heart was hurting. She took a deep breath. “Actually, Dad, I’m thinking of moving back to Queens.”
“Really?” He looked astonished, then delighted. “What about the penthouse in Manhattan?”
“It’s a little too fancy.” She’d been lonely there since Theo left. High up in the sky, far from human contact, the huge triplex had felt isolating, imprisoning, not luxurious. “I’d rather get an apartment near you. Maybe I can set up to do bookkeeping, taxes and payroll for the neighborhood. I could work and still keep Bear with me.”
“That sounds wonderful, honey. But...”
“But?”
Karl hesitated. “If you’re moving to Queens, that must mean Theo, he...” He licked his lips. “The two of you, you’re not...”
“No,” she whispered, staring at her cup of punch. “We’re not.”
Her father took a deep breath, then reached for her hand. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“Me, too.” But Emmie did her best to smile, for the sake of the people she loved, who’d gone to so much trouble to celebrate her and Bear.
He was the best baby in the world, especially since he’d learned how to sleep five hours at a time at night. Always smiley—though, some uncharitable souls might declare it mere gas—he was growing plumper and more adorable by the day. She tried not to notice Theo’s features in his face. Bear was his own person. And already the light of her life.
As they ate delicate little cakes and drank coffee, the wind grew cold off the Atlantic. In spite of the heat lamps, Emmie shivered in her dress and light cardigan in the autumn evening. If only things had been different. If only Theo could have been here, his handsome face smiling, his powerful arm over her shoulders.
Sitting on the cushioned furniture on the decorated terrace of the beach house, Emmie opened gifts for her baby, thanked her family and friends and didn’t let herself cry.
“What’s going on with Theo, Emmie?” Vince asked suddenly. Her eldest brother was sitting beneath a nearby heat lamp, holding her sleeping baby in his arms. He winced at their father’s sharp glare, but persisted. “Why isn’t he here?”
“Is your marriage over?” her brother Joe asked.
A lump rose in Emmie’s throat. There was no point in hiding it from everyone. Even if it cast a pall over the evening, getting the truth out in the open would help her finally make a fresh start. Taking a deep breath, Emmie said slowly, “You might as well know... Theo and I—”
“Am I too late?”
Emmie’s breath caught as she turned her head.
Theo stood in the doorway of the house, coming out onto the terrace. His tailored dark suit was wrinkled and rumpled, but somehow he’d never looked more handsome. The night breeze off the Atlantic ruffled his dark hair, as his black eyes met hers.
“Theo!” Honora hugged him, and Nico shook his hand.
But he had eyes only for Emmie. He came toward her where she sat on the sofa beneath the round, colorful lights swaying in the dark trees.
Heart pounding, she looked up at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I brought you something.” Pulling a small, beautifully wrapped present from his jacket pocket, he placed it in her hands. Trying to ignore the way she’d shivered at his touch—the night was cold—she unwrapped the package.
Inside, she found lumpy blue baby booties, clearly homemade. She looked up with an intake of breath.
“From Sofia,” he explained.
Emmie told herself she’d treasure the gift from Bear’s aunt, of course she would, but even so, she felt a swell of bitter disappointment. Licking her lips, she set the booties aside. “Thank you. It was kind of her.” Then she frowned at him. “You flew here just to deliver it for her? All the way from Paris?” It seemed strange that Theo had agreed to such an errand.
“That wasn’t the only reason,” Theo said softly.
“Why...?” Suddenly she knew. “Oh. Of course. You came to New York to see your lawyer. About the divorce.”
There was an intake of breath from friends and family at the word divorce. Theo didn’t seem to notice or care. His dark eyes burned through her.
“Is there someone else, Emmie? Is that why you want it to end?”
Her jaw tightened as she said coldly, “I’m not the one who wanted it to end, Theo.” Her gaze fell on Bear, snuggled in her brother’s arms on a nearby chair. “But yes. There’s someone else.”
Another gasp. Theo staggered back a step on the shadowy terrace. As he rubbed his eyes, the plain gold band on his left hand gleamed in the lights.
“I... I really didn’t think...” For a moment, he seemed unable to speak. Then he shook his head. “Good for you,” he said hollowly. He forced a smile. “You deserve to be happy, Emmie. You deserve all the love in the world.”
His handsome face was miserable. And suddenly, even after everything, it was hard for her to see him in pain.
Taking a deep breath, she straightened her spine. She didn’t know what he was doing here, but she wasn’t going to be his puppet, falling at his feet whenever he deigned to appear.
He’d made his choice. Now he could live with it.
“I know I do,” she said coldly. “So does Bear.”
“Bear?”he said guardedly.
Rising to her feet, Emmie collected their baby from her brother and brought him to her husband beneath the swaying lights. “It’s our nickname for him.”
“Bear.” Theo exhaled, looking down at their baby in her arms, who was more adorable than ever in fuzzy footie pajamas. He cleared his throat, his expression oddly vulnerable as he said, “My sister’s invitation said you named him after me.”
Was that why Theo had come? To give her a hard time for their baby’s name?
“Yes, well,” Emmie glanced wryly at her father, who snorted and rolled his eyes, “Theodore is a lot of name for a baby. I started calling him Teddy. Then Dad called him Teddy Bear...”
“Then just Bear,” Karl replied, smiling between his daughter and grandson, before glaring at his son-in-law.
“Bear. I like it.” Theo looked at the baby. The infant now regarded his father with equal interest, and with the same black eyes. He said in wonder, “He’s gotten so much bigger already.”
“I know.”
Theo licked his lips. She was staring at his mouth when she heard him say shyly, “Can I hold him?”
“Of course.” Theo wanted to hold their baby? Trying to calm the pounding of her heart, telling herself this didn’t mean anything, she helped him take the baby, showing him how to support his head.
As Theo held him, Emmie saw a swirl of emotion on her husband’s handsome face she’d never seen before. Adoration. Fear. And something else. Something more...
“Thank you, Emmie.” Theo looked up, and to her astonishment she saw a suspicious sheen in his eyes. “Even though our marriage is over, I’ll always be grateful that you’re his mother. The best woman in the world,” he said softly. He swallowed. “I’ll sign your divorce papers. But even if you love someone else now, I intend to be Bear’s father. I’ll always be there for him from now on.” Looking at her with haunted yearning, he whispered, “And I’ll always be here for you. For anything.”
The look he gave her went far beyond desire. The floor suddenly trembled beneath Emmie’s shoes. What was happening?
“It’s Bear,” she blurted out. “He’s my someone else.”
Theo blinked. His brow furrowed. “What?”
“The other man in my life now. It’s Bear. Just Bear.”
Her husband sucked in his breath, his wide black eyes searching hers. “Is it really true?”
Emmie lifted her chin. “But I still don’t understand what you’re doing here. Why you came all the way from Paris.”
All her friends and family were staring between them in a breathless hush beneath the colorful lights leaving latticed shadows of the half-bare trees in the autumn night. In the distance, she could hear the roar of the surf. Or was it the pounding of her heart?
Theo stepped forward, his dark eyes piercing her soul. “Is there a chance, Emmie?” he whispered. “Do I still have a chance?”
She trembled, caught by his gaze. Afraid to say a word. Afraid this was all a dream.
“Because if I thought I had a chance, I’d...”
“You’d what?” she said softly.
He took a shuddering breath. “I’d throw myself at your feet.”
“Get the baby,” her father muttered, and Nico discreetly plucked Bear out of Theo’s arms.
Her husband turned to face her. And as he came forward, taking both her hands in his own, everyone and everything else around them vanished. She saw only him.
“Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life,” he said in a low voice. “For all my life, I’ve been scared to love anyone. The day we wed, I was terrified out of my mind.”
Her jaw dropped. Theo Katrakis admitting fear? Aloud? In front of all her family and friends?
“Because I already knew what would happen,” he continued. “I knew I’d fall in love with you. That I already had.”
“What?” breathed Emmie. What had he said?
His hands tightened over hers. “What if I gave you my heart and you left? What if you died? What if I couldn’t be the man you wanted? I didn’t think I could survive it. So I tried my hardest to be like ice. To never let you in.”
She was afraid to breathe. “And?”
His dark eyes flickered. Raising his hand, he stroked her cheek. “Your love melted my defenses,” he whispered. “You left me bare. When you went into labor, I felt helpless. Powerless. I felt panicked and ashamed. So I left you.” His gaze fell on Bear, cuddled in Nico’s arms. “Both of you.”
Remembering that awful day, Emmie closed her eyes, feeling a painful twist in her heart. “You hurt me.”
“I know. I’ll never forgive myself. And I’ve been punished every day since. I ran away to be a big shot in Paris. To follow my so-called dream. And I learned something important.”
“What?”
He took a deep breath. “The whole world is a wasteland without you. No matter how many palaces or gardens I build. Without the woman I love...this earth is as empty as my heart.”
His voice cracked. He looked down at their intertwined hands. Then, as he’d threatened, he fell to his knees before her.
“Give me a chance to win you back, Emmie,” he whispered, pressing her hand against his rough, unshaven cheek. “Tell me I have a chance to regain your trust. Whether it takes weeks or months. Years. All I ask is that you let me try.” He looked up at her, and his eyes were luminous with tears. “Because I’m utterly, completely in love with you.”
Emmie gasped. She heard her friends and family do the same.
“I love you, Emmie. And it’s true what I said. You deserve a better man that me.” He pressed his forehead to her clasped hands in a medieval, almost holy, gesture of fealty. “But if you give me the chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be the man you deserve.”
Beyond the terrace, beyond the shadows of autumn trees with their hanging lights, Emmie saw the sweep of moonlight over the black Atlantic waves. Could she forgive him? Could she let him back into her life—back into her heart?
A dozen people waited breathlessly for her answer. She closed her eyes, hearing the soft whir of the heat lamps, the call of seagulls in the cold October night.
Then she exhaled, opening her eyes. Reaching down, she pulled him to his feet. “I’ve always known you were a pain, Theo.” Tears overflowed her lashes as she gave him a slow-rising smile. “And I’ve always known you’re worth it.”
He searched her gaze with an intake of breath. “Yes?”
“I never stopped hoping for a miracle. I never stopped loving you, Theo—”
“Oh, my darling,” he whispered and pulled her into his arms. For a long moment, he just held her tight. Emmie closed her eyes, her cheek against his chest. She breathed in the scent of him, woodsy and masculine, and she felt like she’d finally come home.
“Kiss her!” someone yelled.
Lifting his head, Theo looked back with a grin at their friends and family. “I was thinking the same thing.”
And he lowered his head to hers in a kiss of pure fire. Emmie dimly heard the wild roar of the surf, echoing the rush of blood in her veins, as his hot, sensual embrace told her everything she needed to know, pledging love forever...or maybe longer.
Their baby son, held too tightly by Nico, gave an indignant squawk. Theo and Emmie pulled apart with a laugh and reached to bring their son into their arms.
“I love you,” Theo told his son, then he cupped Emmie’s cheek. “And I love you, Emmie.”
Around them, friends and family cheered, as if they had just turned from the altar, newly wed.
And that was how it felt to Emmie. Except instead of a bridal bouquet, Emmie held their baby. Instead of a glitzy diamond ring, she held her husband’s powerful hand in her own. Instead of words vowing to love and cherish, she saw the promise in Theo’s dark eyes.
And in that moment Emmie knew she’d be loved, seen and adored for the rest of her life. All her dreams, especially the ones she’d believed could never come true, were all around her.