She started shaking her head. “I called a friend to pick me up a few blocks down from the house, and then I grabbed my coat and purse and left. I stayed with my friend for almost three weeks. So, a part of me understands Jessie’s need to just get away. I mean, what she thinks she saw is ten times worse than what Jack had done.”

“Did you tell Jack where you were?”

She looked at me with a sad face. “No. I didn’t talk to him for two and a half weeks. Nothing. Not a word. My friend had begged me to call him and at least let him know I was okay, but I was so mad at him that I wanted him to worry. I wanted him to think about the idea of losing me.”

I peeked down at the ground. “Wow. I’m not sure if I could ever do that. I mean, I guess if I were mad and hurt enough, I could, but—”

“Oh, believe me, at the time, it made perfect sense to me. Today, I see what a terrible mistake it was. I could have driven him into that tramp’s arms. One time, I drove by our place. I almost died when I saw her standing on the porch, talking with Jack. My heart broke, and I spent three days wondering if she had just stopped by…or maybe she was leaving after they had just had sex. I about drove myself mad before I broke down and called her. I told her to tell me the truth.”

I sat up straighter. “You called her? Look at you, you gutsy bitch. Ari would be so proud!”

Grace giggled. “I guess so.”

“What did the tramp say?”

Grace winked at me and said, “That she had stopped by to see if she could help in any way because she felt guilty. She had liked the attention Jack had given her, and she’d egged on the flirting. She had asked him if she could help with trying to find me.”

“Gasp! What did you say to that?”

“I asked her to please leave my husband alone. Then, I told her that I really hoped when she married the man of her dreams someday, some little bitch would do the same thing to her. I hung up, and then I picked up the phone and called Jack. The moment I said his name, he broke down, crying. My heart had never beat so hard in my chest like it did in that moment. He begged me to come home, and he promised to never hurt me again if I would just come home.”

“Jack cried? Hard-core Jack from the Army?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yep, that same Jack. I asked my friend to give me a ride home, and when I walked through the door, he pulled me to him and kissed me like I’d never been kissed before.”

Her cheeks were stained a beautiful rose color as the memory must have been coming back to her.

“One thing led to another, and…well…” She looked over at me and smiled a huge smile. “I’d never felt so loved in my life as I did when Jack made love to me that afternoon. Let’s just say that afterward, something told me that we had just made something magical together. Nine months later, Drew was born.”

She felt it, too. I smiled and nodded. “Gunner thinks I’m crazy, but I know when the baby was conceived. I just felt it afterward one night. Everything was just…perfect. It was…”

Grace and I both said, “Magical,” at the same time.

We looked at each other and started laughing.

“Grace, thank you so much for always being here for me. I’ll always appreciate how you treat me like your daughter.”

I watched as Grace’s eyes filled with tears.

“Ellie, you are my daughter, and I love you more than life itself. Thank you for loving my son and for being an amazing wife and mother. I watch you, and you just amaze me.”

My eyes betrayed me as I struggled to keep the tears from falling. We both stood and hugged each other before I heard Alex laughing over the monitor.

Grace hooked my arm with hers and said, “Come on, let’s get the birthday girl ready for her big party.”

“Luke…please get Grace’s foot out of your mouth.”

I reached down and picked Grace up and out of her bouncy chair.

I looked over toward Josh and Heather. Heather was holding Will and laughing at something Jeff was saying. Josh was holding Libby and dancing with her as he sang in her ear. My heart just melted.

Damn that boy. He sure has Gunner beat in the whole romance department.

Then, Gunner caught my eye. I smiled as I watched him run after Alex, and then he grabbed her. He brought her face up to his and smiled. I thought that even his one-year-old daughter was smitten with him.

Stupid good-looking bastard.

I watched Gunner smile at his daughter as she grabbed his face and practically bit him while she was trying to give him kisses. With the way he was looking at her, I just knew there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do for her.

Poor thing. I sure feel sorry for her when she starts dating.

Jeff walked up to me and kissed me on the cheek. He took Grace from my arms and walked back toward Heather and Josh. I sat there and watched my husband with our daughter. I’d been through a flood of emotions the last few months—overwhelming happiness to sadness to nothing but anger. During the last two weeks, I’d finally felt normal. I thought back to when my mother and I had had lunch a month after Grace was born. She’d insisted that I had postpartum depression.

I shook my head and took a deep breath. I couldn’t pull my eyes from Jeff. Luke came up and started pulling on my shirt, trying to get my attention. I leaned down and whispered for him to go attack Gunner.

When I looked back up, I saw Jeff walking with Grace. He was talking to her, and she was just staring back at him.

What is he saying to her?

I watched him walk away from everyone. I quickly glanced over to Gunner and saw him chasing Luke and Alex. I started to make my way over to where Jeff was sitting on the tree swing with Grace. I snuck up and stood behind another tree as I listened to him talk to her.

“Oh, Grace Hope, I don’t think you’ll ever know how much I love you and how you’ll always be my baby girl. Your mommy says you’ve already got me wrapped around your little finger, and even though I’ll never admit it…you do. You’re so precious, and you look so much like your mommy. Your mother is so beautiful, Grace, and she takes my breath away with just one look at her.”

Oh. My. God. My heart was beating so hard, and I felt the tears beginning to sting my eyes.

“Even when she leans over in the morning with her terrible, yucky bad breath as she says good morning to me, she still captivates me.”

Bastard!

“I love her so much, and I love you and Luke so much, too. The three of you are my whole world, but you…you are my special little gift. Your big sister brought you to us, and I know she’ll always be with you—just like she’s with your mom and your big brother and me.”

I grabbed my angel necklace as I put my head against the tree, and I just let the tears fall.

“You see, Grace, I made a terrible mistake one day, and I walked away from your mommy when she needed me the most. I’ll never forgive myself for that. Your mommy has…but I won’t.”

No…oh, Jeff, no. I felt my heart slam in my chest, and I placed my hand over my mouth to keep from crying harder. I looked back up and continued to watch Jeff talk to Grace.

“Then, you came along. And just with that first sight of you in your mommy’s tummy, I had the strangest feeling come over me.”

Jeff held Grace out in front of him, and she just stared at him, like she was looking into his soul. It was all I could do to just stand there and watch it all unfold.

“You healed me, Grace Hope. Mommy says everything happens for a reason, and I think she’s right. But shhh…don’t ever tell her I said that. It’ll go to her head.”

I grinned as I watched a little smile move across Grace’s face. I sucked in a breath of air. If I hadn’t known any better, I would swear she knew what he was saying.