Page 19 of Bringing Emma Home

The next photo slid onto the screen, a close-up showing Emma laughing at the camera as she clutched another teddy bear, this time a black one with a big red bow, her round cheeks glowing. She moved up close to the camera. Close enough to see every feature on her tiny face. The smile was so endearing, the little girl so happy and carefree. This beautiful child was innocent and would pay the price if he denied her.

“She is your daughter and you are her father. Please love her with all your heart as I have. Please,” Deidre pleaded.

Grace pulled her hand away. “You believe her, don’t you,” she said, her voice cold and distant.

Disbelief shook him. What if this little girl was his daughter? What would he do if she were? Even the thought, the possibility of a child opened something inside him, something he’d never really felt before. He looked at Grace, saw her anguish and put his arm around her shoulders.

Grace pushed him away.

There had to be some mistake. It was so unreal—the lawyer’s call, the emotional trip here, the realization that there was a pretty good chance Deidre’s daughter was also his. “Grace, we are going to have the DNA test redone. We’ll pick a lab back in Charleston and I will pay whatever it takes to have the testing done as fast as possible. We won’t jump to any conclusions until then.” He cleared his throat. “This is so difficult for you, finding out that I had relations with Deidre. I’ve hurt you in ways I never intended…ever. But we’ll work this out, somehow. You’ll see.”

Grace wrapped her arms around her middle and nodded at the screen. “Aidan, look at her. She is so much like you in her appearance and her smile. How could you think this isn’t your child?” Her voice sounded choked with tears as she huddled in the corner of her chair.

“Grace, please, let’s wait and see.” As the video ended, despite his denials, he knew Emma was his daughter. He knew because the close-up shot revealed that Emma’s left eye held the same tiny glint of a different color that his mother’s had. A bit of pale yellow in the blue of the iris. A family trait. “Let’s get that lawyer in here and then we can arrange the testing. After that, we’ll go home and wait for the results.”

He rose, waiting for his wife to stand, resisting the urge to take her in his arms and convince her that what had happened five years ago had been long over, even before it began. “I love you. My relationship with Deidre was wrong and a complete betrayal of you and of us. Whatever the tests show, I want you to know that I have never loved anyone the way I love you.”

Slowly Grace stood, being careful to stay away from him. Regardless of what he wanted, he knew she would not allow him to touch her. “My only hope is that you see your way clear to forgive me,” he said.

Without looking at him, she said, “Aidan, I can’t forgive you. Every part of my life has changed, all because you betrayed what we had together.”

CHAPTER THREE

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER Grace placed a seafood casserole in the oven and set the timer. Her words in the lawyer’s office had proven prophetic, because everything about her life had changed. The drive home had been a long, silent one with each mile forcing her to face the cold truth. She could think of little else but what Aidan had done with that woman—a woman who claimed that her child was his.

The easy closeness Grace and Aiden had shared had disappeared as if it never existed. She’d moved into the guest bedroom, too tired to sleep as her mind went over that day at the Planters Inn.

Meanwhile, Aidan behaved as if nothing had changed. He’d worked long hours, as he always did. Because of his behavior, Grace couldn’t help but worry that maybe Deidre wasn’t the only affair he’d had, that he might have spent the past few nights in the arms of another woman. She was embarrassed at how naive and foolish she’d been to never question anything her husband had told her. She’d even considered hiring a private detective to follow him, something she was deeply ashamed of, but she’d found herself doing all sorts of things she would never have dreamed of a month ago.

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