“Kate, please,” Jack gasped.
She scooted back to Jack. “Don’t talk. Lie still. The ambulance will be here any second.”
He took hold of her T-shirt and pulled her head down to his mouth. “She was taking me with her. Your dad was going to take you. We could have been brother and sister.”
More blood trickled from his mouth and she wiped it away with her fingers.
“I wanted to love you, Katie.”
For the first time, Kate saw truth in his eyes. “I know you did.”
“Tell the kid…I tried.” Jack reached for her stomach but his fingers fell away.
His eyes were still open, but Kate knew he was dead.
She slid back to Nathan and took hold of his hand. “Don’t die.” Tears she’d been holding back, poured down her face.
“I’m trying not to.”
“Try harder.”
He gave her a little smile.
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Epilogue
A year later.
“Nathan, your turn.”
He rolled over, swung his feet out of bed, and stumbled over to Kristen.
“Hey, how can you be awake again? It isn’t five minutes since your mommy fed you, changed you, and gave you a cuddle. Only four hours since she did some of that for me.”
He leaned over the crib and picked up the baby. She stopped crying.
“You’re spoiled,” he whispered. “You need to let Mommy get some sleep.
Daddy needs sleep too, otherwise I get crotchety.” Kate watched as Nathan bent his head and kissed their daughter. Jack’s name was on the birth certificate and one day they’d tell her something about her birth father, but not the whole truth. Kate could still hardly believe it when she woke up in the morning next to Nathan. He proposed the day he left the hospital, and she’d thought her heart would burst.
Nathan’s father had talked her into accepting Don Thompson’s fortune. Kate gave money to Charlie’s family. The remains of his body had eventually been found and she’d gone to his funeral. She broke down when his family embraced her. Broke down too when she’d gone to see Jeannie who’d tried so hard to help her. Kate made sure she went to see her every week. Detective Luke Foster said he couldn’t take money, but he’d taken the invite to the wedding and brought a female colleague.
Most of the money went into a trust fund for Kristen. When she was twenty-one, she’d be a wealthy young woman. Kate insisted on paying for Nathan to go to college, too. They’d go together. Kate studying physics part-time and Nathan law, full-time.
Kate accepted she’d never know if her mother had been killed by Jack or had committed suicide. She suspected the latter. Jack told so many lies it was impossible to be sure of anything.
As the baby dropped off to sleep, Nathan laid her down in her crib and slunk back to bed.
Kate put her arms around him. “Kristen always does everything you want,” she said. “She’d much rather it was you that rocked her to sleep. She likes it when you feed her and play with her. You must have a magic touch.”
“I’m not falling for that. It’s your turn next.” She pressed her lips against his ear, and Nathan let out a quiet groan. “Maybe I could be persuaded.”
Kate smiled. “My hero.”
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
Barbara Elsborg lives in West Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed that to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide. After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.
She writes sizzling erotic romances, both contemporary and paranormal. She also writes dark suspense stories.
Visit Barbara online at: www.barbaraelsborg.com
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