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Her lashes lowered and Grace took her hands, folding them between her own. “First, there’s the noise—just the usual chaos that keeps us awake at night. But beyond that, are your memories. First, the recent memories are there, and then, deeper, are the ones that have shaped you as much as your bones. I see your mother. She’s blowing you a kiss and telling you to have fun. I see her comforting you the first time a boy made you cry. I see the cat that used to visit whenever you left milk out. You loved that cat, but it could never come in because your mom had allergies.
“And then I see your pain. The day the doctor told you the cancer was terminal, you cried the whole way home. You were almost in a wreck, but the other driver swerved. That was the last time you believed in divine intervention. Since then, you questioned everything.”
Annalise’s chest tightened as Grace somehow pulled those painful pieces from her mind. Buried in the deepest recesses of her mind, unearthing more emotions than she ever wanted to face, she felt a twinge of familiarity and gasped.
“I see you looking at Adam. What a thrill you felt the first time he returned to you. You thought you’d never see him again. You wondered if he’d been sent to save you.”
Her skin flushed. Those were fleeting thoughts that meant nothing.
“The first time he touched you, your heart erupted with emotions you couldn’t name. When he looked at you, you felt like he was the first man to actually see you. And when...” Grace’s voice broke. “When he attacked you in the woods, you feared you might lose him forever. You were terrified, not that he’d hurt you, but that you waited too long.”
She released her hands and Anna opened her eyes, twin tears falling down her cheeks. Grace smiled and dashed them away. “You’ve known you’ve loved him since the second you decided to save him. You were staring at a ceiling while he slept beside you. Hide from the truth all you want, Anna. But it will never hide from you.”
Her lips trembled as she looked Adam’s sister in the eye. “How do you do that?”
Grace shrugged. “How do we breathe? Just because I can, doesn’t mean I know how or why. Love’s the same way. You don’t have to explain or justify it to make it true. It just is.”
Now that Grace had helped her see the truth, there was no denying it. She loved him. No one had ever wanted her as profoundly as Adam did. And while she struggled to wrap her brain around all these new discoveries, she envied his beliefs.
Adam’s God wasn’t spiteful or cruel. She wanted to believe in something. She needed faith in her life, and his seemed real as any. But a good and decent God should be infallible. If Adam wanted her to believe in called mates and destiny, then she needed to believe his so-called God wouldn’t rip two brothers apart. There had to be a reason Cain felt called to her as well.
If she were to believe any of this, she had to believe all of it. She was called to save Adam, but Cain was called into this for a reason as well. Whatever his purpose, she needed to trust he held a significant role.
“When can I see Adam?” She needed to tell him the truth. She loved him.
“You need to finish dressing.” Grace stepped closer and pulled a white apron over her front. As she pressed a pin through the fabric she gasped, and the tiny pin pinged across the floor.
“Did you prick yourself?” She looked as though she saw a ghost. “Grace?”
Her crystal blue eyes lifted, and she smiled. “So soon.”
Annalise frowned. “So soon, what?”
Grace pressed a hand to the front of the dress. “His child’s inside of you.”
Annalise staggered back, pushing her hand away. “What?”
“I can hear it.” She placed her palm over her abdomen and laughed. “Anna, you’re pregnant.”
The blood rushed from her head. “But I’m not like you.”
“You will be in a few hours. Oh, Adam will be thrilled!”
Her face tingled with numbness. Her brain automatically reverted to what she knew. “But I wasn’t ovulating.” Her hand lifted to her head and she swayed. Pregnant?
“You should sit. You’re very pale.”
She couldn’t remember the last time she ate. “Maybe some more water and some crackers or something.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Grace?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t tell anyone. Not yet.”
Grace’s eyes reflected trust as she nodded. She slipped into the hall and Annalise rested a hand on her stomach. Pregnant.
The night sky made it difficult to see, but lanterns burned on every table set out below. The women worked tirelessly, in their brightly colored gowns while the men continued to carry furniture around the sodden yard in preparation for a celebration.
