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Aidan saw the misery in his wife’s eyes and his heart contracted in his chest. How could he have done this to her? “Grace, I have been so damned stupid. You deserve better than what I’ve given you by way of explanation. I’m sorry about everything, but most of all I’m sorry for causing you such pain. Thank you for agreeing to come with me. And I promise you that we will figure this out. Just give us time.”
She gave him a harsh look he’d never seen before. His stomach sank as he realized the monumental task ahead of him.
* * *
THE NEXT DAY, as they drove toward Spartanburg, would have been so pleasant if not for the impending meeting. Aidan had lain awake for hours wondering how the DNA test showed him to be the father. And if he was the father, why hadn’t Deidre told him? As he thought about it, he couldn’t help but wonder why, when she had no immediate family, she hadn’t told him—if it were true. No woman would want to go through a birth and the raising of a child without some sort of family support.
And why had she done the test if she didn’t plan to tell him? Had she had a relationship with another man and wanted to be certain that he couldn’t claim the child? She was obviously a rich woman. Had a man she’d dated tried to say the daughter was his?
The lawyer hadn’t said how old the little girl was. Maybe she was too young to be his daughter. He knew the exact weekend he’d spent with Deidre, so if the child had been born more than nine months after that, she couldn’t be his. Had Deidre appointed him guardian because she thought he would do what he could for her daughter, regardless of whether or not he was the father?
As he mulled it all over, he could not understand her motivations. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t figure out why she would keep the paternity of her daughter a secret, yet name him as the child’s father in her will. It made zero sense. Even if Deidre was trying to prevent another man from gaining custody of the child, there were more effective—and less destructive—ways to do so.
For now, he would concentrate on the road ahead and trying to ease Grace’s concerns about what they’d face at the lawyer’s office. “I booked us into the nicest inn around the area. Might as well enjoy being comfortable while we get this over with.”
He glanced at her, at the way her golden hair fell around her cheeks, at her beautiful lips and the set of her chin. All features he was intimately acquainted with and loved about her. He squeezed her hand. “We’re going to be fine. This will be settled easily. I’ll have our lawyer look after the details of a second DNA test and then we’ll head back home. When we get home I’d like us to plan a trip to Europe. We’ve talked about it, but now I think we should do it. We’ve earned our time away to explore all those places we learned about in school. What do you say?”
“Aidan, will you stop? We—if there is a we when this is over—have more important things to deal with.”
“But all this doesn’t change the fact that we deserve a wonderful trip away from here, from my business and all that it entails. I’m also offering you the shopping trip of a lifetime—anywhere in Europe you’d like to go. You’ll have a chance to shop to your heart’s content. Will you think about it?”
“Let’s get this meeting over first,” Grace said, her lips set in a firm line.
She didn’t touch his arm as she often did when they were driving together. He missed her touch, the way it made him feel.
They drove into downtown Spartanburg to the address they had for the law office. It was an elegant older home just off the main street with a wide verandah and tall white columns flanking the entranceway. Upon entering the cool, open foyer, they were greeted by a woman wearing an impeccable navy suit. She smiled at them as she introduced herself and led them to a quiet, high-ceilinged room at the rear of the building. “Mr. Knowles will be with you momentarily. Is there anything I can get either of you? A coffee perhaps? Soft drink?”
