CHAPTER SIX
She found Luke and Mia in a small clearing. They both put their ATVs in neutral when they saw her.
“Did you find a tree?” Luke yelled above the roar.
She shook her head.
“Have you seen Paige?” Mia said.
Sophie pointed in the direction of the house.
Mia nodded, revved her ATV and took off after her friend.
Luke killed the engine on his ATV. “If I promise to go slow, will you go for a ride with me?”
“Maybe, but first I have to ask you something.”
“What?”
He slid off the ATV and came to stand in front of her.
“Will you be honest?”
He touched her hand and tingles ran up her arm. “Of course.”
“I’ll tell you my secret if you’ll tell me yours.”
“Did the nightmares give me away?”
“Paige told me you retired from the CIA.”
He nodded.
“Is Jamison in danger?”
“I wouldn’t be here if he was.” He laced his fingers through hers. “What’s your secret?”
“I can’t have children.” She swallowed. “I know everyone thinks I’m so noble by giving up my law career to take care of Jamison, but really, I wasn’t being noble at all… He was my last chance for something I wanted most of all.” She looked at him through eyes blurry with tears. “I had uterine cancer and lost…all my…” She waved her hand in front of her belly. “The guy I was dating, the guy I thought I was going to marry and spend the rest of my life with, he wasn’t interested in me after I lost…everything.”
Luke grabbed her and pulled her close. “He was the loser,” he whispered in her ear. “He was the one who lost.” He kissed the top of her head.
“I went into family law because I thought I could save families when all I wanted was one of my own… I became disillusioned really fast.” She pulled away from him and lifted her chin. “Jamison is my family now.”
“And me,” he said. “I’m here, too.”
She sobbed and he held her close. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. His lips sought hers and he kissed her long and deep.
“If you want more children, we can always adopt.”
She wondered if his words were as much of a surprise to him as they were to her.
One year later
“They’re here! They’re here!” Jamie bounced in front of the window while Atticus wiggled beside him.
“Shush, sweetie, you’ll wake your baby sisters.” Sophie glanced out the window and watched Mia, Paige, and a young man climb from Mia’s Honda.
Luke came to stand beside her. “Another man in the family?”
