Page 64 of If You Come Back To Me (If You Come Back To Me 1)

“Good-bye,” she said quietly.

He said nothing, but she felt his gaze on her as she walked back through the trees alone.

Chapter Fourteen

Six weeks later, Ryan and Mari paused by the front door of her condominium. She knew what her brother was going to say before he said it.

“You’re not yourself, Mari. I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine. You were at the doctor’s appointment with me two days ago. You heard it yourself. I couldn’t be healthier and neither could the baby.”

Ryan looked doubtful. She knew he’d been referring to her spirits, not her physical well-being. Before he could say anything else, she kissed him farewell on the jaw.

“I’ll talk to you soon?”

Ryan opened his mouth and then closed it again. “Yeah. Okay. Call me if you need me,” he said with a pointed glance before he walked out the door.

Ever since she’d broken the news to Ryan about her pregnancy two weeks ago, he was constantly dropping by and checking her pantry to see if she had enough food, or lecturing her about little things, like when he noticed she’d used a small ladder to change a lightbulb.

She sighed and picked up the bag of items he’d dropped off and carried them to her dining room. Ryan meant well. He was as hyperaware as she was that her baby’s father wasn’t around to look out for her. When she’d told him who the father was, it had not been a comfortable moment.

Since then, neither of them had mentioned Marc’s name out loud.

She still hadn’t called Marc to break the news. It just seemed too overwhelming. Insurmountable, in fact. She couldn’t seem to build up the energy required to tell Marc they were going to have a baby, if not a future, together.

She set the bag of items on her dining room table with a thud, purposefully trying to scatter her thoughts of Marc. She kept waiting for the pain to fade, but after being in San Francisco for six weeks now, it still hurt to think of him…to recall his face as they stood together on Silver Dune.

She’d kept herself busy with her symphony work and making plans for the baby’s nursery. She’d turned over much of the day-to-day preparations for The Family Center to Allison Trainor, Eric Reyes and Colleen. Constantly conversing with the Harbor Town residents— especially Colleen—had made her too depressed. She’d needed to cut back on her interactions for basic survival’s sake.

Of course limiting her communications with Eric or Colleen hadn’t stopped her from waking up in the middle of the night in a state of panic, feeling as if she’d left something crucia

l behind. The dreams varied, but the experience of waking in a cold sweat, anxiety clawing at her throat was the same. That, and the inevitable tears that followed.

The experience was very similar to what had occurred when she’d been uprooted and moved to San Francisco fifteen years ago.

It was so hard to keep reminding herself she was doing the right thing when it felt so wrong.

Mari opened the green garbage bag on the table and withdrew a smaller, sealed bag filled with photos. She took out a black-and-white one and smiled at the handsome couple posing for their wedding picture.

“That’s your grandma and grandpa,” Mari whispered, her hand on her belly.

She definitely possessed a small baby bump now, something that was only identifiable to Mari and a few people who were in the know. She’d taken to talking to the baby, much to her own amusement.

“They would have spoiled you rotten, especially my dad,” she told the baby.

She reached into the plastic bag and pulled out a black yearbook. All of the items had come from the Harbor Town basement. The house had sold three weeks ago. Ryan had brought back the remaining family items when he returned to San Francisco. He’d just recently divided them up, however, and brought Mari’s share to her condominium tonight. Or at least that’s the reason he’d given for dropping by on a Friday night at eight o’clock. Mari knew it really was just an excuse for checking up on her.

Who knew her big, bad, fighter pilot brother could be such a mother hen?

Mari checked the year on the book and saw that it was her own yearbook from her senior year. She’d been seventeen years old, filled with hope and head over heels in love with Marc. It’d been torture for her to be separated from him during the fall, winter and spring, although he would drive up to Dearborn occasionally. His visits had always been short, though, given her parents’ disapproval of their relationship.

She opened up the yearbook, smiling wistfully when she recognized youthful, long-forgotten faces.

It was cruel, the way time fell through your grasping fingers.

She paused when she saw a light pink envelope inserted between some pages. She opened up the envelope and realized it was her graduation card from her parents. Below the printed inscription, she saw both her parents’ handwriting.

From her mother: We will always be proud of our beautiful daughter. Always. Congratulations, Marianna!

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