child from that affair? You think that this will simply be over by you admitting to what you did?” she asked, shocked and angry.
“I didn’t mean right away. I meant after this is over.”
“Aidan, this won’t simply go away. The fact that you had an affair is bad enough. The thought that you had a child with this woman makes everything impossible. Can’t you see that?”
She stood with her hand on the door, her head pounding, and watched her husband’s face. A face she loved, had loved most of her life. And now, because of one phone call, it might all be over. “Well? Aren’t you going to say something?”
“Grace, I’m begging you to go with me. You can’t imagine how terrible I feel for the pain I’ve caused you. I want to make it up to you by being totally honest about all this. From now on, wherever this takes us, I want you with me.”
She heard the sincerity in his voice, saw the expression of remorse on his face, and her determination to walk out slipped from her. Whatever he’d done, however much he’d hurt her, she was still his wife and she had to allow him to make this right. Maybe he couldn’t, and she would have to live with that. But whatever came out of this, she didn’t want to end up regretting what she’d done, how she’d behaved.
As she stared at him, memories of their life flashed before her eyes, all the good times they’d had together would end up being for nothing if she acted too rashly. Deep down inside she wanted to believe that, despite everything, they might still have a chance.
“I don’t know if I can do this, any of it. You’ve hurt me in ways I could never have imagined. Right now I hate you, and I can’t imagine ever getting over what I’m feeling.”
“Grace, I’m so afraid,” he said, his hands working at his sides.
“Would you be willing to go for marriage counseling?” she asked.
“Of course. All I want is you, Grace. I want us to find each other again, to feel what we’ve felt all these years.”
She looked at the man she’d married ten years ago, at the light dusting of freckles on his cheeks, the way his eyes seemed to see straight through her. Was it possible she might have feelings for him again? That somehow their marriage would survive this? Love didn’t die easily. She’d seen her parents’ marriage and the trouble they’d gone through, the loss of faith when her dad’s gambling problem had nearly bankrupted the family. She had to believe that her marriage would survive this, that marriage counseling might help them regain the trust they’d lost.
But she had no idea how. And if it turned out that Aidan had been unfaithful, it could be the final blow to their marriage, something that Grace would never get over. To a part of Grace, it was simply unbelievable that her husband could have fathered a child when they’d done everything to have one of their own. No one had said it was her fault that they couldn’t conceive, but deep down, she blamed herself. Proving that Aidan hadn’t had a child by this woman would help ease her guilt that she was responsible for their infertility. If this whole thing was behind them, as Aidan said, they could go to counseling, reaffirm their marriage vows and work with the adoption lawyer to find a baby.
Grace took a deep breath to ease the tension headache. “Okay. I will go with you, but that’s all I’m willing to do.”
He grabbed her, held her tight. “I love you, Grace. So much,” he said, tears streaming down his cheeks, his shoulders shaking.
“We’ll get through this,” he whispered close to her ear. “There is nothing we can’t do if we put our minds to it. I made a mistake, but I’m willing to make it up to you. As for the child, there is no way that little girl is mine. And I’ll prove it by having the DNA testing redone in a reputable lab.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said, her voice low as she looked into his eyes.
“This is one giant mistake on someone’s part, and I’ll prove it.” He put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the sofa, all the while feeling her resistance. “I should never have told you about Deidre the way I did. It was thoughtless and hurtful. There’s nothing I can do to fix that, but if you’ll go with me while we establish that I’m not the father, then we can work on us.”
“It’s not that simple, Aidan. I’m not going to go along with whatever you want. I’ve had enough of that. You don’t really believe that this will be over so easily, do you?” she demanded, pushing his hands away.
“I don’t know, but I want to see if I can start to make things right with you. Grace, I can’t bear to lose you, and we will get through this. I’ll make a reservation at an inn in Spartanburg, and after all this is behind us we will continue what we started here,” he said. “That is, if you want to.”
“I don’t know what I want. The only thing I’m certain of is that this is a long way from over.”
Aidan saw the misery in his wife’s eyes and his heart contracted in his chest. How could he have done this to her? “Grace, I have been so damned stupid. You deserve better than what I’ve given you by way of explanation. I’m sorry about everything, but most of all I’m sorry for causing you such pain. Thank you for agreeing to come with me. And I promise you that we will figure this out. Just give us time.”
She gave him a harsh look he’d never seen before. His stomach sank as he realized the monumental task ahead of him.
* * *
THE NEXT DAY, as they drove toward Spartanburg, would have been so pleasant if not for the impending meeting. Aidan had lain awake for hours wondering how the DNA test showed him to be the father. And if he was the father, why hadn’t Deidre told him? As he thought about it, he couldn’t help but wonder why, when she had no immediate family, she hadn’t told him—if it were true. No woman would want to go through a birth and the raising of a child without some sort of family support.
And why had she done the test if she didn’t plan to tell him? Had she had a relationship with another man and wanted to be certain that he couldn’t claim the child? She was obviously a rich woman. Had a man she’d dated tried to say the daughter was his?
The lawyer hadn’t said how old the little girl was. Maybe she was too young to be his daughter. He knew the exact weekend he’d spent with Deidre, so if the child had been born more than nine months after that, she couldn’t be his. Had Deidre appointed him guardian because she thought he would do what he could for her daughter, regardless of whether or not he was the father?
As he mulled it all over, he could not understand her motivations. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t figure out why she would keep the paternity of her daughter a secret, yet name him as the child’s father in her will. It made zero sense. Even if Deidre was trying to prevent another man from gaining custody of the child, there were more effective—and less destructive—ways to do so.
For now, he would concentrate on the road ahead and trying to ease Grace’s concerns about what they’d face at the lawyer’s office. “I booked us into the nicest inn around the area. Might as well enjoy being comfortable while we get this over with.”
He glanced at her, at the way her golden hair fell around her cheeks, at her beautiful lips and the set of her chin. All features he was intimately acquainted with and loved about her. He squeezed her hand. “We’re going to be fine. This will be settled easily. I’ll have our lawyer look after the details of a second DNA test and then we’ll head back home. When
