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He felt as if he’d been stripped of an identity he’d come to cherish. He wasn’t kin to Miss Hattie. And he wouldn’t ever know his actual grandparents. Those were dead ends now. It had all fallen apart. Once he got back to his house he found a duffle bag and began filling it with a few of his belongings, clothes and toiletries. He needed to leave Savannah and Tybee Island so he could think straight. His father wouldn’t hesitate to seek him out at his house and he really didn’t want to listen to him. Not now. Not when the secrets he’d been harboring had come back to bite Grayson. He buried his cell phone in the bottom of his bag. He needed quiet. Until he could figure out how to handle all of this anger rolling around inside him he needed to stay far away from Savannah.

“If there’s one thing I truly believe in, it’s the power of love.” Hope Matthews

Chapter Eleven

“Are you all right, Hope?” Fancy’s warm voice washed over her like sweet spring rain. “I know the last week has been agony for you.”

Hope let out a little sigh. “I’m doing okay.” She really wasn’t all right, but she had to keep things together for Ella. She was a mother now and her daughter’s needs came first. At night she’d been crying herself to sleep after Ella had gone to bed. That was the time when her heart ached for Grayson. She missed him terribly and he had betrayed her, just like Ross.

“He might come back,” Fancy said. “He’s just feeling wounded right now.”

“I don’t care if he does,” Hope snapped. “He left me. Without a word of goodbye, he just disappeared from Savannah. No phone calls. Nothing. And I’ve left him a dozen messages which he hasn’t bothered to return. His father has no clue where he is either.” Tanner had made inquirie

s in Martha’s Vineyard. None of their local friends had seen Grayson. In Hope’s opinion, it appeared Grayson wanted to be off the grid.

“I’m so sorry, Hope.” Fancy patted Hope on the shoulder.

She held her chin up high. “I’ll survive. The worst part is that Ella is asking for him. She got used to him being around. It hurts to have to come to terms with the possibility we might never see him again. And even if we do, how could I ever trust him again?”

“I guess it depends,” Fancy said, biting her lip. “Are you in love with him?”

Hope tried to be strong, but Fancy’s question sent her over the edge. It served as a trigger for all of her feelings. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Yes, I do love him. Very much.” With a sob she covered her face with her hands and began to cry. Fancy pulled her into her arms and held her. As her shoulders quaked, Hope knew it would be a very long time before she got over Grayson, if ever. Her heart wasn’t just broken. It had shattered into a hundred little pieces.

**

California sunshine poured through the windows of the bedroom where Grayson was staying in San Diego. He’d been here for a week licking his wounds and trying to get his head on straight. So far all he knew for certain was that he missed Hope. It felt as if someone had chopped off his right arm.

Honestly, he felt like someone who’d been on a bender. This morning he had woken up feeling as if his head was pounding with a hangover. But he hadn’t swallowed a single drop. He wanted to be with Hope. It had been stupid of him to take off without a word of explanation and leave her to wonder about his whereabouts. All the pain and rage had left him twisted up inside, so much so that he hadn’t been thinking straight. And most of his anger was about so much more than finding out he wasn’t related to Miss Hattie. It was about being abandoned as a young teen and left to defend himself against physical and mental abuse at boarding school. It felt as if he’d been angry at his parents for years. There had never been a moment of healing or reconciliation.

Grayson had spent the last week praying and being still. It had helped him clarify certain things. He loved Hope. And he wanted a future with her.

Now, in the clear light of day, he realized how badly he’d most likely wounded her. Hope had trusted him to be different than Ella’s father. Yet what had he done? He’d run off and left her. And his cell phone had been stolen four days ago while he’d been surfing at a local beach. She probably thought he’d bailed on her.

Grayson cast a quick glance at his watch. The car service was coming soon to pick him up and take him to the airport. Due to the time difference between the West and East Coast, it would be early when he arrived home. He began to fill up his duffle bag. He had a lot of apologizing to do to Hope. He prayed to God she would forgive him.

By the time Grayson arrived at Savannah House it was late afternoon. He headed straight for the place where he suspected Hope might be at this time of the day. The gazebo in the garden. He spotted her digging in the dirt pulling up weeds. The sight of her made his soul soar!

He began walking toward her, stopping when he was a few feet away. She seemed oblivious to his presence until he spoke. “Hope.” She turned around at the sound of his voice, anger blazing in her eyes. She quickly scrambled to her feet.

“I would ask you where you’ve been, but I don’t care, Grayson. Go back to wherever you disappeared to.” She held up her hand as if to prevent him from getting any closer to her.

There was such fury emanating from her eyes he barely recognized her.

“I don’t blame you a single bit for being angry at me. I was wrong. I left. I didn’t return your phone calls. It must have been a painful reminder of your past.”

“It was worse. Much much worse this time around. Ella asked about you and I had no idea what to tell her. I never expected you to run out on me.” She looked at him with mournful eyes.

“I acted like a fool. But I hope you can see that I came back because I’m a man in love with a woman I can’t live without.”

Hope’s lips trembled. He saw the look of shock etched on her face.

“I want to marry you, Hope. And I want to be Ella’s father. In every sense of the word I want to be a family. I want to adopt Ella and give her my last name. It’s a name I’m very proud of. It took me all this time to realize it. I’m Grayson Holloway. And that’s enough for me. I don’t need to be a member of the Alexander family to know who I am.”

“Home is wherever you are, Hope.”

“You love me?” Hope asked, all of her anger deflating like a burst balloon. He could see it on her face. Shock had replaced her anger.

He smiled at her. “I do. Madly. Passionately. Devotedly.” He closed the gap between them and reached for her hands. “I should never have left you. And if you let me, I’ll spend the rest of our lives making up for it.”

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