Page 11 of One Night Diamond

A sob bursts out of her. She crushes her face into my chest. “I…I…think it was better…” she hiccups, “when you hated me.”

“I never hated you.” I hold her tight.

Lilah sprints across the floor. “Mummy, why are you crying?”

Darla wipes tears from her face. “Weddings make me cry, peanut.”

“Oohhh. I get it. Weddings make you cry ‘cause you wished my father asked you to marry him.”

My feet stop moving. “Is that so?”

“Yup. She told me a gazillion times.” Lilah nods.

Darla’s eyes widen in horror.

Warm waves of heat roll through my stomach as hope winds through my bones and straight to my heart. I look down at Lilah, shift my eyes to Darla, then back at Lilah.

My girls.

Damn, this twister of emotions I’m riding is going to kill me.

One minute, I’m ready to commit murder; the next, my heart is ripped out of my body, bleeding on the ground, and now it’s beating so hard inside my chest that I can barely breathe.

These are my girls.

I swing an arm out. “Come on, Lilah. Let’s dance.”

She giggles, puts her arms around us, and grins. “This is the best vacation ever.”

As I hold Darla and Lilah close, I can’t stop smiling.

Lilah might just be right.

This might turn out to be the best vacation ever.

Chapter Seven - Darla

Last night, before we left the luau, I promised Gage that I would tell Lilah the truth about who he was. He wanted to be here when I told her. But I worried that if she didn’t take the news well, he would be hurt again. And I’d already hurt him enough for a thousand lifetimes. So, after a lot of talking, he finally agreed I should be the one to tell her.

I sigh, close my eyes, and try to mentally prepare myself for whatever happens. When I get my pulse to slow down, I open my eyes and put a smile on my face. “What’d you say? Shall we do your hair?”

Lilah grabs her neon pink hairbrush and some hair ties from the bathroom sink. “Can we use these?”

“Yes.” She sits at me feet. “Did you have fun last night, peanut?” I run a brush through her soft golden hair.

“Yes, it was a lot of fun. Can we go to the beach today?”

I weave her hair into a braid, sighing on the inside. Pretty soon she won’t need me to do her hair for her. “We sure can. But after your surprise, okay?”

“My surprise!” She squeals. “I forgot about getting a surprise today. Is it a purple snorkel?”

“It’s much better than that.”

“Okay.” She jumps to her feet. “Is Auntie Emily and Uncle Jake coming to the beach with us?”

“No, honey. They’re flying to the island of Maui today. They’re going to stay there for a few days for their honeymoon. But we’ll see them when they get back.”

“What about Uncle Jake’s friend, Mr. Harlow? Is he coming to the beach with us?”

---