Page 66 of Sinful Skulls
Jacob kisses my forehead. “Beautiful just like her mother.”
“Do you think she looks happy. She looks happy, right?”
“She looked very happy.”
I chew on my bottom lip. Anthony called just yesterday and said she had finally contacted her parents. It was such a relief to know she’s okay. They said she had found out she was adopted while in Paris. That fucking asshole, Baxter, paid for her schooling there. I’m not sure exactly how she received that information, but I’m sure it hurt her deeply.
“Do you want to tell her?”
“No!”
“Okay. Okay. Let’s just see what’s going on between her and Brody, and then we can decide if we should tell her.”
“I can never tell her, Jacob. It would devastate her. I can’t do that to her.”
He doesn’t argue with me. He just continues to hold me until I’m able to pull myself together.
When we head back out to the baby shower, she’s sitting with Jackson, Willow, Raffe and Rachel, and of course, Brody.
Rachel looks over her shoulder a few times before walking over to join Jacob and me. She lowers herself beside me and takes my hand. “I’m not sure what is going on, but I know that you lost the necklace at the beach, and I know that young woman found it and then gave it to Lexie when she met her up at the cabin.”
I don’t say anything, but my heart is beating out of my chest.
“She looks a lot like you,” she says quietly.
A thousand words pass between the two of us. She was there when the men brought Baxter in. She knows his and my story … and now she’s quickly figured out that Daisy is our daughter.
“Sometimes the most beautiful things are born from the darkness.” She glances over her shoulder to look at Daisy and then to her own son. When her attention returns to me, I notice tears in her eyes. “Jackson was born of the darkness, and he’s the best thing to ever have happened to me.” She glances around to make sure our conversation is private. “Jackson’s father raped his mother. He knows this. I’m not going to say it’s easy for him, but I think it’s made him a better man. I know it’s going to make him a great dad.”
I swipe at my tears, my heart breaking for Jackson.
“The dragonfly brought her back here for a reason.”
My gaze goes to the giant dragonfly on the barn.
“It never gets it wrong,” she tells me.
“I don’t want to hurt her.”
“I understand. Being a mother is the hardest thing in the world, isn’t it? Sometimes we mothers have to keep secrets no one else will ever understand.” She glances at her son again. She’s thoughtful for a moment before continuing. “She’s been dropped right into your lap. Don’t waste this opportunity to get to know her.” She gives me a hug and whispers, “Life is short, Elizabeth.”
My heart squeezes painfully, because I know she’s right.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Daisy
"You got a package in the mail,” Brody says, making me look up from the painting I’m working on for Willow.
I wipe my hands on my towel. “Oh, I bet it’s the stuff I left behind in Paris. My roommate was going to mail it to me.”
Brody hovers over my shoulder, looking at the painting I’m working on. “It’s Willow.”
“It is. I’m going to give it to her tonight. I know she’s been sad over Rachel being sick. I thought it would cheer her up.” I glance at the package in his hand. “That’s not a very big box.”
“Because it’s not from your roommate.” His gaze remains on the painting. “I’ll never get over how you do this.”
“Thanks to you I’ve been feeling free to let my creativity expand.” I stand up and begin rinsing out my brushes.
