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Daniel gave a reassuring squeeze and answered something the boy’s mother had asked. His hand stayed on the boy’s shoulder, allowing the proud young man to draw comfort from him.
Guilt belted her in the gut at the sight of what she’d denied Ryan all these years.
A father to guide him, offer support, and love him.
Guilt at what she’d denied Daniel.
A son who was his image. A son who would make any father proud. A son who was a wonderful young man.
She’d denied Daniel Ryan’s childhood.
But if she’d told him, admitted to him that they’d accidentally made a baby, he’d have done exactly what his mother had warned.
He’d have stayed in Georgia, got a job at a local factory, and the world would have been cheated of a magnificent cardiologist.
Daniel would have forever carried his guilt over his father’s death.
Perhaps he’d have resented Kimberly and Ryan for depriving him of his dream.
She shouldn’t feel guilty.
She should feel proud, like she’d given him a wonderful gift.
But was there any gift, any career she’d trade for the last fourteen years of knowing and loving her son?
Her throat tightened and her eyes stung.
What had she done?
Her reasons had been valid at the time, her heart in the right place, but what reason did she have for not telling Daniel about Ryan now?
She realized what she had to do and fear stabbed deep into her heart.
A sound escaped from her throat, nausea threatened to gag her, and her hand flew to her mouth.
“Kimberly?” Daniel looked up from where he half sat on a chair’s armrest. He flashed a tired smile. “You’re early.”
She quickly attempted to pull herself together. The last thing the Clarks needed was for her to fall apart in front of them.
She turned her gaze to Daniel and was struck by how haggard he looked.
Had he been here all night?
From the faint smudges under his eyes and the scruffy shadow on his strong jaw, she suspected so.
Her heart squeezed. Oh, Daniel.
She crossed over to where he sat with the police officer’s puffy-eyed wife and forlorn son.
They made a sad-looking lot and her heart broke for them. Her heart broke for Daniel, too, for what he’d missed out on with Ryan. She resisted the urge to wrap her arms around them all and to have a good cry.
Then again, maybe she was the one who needed the hug and to cry.
Keep it together, Kimberly.
“I’m so sorry to hear about your husband and father,” she offered. “Daniel’s the best heart surgeon there is, so he’s in good hands.”
“Yes, that’s what Aaron’s cousin told me last night. That no one could do a better job than Dr. Travis.” The exhausted-looking woman nodded, sending Daniel a grateful look.
