As soon as she came up on the porch, Leslie Anne gave her grandfather a peck on the cheek. “Where’s my iced tea?”
“Coming right up,” Aunt Sharon said as she brought a tray of iced tea glasses out on the porch.
Dante squatted beside Tessa and laid his hand over her stomach. “How’s my boy doing? Still using mommy as a punching bag?” As if on cue, their son began squirming. Dante rose up and over Tessa, then leaned down and kissed her belly.
“Would you two like to be alone?” Leslie Anne asked jokingly. “I can take the old folks into town to do some shopping.”
Sharon set the tray on the wicker table, then swatted Leslie Anne’s behind. “Old folks indeed. I’ll have you know that I have a date tonight with a darling young man not a day over thirty. And he’s bringing his mama along for G.W.”
Everyone laughed. Aunt Sharon would never change and they loved her just the way she was.
“Does he have a younger brother?” Leslie Anne asked.
“If he does, he has to pass inspection,” Dante said. “You know the rules. No boy dates my daughter without my approval.”
Leslie Anne groaned. “Daddy, you’ve scared off every boy in Fairport. Can’t you leave the boys here on the island alone?”
“Not on your life,” Dante told her.
Tessa reached up and dragged Dante into the hammock with her. “You three go shopping. And don’t rush back. Stay all afternoon. Dante and I can amuse ourselves.”
“I believe that’s our cue to leave.” Sharon motioned to the others, then turned around and went back inside the beach house. As soon as Leslie Anne and G.W. followed her, Dante cuddled close to Tessa. She turned so that they lay face-to-face, then she kissed him.
“I love you, Mr. Moran,” she said.
“And I love you, Mrs. Moran.” He patted her belly. “And I love this baby and our daughter and G.W. and Aunt Sharon. Heck, I love the whole damn world.”
As they lay there in the hammock, a tropical breeze caressing them, they held each other. Not one day went by that they didn’t thank God for their good fortune. They were blessed. Truly blessed. They’d been handed not one, but two miracles. A love that had been lost to them had been reborn, stronger than ever. And a child had found her true father.
Life is good, Tessa thought. Oh, yes, life is good.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4600-7
WORTH DYING FOR
Copyright © 2004 by Beverly Beaver
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