Her head falls between her shoulders as she braces her hands against the sink. She sucks in a shaky breath, struggling to control her emotions. “I thought I’d never see you again. You’re so beautiful.”
If I wasn’t so confused, I’d be flying out of the stall in a fit of jealousy. Did she just call my husband beautiful?
“I’m so sorry I talked you into going to LA with me. I wish things could have been different.”
My heart completely stops.
She stares at her reflection for several seconds before taking a deep breath and composing herself. “I hope you have the best life with your little family,” she says, then straightens her shoulders and leaves the restroom.
I wait a few minutes and then make my way downstairs to the patient pick-up. It’s not long before a black SUV glides to the curb, and a big burly man steps out of the passenger side and stretches. A few minutes later, a nurse escorts the young woman out. The man opens the back door and helps her inside.
Discreetly, I take a photo of the license plate before ducking behind the fake tree in the lobby.
A few minutes later, they’re gone.
She’s my husband’s first love. The girl he spent years looking for, and I just let her walk away without so much as a word.
My finger rubs over the picture on my phone of the license plate.
I should delete it.
If I don’t, I’ll lose Raffe … and Jackson.
Chapter One
Raffe
I’ve sat under this tree so much I think we’ve become one. I talk to it more than I do my family and friends.
My gaze searches the tree line, half expecting to see her again. The girl who still haunts me daily. When someone does step out of the trees, I about shit my pants. I sit up straight, assuming it’s her, but it’s just Willow and Aspen.
When my granddaughter spots me, her entire face lights up. “Papa!” she squeals and begins to kick her feet to let Willow know she wants down.
I stand up as her little legs rush toward me.
“Hey, baby girl.” I scoop her up in my arms and begin kissing her obsessively.
She giggles and puts her hands on my cheeks in a lame attempt to get me to stop. She loves it.
“What are you girls doing out here?” I ask my daughter-in-law when she joins us.
“We’re just out exploring and thought we would stop by to say hello to her grandmas.” Willow smiles at me brightly. “Show Papa your treasures.”
Aspen wiggles in my arms to be set on her feet. When she’s on the ground, she shoves her tiny hands in the pockets on her denim overalls.
I drop to one knee as she pulls out a feather. “Oh, wow, that’s pretty.”
She hands it to me and then points to a bird in the tree above us. “Bird.”
“Did a bird lose this?”
Her head bobs up and down as she goes back to her pocket. Next comes a smooth two-toned rock.
“Look, my rock, Papa.” She holds it so close to my face it makes me laugh.
A pair of white butterflies catches her attention, and she begins to chase them around the headstones. Willow and I laugh when one of them lands on her head.
“She gets cuter by the day.”
