Page 45 of Reunited By the Greek's Baby

Isla had never opened up to Theo about truly personal stuff like her childhood and had steered conversations away from that. It was a habit she’d acquired early, never voluntarily discussing her upbringing. She wasn’t ashamed of her past yet was cautious in talking about it. As if by admitting out loud that she’d never been loved, she might invite others to view her as unlovable too.

It was a secret fear she’d hoarded to herself. Perhaps her greatest fear.

Theo felt the tension in her slender body and pulled her closer. He supposed it would be easier to avoid difficult topics and from her reaction earlier he knew this was a difficult topic. But ever since she’d made that dismissive remark about her childhood he’d burned to know more. Not because information was power and the more he knew about Isla the more able he’d be to convince her to marry. His curiosity wasn’t strategic. He simply wanted to understand and, he realised, be there for her. Instinct told him that in Isla’s case her childhood loss was still very real.

So he didn’t retract the question, despite seeing the shutters come down in her eyes and feeling her flinch. Instead he waited.

‘Mainly I was brought up in an orphanage.’

‘An orphanage?’ He’d imagined her as a pretty child, adopted easily. ‘I thought you’d have been in a private home.’

‘Adoption?’ She shook her head. ‘It’s not always so easy, especially for older children.’

He frowned. Had he misunderstood? ‘I thought you lost your parents when you were a baby.’

Instantly he knew he’d said the wrong thing as she stiffened.

‘I didn’t lose them so much as they lost me.’ Her mouth twisted and she turned away, looking towards the window. ‘I was abandoned as a newborn. No note, no memento, no name, just me wrapped in a blanket in a box.’

An ache tightened Theo’s throat at the idea of a tiny infant left to the mercy of strangers. He pulled Isla fully into his arms to sit sideways on his lap, his arm around her back, another around her knees.

‘It’s okay, Theo. It was a long time ago. I don’t remember it.’

That didn’t make it any better. His heart thudded against his ribs as he rocked her to him. He tried to imagine their child left in that way but his mind refused to cooperate.

‘What happened? They didn’t have enough people interested in adoption?’ Easier to ask about that than think of that tiny, deserted baby.

‘It wasn’t that simple. I’m sure they would have tried adoption but it turned out I was born with a heart defect, which meant surgery. That’s daunting for anyone, especially people looking for a perfect little baby to make their own.’

Her voice sounded brittle and who could blame her? Theo’s anger built but he kept it in.

He thought of the faded scarring he’d seen on her chest and hadn’t asked about. At the time he’d been too busy seducing Isla and later, possibly because it was obviously so old, there’d seemed more important things to concentrate on. He wished he’d asked. Would it have unlocked the story of her past? Or was she telling him now because they’d made a baby together and had to negotiate its future?

‘So you stayed in an orphanage? What was it like?’

‘Not like a home.’ Isla leaned her head against him and nestled closer, and warmth spread through him. ‘The other kids and I used to watch TV shows about families and it was nothing like where we grew up. But the people there tried. Some of them were really lovely and others were...okay.’

Theo’s muscles tightened as he wondered what okay meant. Better for now to take it at face value.

‘Actually, that’s where I learned to knit.’

He heard the smile in her voice and responded in kind. ‘And where you developed your interest in ancient history?’ He could imagine her as an eager child, reading stories of Greek myths and hidden treasures.

She raised her hand, stroking her fingers down his chest and sending a ripple of heat through him. Theo fought not to respond, knowing she wasn’t intentionally trying to arouse him, though having her seated on his lap didn’t help.

‘No. I was fostered with a family for a very short time.’

Her hand stopped, fingers splaying against his chest. Theo covered her hand with his.

‘It didn’t work out?’ He made himself focus on her words.

‘Oh, it did. I was happy there. They’d already adopted a boy and we felt like a real family. It was the happiest time of my life.’

Her wistful tone made something still within him, for clearly it hadn’tworked.

Isla leaned back and looked at him. To his surprise her eyes sparkled. ‘Martha was a classics lecturer. She told me wonderful stories about ancient Greece and Rome and gave me a book about the old myths that I loved.’

Now he understood that smile. ‘She’s the one who lit that spark in you, isn’t she? The one who got you interested in ancient history and archaeology.’

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