Sun-Kissed Secret Baby by Leigh Jenkins
Chapter 27
As the trio turned away from the water, the crowd gathered in a semi-circle around them parted, making way. Allie wished she could thank them, each of them, one by one, but all she could do was murmur over and over: Thank you, thank you, bless you.
They nodded and smiled, sharing her relief and her awe at the miracle they had all witnessed. To find a lost child in a place like this, at a time like this, was a wonder all of its own.
Allie stayed close to Sam’s side as he made his way back up the rain-slicked path, sensing the small crowd that followed. Charlie and the guards stayed behind to lock things up again, and as the lights went out behind them one by one, those on the path before them brightened by contrast.
Daria protested to be put down, insisting that she wanted to walk, but Sam responded that she’d had more than enough exertion for one night, thank you. She made no more fuss and instead settled in against his chest.
Holding her steady, he reached out and took Allie’s hand. She shot him a surprised look, and he gave her a quick smile. Like Daria, she settled for being held, discovering that she rather liked it.
Once in the cabin, Allie ran Daria a hot bath, and was about to help her get into it when she said firmly, “It’s fine, Mom. I can handle my stories.”
Allie reacted in surprise. “‘Handle your stories’? Where did you learn to say that?”
She shrugged. “Uncle Charlie.”
“Figures.” She headed for the bathroom door. “Handle your stories, then, my love. Your dad and I will be waiting for you.”
Your dad and I,Allie mused as she shut the door. The words had come so easily to her. Sam was waiting in the living room, still soaked to the skin, but not even looking perturbed by it. She went to her room, retrieved a towel, and handed it to him. He stripped off his shirt and began drying himself down.
“You must be tired,” she commiserated.
“No. Just relieved.” His green gaze was on her. “You okay?”
“I am now.”
They waited in the dense silence of the room until Daria emerged, and immediately Allie began ruffling her hair with a towel. Daria sidestepped her. “I dried it some, with the hair drier. I’m good.”
She looked at them, from one parent to the other, and then asked Allie anxiously, “Did I really ruin your life?”
Allie felt her heart crack all over again. Why had she said those stupid words? “No, my love. I’m sorry for what I said, and I didn’t mean any of it. Everything I have ever done since I had you was for you—and for us. And I don’t regret a second of it. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Daria’s eyes were full of hope and Allie willed her to believe her. “We have so much more life together, you and me. So much more happiness and adventures.” She wrapped her arms around her not-so-little girl and inhaled the strawberry scent of her freshly washed hair. This was what life was all about.
Sam spoke up. “From the moment I knew you existed, everything in my life changed, and I never want it to go back to the way it was.” He came over and embraced Daria as well. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me too.” He locked eyes with Allie and added, “You and your mother. We’re a team, yes?”
Daria nodded emphatically. “Yes!” Then she yawned, wide enough to give her parents an eyeful of her molars. Her thick lashes fluttered.
Sam loosened his embrace. “Maybe you should go get some rest,” he suggested. “It takes a lot of sleep to recover from battling sea monsters.”
She smiled, rubbing her cheek sleepily. “I guess.” She gave her mother a sharp look. “We aren’t going anywhere tomorrow, are we?”
“No,” Allie promised with all her heart. “We aren’t going anywhere.” She made a move to lead Daria back to her room. “Want me to tuck you in?”
Daria giggled. “Nah. I can handle my—”
“Stories. I know.” Her daughter was growing up, becoming more independent. The melancholy of watching her babyhood slip away was superseded by pride. She was raising a titan, of that she was sure.
They watched as Daria pulled her bedroom door shut, and then Allie and Sam turned together and walked onto the porch. The rain had abated, and the world around them glistened, with the smell of fresh earth rising to their nostrils.
They were alone again, and there was so much more to be said.
“Did you mean that?” Allie asked tentatively. “What you told her, was it just to comfort her?”
“No. Of course not. I would never say something I didn’t mean to her, not something like that.”
That was somewhat reassuring, but that didn’t mean that everything was okay. She took a deep breath. “Sam?”
“Hmm?” He was watching her carefully, like a chess player trying to predict her next move.
“I think Daria would like to stay.”
He seemed to think about it a bit. “I’m sure she would. Would you?”
“Yes, I think—”
“You think?” His brows shot up.
She stumbled over her words. “I mean, I would. I’d like that.” There she was, agonizingly close to laying it all on the line.
He folded his arms, leaning against the railing and regarding her keenly. “Except my previous offer, of a place for the two of you, is now off the table.”
“What? No!” She was aghast. She’d turned him down and he’d changed his mind. What a fool she had been. “But then….”
He reached out and took her hand. “I have a question.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to answer it, whatever it was. Not now that he was smashing her hopes for a family to smithereens. “Fine,” she sighed. “Ask.”
“Do you remember your last day at Batali Beach? When we talked out on the beach?”
Of course she did. He’d begged her to be with him, wait for him after she returned to the States. And she’d said no. She’d torn his heart out, brought him almost to tears. She didn’t trust herself to speak; only nodded.
He continued, “I told you I loved you—”
She opened her mouth to apologize but he signaled her to stop.
“I asked you if you loved me; you never answered.”
She wished the ground would swallow her up. She’d been cruel and selfish, and now he was reminding her of that fact. She stood before him, mute in her misery.
“Do you have an answer for me now?”
What kind of question was that? What was he going to do with the information, and how could it be used against her? Allie found herself faced with a choice: she could protect herself with denial and concretize her own misery and isolation, or she could speak her truth. Lay her love out for him, honest and bare; at least it deserved that much respect.
“You know I do.” Her voice cracked a little as she spoke. “I love you, Sam.” There, she thought, I’ve said it.
A slow smile crept across his handsome face. “Well, then, may I lay a new deal on the table: one that sounds like a win-win-win to me.”
She watched him warily, unsure of where he was going with this.
He took her hand and brought it to his lips in a movement that was simultaneously sweet, gentle, and erotic. “I propose that you, Daria and I—together—we explore this. Try our hand at being a family. That you and I—well, we can’t pick up from where we left off, because we aren’t kids anymore. We’re grownups with our own hopes and desires, and our own lives to live. But I love you, Allie, and I can’t see any future for me in which my life isn’t entwined with yours.”
Allie felt as though she was poised on the brink of something scary and wonderful. It was time to make up her mind. She could step back onto the solid ground that she knew so well, which was familiar at least, if a little humdrum and often stressful. Or she could move boldly forward into the unknown, secure in the fact that Sam was there, ready to catch her if she fell.
Of one accord, they glanced in the direction of Daria’s room, and the unspoken commitment solidified between them: their girl was part of this all. Her happiness was tightly interwoven with theirs.
“Allie?” Sam was waiting, still clutching her hand tightly, as if he felt that letting her go would mean that she would fade from his view and forever be lost.
She felt pure joy begin to bubble up inside. “I accept your new deal,” she announced assuredly and stepped into his arms.
“You haven’t heard all the terms,” he murmured into her hair, hugging her tightly.
“I don’t need to, if you’re part of it.”
He kissed her for a long time, and she felt the stresses of the day… and the uncertainty of the years… melt away.
Then she noticed something and began to back off. “Your jeans! They’re still soaking wet!”
He glanced toward her bedroom, then back at her, and then winked. “I guess I could always take them off.”