Page 43 of Cinderella's Secret Baby

He made discreet arrangements for boots on the ground in Chile. At least his own conscience would be satisfied that he had done all he could for her.

He didn’t tell her, though. He would wait for the report. The last thing he wanted was to tease her and Tobias with false hope.

Amelia was subdued when they arrived at her childhood home two weeks later. It was a small bungalow in a modest neighborhood, well maintained with a tidy yard. Peyton’s bedroom was filled with secondhand furniture, but it had clearly been assembled with care.

The somber reason for their visit was lightened by the baby. Peyton was becoming a real character with an infectious giggle and an expressive face. She always wiggled and crowed with excitement when one of her parents reached to pick her up and, cutest of all, she remembered Tobias. He sat down in his chair and held out his arms. As Amelia bent to place her in his lap, Peyton gave Tobias a brief look of confused anxiety, almost seeming about to cry, but the second he took her, she folded right into his chest.

“It’s that scratchy beard,” Amelia teased, pinching her father’s whiskers. “I would know a hug from you blindfolded. Like a baby duck imprinting on its mother’s feathers.”

“This little duckling is sure getting strong,” Tobias said with gruff affection. “I can barely hold on to her.”

It was a touching moment that put smiles on all their faces, but later, when Hunter came back from changing Peyton, he found Tobias trying to comfort Amelia through a very weak moment.

She was sobbing uncontrollably, and Tobias was saying gruffly, “No, chicken. He wouldn’t want you breaking your heart like this. Shush now.”

Something cracked in Hunter’s chest, ringing a hard enough ache through him that he had to take Peyton back into her bedroom and breathe through it.

As he rocked his child, he had to wonder how he would cope in Tobias’s shoes. Not well, that was for damned sure. This little sprite was so much a part of him, he couldn’t imagine his life without her. As for her mother...

He couldn’t stand that Amelia was hurting. He did have all the money and power and influence, as she had accused him, yet he couldn’t fix what was wrong for her. He had a half dozen homes, all big enough to fit this one inside it, and she didn’t care. She only wanted what he couldn’t give her. It was humbling.

She slipped in to join him, wiping a balled-up tissue under her eyes as she asked in a tear-hoarsened voice, “Is everything okay? You didn’t come back.”

“It looked like you and your dad needed a minute.” He lifted his arm with invitation.

She pressed herself to his side, slipping one arm behind his back. The other encircled their baby, who sleepily left her head on his shoulder.

For a few breaths, they stood quiet, both watching Peyton chew her fist.

“Sometimes I wonder if Jasper’s spirit made her happen,” Amelia confided softly, brushing a tender hand over Peyton’s fine hair. “Maybe he knew she would give me and Dad a reason to keep going after we learned he was gone.”

Hunter hugged her closer and pressed his lips to her forehead.

Then he had to admit, “I don’t actually find the idea of your brother being in the room with us last summer very comforting.”

She hugged herself into him and shook with laughter, muffling it against his chest.

He smiled past the ache in his tight throat, pleased he could give her that at least.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

BEFORETHEYLEFT, Amelia tried to convince her father to move to Vancouver. He wanted to stay in his home and continue to see his friends every day, but he agreed to visit soon.

Wistful, Amelia hugged him goodbye and left for Toronto with Hunter.

“You’ll have time to pop out and see him again before we go back to Vancouver,” Hunter reminded in a consoling tone. “Would you feel better if we moved here so you would be closer to him?”

“I’m not sure. I like Vancouver.” She had started to make a network of friends there through a baby group. “But I worry about Dad feeling lonely, even though I think he found it stressful for us to live with him. He felt a lot of responsibility to provide for Peyton and keep up with her, but he’s not as spry as he was when Jasper and I were her age.”

“That’s why he found the man who is responsible for her,” Hunter noted. “I’m glad he did.” He looked down at Peyton with such tenderness, Amelia’s heart fluttered. “We don’t really have to decide until she starts school, but give it some thought.”

“Are you being considerate? Or do you really not care where we live?” It seemed laughable to her that he would leave such a huge decision up to her.

“Both. I can tell that your father’s house is what home means to you—retreat, security. Memories, I suppose.” He shrugged. “You want to be deliberate about where you make one with me and Peyton so you can foster those same things, but I don’t have that same desire for attachment to the place where I sleep. Comfort and convenience are my priorities.”

Because he didn’t have anygoodmemories of home?

She felt such pity for the child he’d been, unable tobea child who felt safe and happy in the place where he slept.

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