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POLLYANNA CAME DOWN at a quarter to six in the morning the next day, and the only noise that greeted her came from chirping birds and the softly spoken words from the garden at the back of the house. She followed the sounds and saw her parents standing side by side. Emma was watering the plants while Andrew was wielding a pair of shears.
“Good morning.” Her voice was scratchy from all the tears she had cried, and she knew that she must look like a fright, too, because of it. Her parents turned to her, and she waited for them to tell her, finally.
Finally she was done moping, finally she was done hiding her head in the sand, finally she was acting like a grown up.
But instead, as Pollyanna walked towards them, tears started to glisten in her mother’s eyes, and her steps faltered.
A tremulous smile touched Emma’s lips, and there was no recrimination at all when she asked simply, “You’ve made a decision, haven’t you?”
Oh.
She blinked rapidly. Why was she even surprised that they knew?
Then her mother opened her arms, and she just didn’t think. Pollyanna ran and cried in her mother’s arms. “Thank you, Mom.” She hugged Emma more tightly, and opening her eyes, Pollyanna gave her dad a watery smile. “Thank you, Dad. Thank you for not stopping me from marrying Kyr. Thank you for being okay that I didn’t get to visit you often, thank you for letting me mope and lick my wounds like a kid.” She swallowed back a sob, promising feverishly, “And I swear, I swear I won’t be so weak anymore.”
Emma shook her head. “Oh, baby.” She cupped her daughter’s face, saying fiercely, “You’re not weak.” A grown woman stood in front of her, but Emma could only see the tiny strawberry-blonde angel she had nursed in her arms, and her heart hurt.
“A weaker woman would have turned a blind eye, a weaker woman would have been afraid to lose the kind of lifestyle you’ve become accustomed to.” With a trembling hand, Emma wiped the tears from her daughter’s cheeks, and she choked out, “If there was ever a time you felt weak, it was only because of us. It was only because we loved you so much that we wanted to protect you. And Polly—-” She made her daughter look into her eyes so Pollyanna would know what she was about to say was from her heart. “We saw that, too.”
Realizing what her mother was saying, Pollyanna started to shake her head, but Emma said vehemently, “We saw it in him, too, baby. Your husband loved you. Your husband loves you – whether he knows it or not.”
The words washed over her, and Pollyanna bowed her head, not wanting her mother to see how hard she was crying. But her shoulders were shaking so badly, and they knew it anyway.
Andrew’s chest felt like it was about to explode. Unable to bear the way his daughter was crying, he pulled her to him, and he exhaled harshly as she sobbed against his chest. “Cry it all out, baby.” She shook her head, but he hushed her, saying gruffly, “It’s okay. Because with your mother and me, you never have to pretend to be strong. We’ll be strong for you. That’s how we parents are.” He kissed his daughter’s hair. “And that’s how you’ll be with your kids, too, believe me. You’ll be strong for them. Because we see ourselves in you. You love them as much as we love you.”
Chapter Four
Kyr’s private jet landed without any fuss, and his staff was just as efficient in ensuring that their most precious cargo, the five members making up their CEO’s family, was safe and comfortable as they prepared to leave the plane.
“We hope you had a pleasant flight with us, Mrs. Gazis.”
After spending more than a week in Arkansas, the deference with which her husband’s staff treated Pollyanna felt unreal and unfamiliar, and she could only manage a shy, awkward smile in return. In the back of her mind, she realized that she was also playing it safe, thinking she shouldn’t get used to this.
If they did end up divorcing, another woman would soon come to take her place and be Mrs. Gazis.
Peering outside of her window, she immediately saw Kyr waiting for them. He was dressed in a three-piece suit, managing to look cool and gorgeous despite the sweltering heat. The mere sight of him had excruciating pain seizing her heart, and she closed her eyes involuntarily, praying, God, please. Let me be strong. Let me do what’s right for my kids. Please God. Please.
Coming out of the plane, the twins walked ahead of her and Pollyanna expected them to run to their father the moment they saw him. But when she reached the last step, with Leo in her arms, they immediately came to her side, and she looked down at them in surprise. “It’s Papa,” she said gently. “Why aren’t you going to him?” She couldn’t help glancing at where Kyr was as she spoke and even in the distance, she noticed that he had become tenser. He, too, knew that something had changed.
