Page 175 of Embracing the Change

Yes, seeing Morgan Rawlins live and in person, I had to admit that.

Jamie continued. “I’d seen pictures of my real father. Once I learned of him, I made certain of it. I simply thought AJ’s pride blinded him to what was obvious.”

“Why do you think he kept it a secret?” I asked.

“You don’t play your ace until you know it’s going to land precisely as you want it,” Jamie answered. “Or hope you do. I’ve spent the last hour getting to know my dad, it felt good watching him with Judge and Dru. Judge has never had the opportunity to be close to his grandparents, not any of them, but now all of them are dead. And both Lindy’s parents died before she did. Chet’s parents were like Chet, so for Dru’s sake, and frankly, for her safety, Lindy and I cut them out. It’s wonderful they might have a chance to have a good man in their lives. But in the time I spent downstairs, I also had time to think, and AJ’s always been hard on me. He’s always been callous with me. So it isn’t a surprise he knew I wasn’t his, and even if I had no control over it, he found his ways to take that out on me.”

I had nothing to say to that, no magic words to take that history away and give him, and his mother, something different.

Thus, the only thing I could do was stroke his jaw.

This I did.

His gaze grew sorrowful, and he whispered, “She would have loved me meeting him.”

“Yes, she would.”

“She would have been devastated about how Jeff died.”

My poor, sweet Jamie.

“Yes, she would.”

“She would have been ecstatic that Patty came home.”

I smiled a shaky smile. “It would have been a rollercoaster day for Cordelia.”

“Yes.”

“As it was for you.”

“Mm.”

“Your sister is a firecracker,” I noted.

The sorrow shifted from his eyes and humor lit them. “Always was.”

“Any chance we can talk her into going back to New York with us?”

“She’s taking this opportunity to visit some friends here she hasn’t seen in a while. But when you were on Reid’s porch, I asked her, and she said she had to take time off with short notice, so she can’t. But she also said she’d be back.”

“You don’t talk much about her.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Not much to say. She escaped dysfunction to live the simple life. She has a farm. Her husband is a farmer. She works in town at the post office. He had kids from a previous relationship, she never wanted her own, but she loves them. They grow wheat and barley. They all like each other and get along. And they vacation in Bali, Fiji and Thailand.”

“So she has it made.”

His arms got even tighter. “She’s not the only one.”

She absolutely wasn’t.

I pushed up to kiss him softly.

Jamie angled his head to kiss me soundly.

When he broke it, there was yet another kind of light in his eyes.

“Let’s go to bed,” he murmured.

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