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Adam moved toward her and gently prodded her toward the couch, his expression changing to a worried frown.She knew she had to say something, prepare him, but she wasn’t sure how.
“What’s this?May I?”
She let him take the envelope from her, but she wasn’t able to look at him as he read the results.
“A DNA…” he said.“Mary Elizabeth, what is this?”
Mary Elizabeth swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to lift her chin, to meet his gaze through the sheen of shattered tears she couldn’t control.“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“I didn’t know.I swearI didn’t know.I thought… I thought he was dead.”
Adam drew back in shock and turned to pace across the floor.He stopped short of the window and stared out, no doubt trying to collect his raging emotions before speaking.It was such an Adam thing to do.
“How did this come about?”he finally asked.“Who is he?How long has this been going on?”
She flinched at the barrage of questions, trembling from her very core from the devastating news.“I wasn’t sure.How could I be when I thought… I saw him at Hadley’s and the resemblance was just…”
“You saw whom?”
“Bryson James,” she whispered.“The day I cut my hand?That’s…that’s why.He walked in and I was so shocked I-I dropped a tea tray.The mess… Oh, Adam, I thought he was dead.They told me my baby wasdead!”
Adam ran a hand over his hair, and she recognized the gesture as one of frustration and anger.Because she knew him so well.They’d shared everything over the years since she’d told him about the baby she’d carried but lost.Now… “I didn’t lie to you.I swear I didn’t.I didn’t know.”
“This test proves otherwise.You suspected.”
“I did but… How could I mention it when it wasn’t supposed to be possible?I didn’t want to needlessly upset you when it might not have been true.”
“You wouldn’t have done the test unless you believed there was a chance that it was.How many people know about this?Did you keep this from me but tell them?”
She shook her head, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.“Tessa.Just Tessa.No one else, I swear.”
“And Bryson?”
“No, he doesn’t know.”
Adam ran his fingers through his hair once again, yanking hard.
“How on earth did you manage to get his DNA?”
She explained the process and watched as her husband paced and muttered words she couldn’t hear.“Adam, I’m sorry.I am so very sorry.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“Do?”
He stopped in his tracks and looked at her, waving the paper still in his hand.
“You did this test for a reason and now you know he’s your son.What do you intend to do next?”
When she simply stared at him, Adam released a rare curse.
“You didn’t think it through, did you?”
“I-I…”
“Did you think discovering he’s yours wouldn’t change things?Wouldn’t changeeverything?”
