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Looking into her eyes, seeing her sincere need to alleviate Emma’s distress, he couldn’t remember a moment when he loved her more than he did right now. Seeing her like this, cold reality hit him. He didn’t deserve this woman who loved so deeply, who cared with her whole heart. But if he had a chance to keep her, he would love her unconditionally forever.
“Or I can go out into the garden, look at the fishpond and see if the bird feeders need filling while you talk to your dad. Would that be better?” Grace asked, smiling warmly at Emma.
Aidan could have hugged her for being so kind, for helping him manage the situation. He mouthed, “Thank you.”
She nodded, a small smile starting at the corners of her mouth. “I’ll also check for bunny rabbits while I’m in the garden.”
“Bunny?” Emma asked, brightening, a look of interest on her face. “Where’s the bunny?”
“I’m not sure,” Grace said, “but maybe if I take a carrot out to the garden, he’ll come to see me. We have a small shed at the back where I keep my gardening tools. Maybe he’s there. What do you think?”
Emma wiggled out of her father’s arms and came to Grace. “What’s his name?”
“He doesn’t have a name yet. He’s big and brown, and he loves lettuce. I usually buy lettuce just for him. But why don’t you and I see if we can find him, and in the meantime, you can come up with a name for him. How would that be?”
Emma fidgeted for a moment, looked over her shoulder at her father before turning back to Grace. “I can find the carrots in the fridge. You want to come with me?”
Grace’s smile was bright as she looked across the room into Aidan’s eyes. Their eyes held. His heart swelling in his chest, he whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered back.
“What are you saying to Daddy?” Emma asked, a small frown forming between her blue eyes.
“Saying? I’m telling your daddy something really special.” Grace laughed, the upbeat sound filling the kitchen, a sound Aidan had feared he would never hear again.
Aidan, his love for Grace a soothing balm easing the fear that had plagued him since she’d come to the house, couldn’t help but smile as he followed Grace and Emma out into the garden. Hanging back just a little, giving the two people he loved most in this world a chance to be together, he felt at peace and happier than he could remember.
* * *
GRACE LED EMMA out to the rear of the garden, hoping that the rabbit would be somewhere near the shed. That’s where she’d last seen him. “Emma, what do you think would be a good name for the bunny?” she asked as she searched the area just beyond the pond for any signs of the rabbit.
Emma held the carrot like a sword. “I’d like to call him Sam,” she announced. “I would like him to be Sam.”
“Sam it is,” Grace said, still searching for any sign of the rabbit. As they neared the shed, she noted a small shift in some of the huge leaves of the hostas along the back fence.
“Maybe Sam likes a cool spot, especially on a hot day like this,” Grace said, moving closer to the large leaves. Pushing one slowly aside, she saw the rabbit crouched under the leaves, his nose sniffing the air, his eyes alert.
“There he is,” Grace whispered, pointing toward the bunny that looked ready to leap away.
“Can I play with him? Will he let me hold him?” Emma asked in an exaggerated whisper as she held out the carrot.
“Probably not today,” Grace said, wanting to hug Emma to her and never let go. She’d never known a moment with so much emotion in it, never imagined that this was what it felt like to love a child and to do something so simple as to search through the garden for a rabbit. She wanted many, many more moments like this.
