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CHAPTER FIVE
EXHAUSTION BURNED BEHIND Aidan’s eyes. It had been a difficult drive here, and even though he knew he would have to explain so many things to Grace, he hadn’t expected her to be so hostile. Sure she was angry and hurt, but she had to know he was telling the truth. He’d always told her the truth, shared everything with her—until his involvement with Deidre. Shame had forced him to hide what he did. Shame and the belief that nothing would come of the two days he’d spent with Deidre. That his secret would never harm the one woman he loved.
He reached out for Grace’s hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “I’m so sorry about all this. But I’ve always been honest with you.”
“Not about this,” Grace said, pulling her hand away.
The loss of her touch chilled him to his core. What could he say that would convince Grace of his sincerity? “I made a mistake, and it will never happen again. We will find a way through all of this if we put aside our feelings for a little bit and concentrate on Emma. We need to make plans for how we will manage to take Emma back with us.” He touched her cheek. She turned away. “Grace, I know we can work this out,” he pleaded, his stomach aching with dread.
She moved away from him, distrust clear in her eyes. “How can we? Deidre chose you to be the custodial parent for Emma, even though she didn’t discuss it with you beforehand. But Emma represents your lies and the way you broke your vows. Aidan, there are two of us in this marriage. We are not supposed to have secrets, hidden lives.”
“We don’t!”
“That’s what you want me to believe,” she said, and Aidan couldn’t miss the harsh tone in her voice, so unlike his wife.
Feeling at a complete loss as to what to say or do, he slumped in the chair. “How can I convince you that I had nothing to do with Deidre these past five years?”
She sighed as she stared around the room as if looking for a way out. “I—I wish there was a way you could convince me.”
He wanted to reach out to her, to take her in his arms, but the look on her face told him his touch would not be welcome. “Grace, I wish there was, too. But there are other considerations. There is a child who will be here soon, who has no idea why you and I are in her home. Don’t you think we need to concentrate on her and what she’ll need?”
“I’m not responsible for what happened here, and I’m not responsible for your daughter. You are, and you have to do whatever you need to do,” Grace said, her voice low and controlled, her eyes dark pools in stark contrast to her pale skin.
Despite his sorrow over Grace’s behavior, Aidan wanted to soothe his wife but had no idea how to do it. She’d always been his mainstay, the one person he could rely upon. “Grace, I don’t want to do this without you. You’re my wife and I love you. I have to figure out how to handle this. I have to find a way to be a father to Emma when I don’t even know her. I will have to decide how we should live, whether she comes home with us right now or I stay here for a while to see what arrangements need to be made about Deidre’s estate, the dissolution of assets and what I’m expected to do.”
He scrubbed his hands together as his mind worked through the possible issues surrounding Deidre’s death and estate. Interspersed were thoughts of Emma, of what the next few hours and days would be like for his daughter. “I’ve never been a parent. It was always just an idea to me, not something with a practical application.”
“Said like a true computer engineer,” Grace said, her tone furious.
Shocked he turned to her. “Grace, what’s the matter? We’re in an emergency situation and have a lot to think about in a very short time. I need your help.”
