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“I’m so sorry for what I did. You had a right to know Mac was alive,” her father said. “My only excuse—not that it’s right by any means—is that your mother was in bad shape. I went down a terrible path by not going through the proper adoption channels, and once I was on it things just snowballed. I regret it, but it brought you into our lives, so I can never wish it hadn’t happened.”
“Tell her the truth,” Davinia insisted. She fidgeted with her fingers.
“After all this time, it’s not important,” Lionel said, his voice brooking no argument.
Davinia’s eyes began to blink furiously. “The truth is always important.” She turned toward Callie. “I was suicidal after Kate drowned. Depressed. What he did was a terrible thing—I don’t condone it. But everything your father did, he did for me. That’s a heavy weight to bear, but I understand his motives.” Davinia shook her head. “I felt guilty about Kate drowning. I’ve never quite gotten over that feeling of being responsible.” Her eyes had a haunted look, one Callie had never seen before. All these years her mother had put on a brave face and hidden her angst and heartache. She had endured even though she’d been wracked with guilt.
Lionel reached for his wife. He pulled her close against his side. “It wasn’t your fault. Life took us down a terrible road. We were hit hard by that loss.” He looked at Callie and smiled. “But God had something wonderful in store for us. He brought us Callie.”
Callie moved toward her father and hugged him for all he was worth. Her father had done a terrible thing. He had sinned. But if nothing else, Callie had learned in recent weeks about the power of forgiveness. In order to move forward she needed to take that healing step.
“So, can we go see Luke?” she asked, wiping away her tears. It was a time for celebration and thanks. Luke was going to be all right.
“Not yet, baby,” her mother said. “He needs to get checked over by a few doctors before they’ll let us see him.” She let out a chuckle. “They said he was asking for French fries.”
Jax laughed louder than the rest of them. “That sounds like Luke,” he chuckled. “Him and his French fries.”
“Why don’t we let the two of you have some time alone,” Lionel drawled, winking in his wife’s direction.
“Oh yes,” Davinia said. “We’re going to head back to the cafeteria and let Fancy, Olivia and Morgan know about Luke.”
“Morgan?” Callie asked. “She’s here?”
“Yes,” her mother answered with a nod of her head. She frowned. “She was quite upset. She was crying more than I was.”
As her parents walked off arm in arm, Callie found herself wondering yet again about Morgan’s emotional response to Luke’s accident. She hadn’t been imagining it. It had been over the top. What was going on between her brother and Morgan?
“So,” Jax said, “now that we have everything settled, when are you going to invite me over so you can cook for me”
Callie scoffed. “Me? Cook? Oh, Jax. I hope you didn’t fall in love with me in expectation of getting some home-cooked meals. I never did master the art of cooking.”
“There’s always classes,” he teased. “I could sign you up for some.”
She swatted
at him. “Hey. I’m not that bad. Well, maybe I am,” she said with a laugh.
“That’s okay. It’s not a deal-breaker. Matter of fact, there’s really nothing about you that could change the way I feel about you.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Aww. Thank you. For loving me so completely,” Callie whispered.
“Thank you. For making it so very easy to fall in love with you,” Jax whispered back. He placed several quick kisses on her lips.
Callie looked around. Several people were staring at them. “We’re going to get kicked out of here for smooching in the private family room.”
Jax took her by the hand and led her behind a column that obscured them from the rest of the visitors. “How’s this?” he asked. “Now we can smooch to our heart’s content.”
“It’s just about perfect. Now kiss me, Jax. We’ve got to make up for lost time.”
As Jax dipped his head down to capture his beloved’s lips in a stunning, passionate kiss that brought them full circle, Callie thought she heard harps and violins playing. For a girl who had given up on happily ever after a long time ago, finding her bliss with Jax sure felt like a fairytale ending.
EPILOGUE:
Breeze Point, Cape Cod
“Thank you for coming with me to Cape Cod.” Callie stood with Jax in the reception hall at The Cove restaurant, surrounded by a posse of Donahues. All day she’d been bombarded by one after the other. It had taken all her faculties to remember all their names. She’d slipped a few times, mixing up Ryder and Nick.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed this wedding for the world,” Jax said. Dressed in grey suit and tie, he looked debonair and dashing. She could only imagine what he might look like as a groom. Lately, her thoughts had strayed more and more to that dream.
