Her Secret, His Child: A Little Secret by Tara Quinn (rosie project .txt) 📕

never will. Because loyalty is a part of the person you are, a part of the person you've always been. You were loyal to a mother I don't think deserved it, loyal to Tom Webber, who I know didn't deserve it. But most important you've been loyal to Ashley—and to us."

"How have I been loyal to us?" He could barely hear the words.

"Our night together was so different, so special to you, that you've been loyal to it ever since.

"The thing is, Jamie," he continued, never more serious in his life. "You aren't sullied, as you seem to believe. You just had a series of unfortunate things happen to you, and you reacted to them in the only way you knew how."

Tears started to slide slowly down her cheeks as she sat there, silently watching him. Her eyes begged him to be right.

' 'Considering the complete lack of guidance you had growing up, I think you're the most remarkable person I've ever met. I don't know how you didn't end up in the streets, on drugs, robbing, stealing, hurting the world as much as you've been hurt."

' 'What good would it have done?''

"Bingo." Kyle did have to swallow back tears then.

"What?"

"That's you, Jamie—always looking for good. Don't you see, honey? An immoral person wouldn't have cared what good it would've done. People like that just automatically destroy. They don't even know good exists."

The tears poured from her eyes then, soaking

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

Kyle's shirt as he pulled her against him. He held on tight, absorbing her anguish, thanking the heavens that she'd finally found a way home.

'"Thank you," she whispered sometime later when she was spent.

"I didn't do anything." Gazing into her beautiful gray eyes, he knew that it was he who would be thanking her for the rest of his life. He'd been only half-alive before Jamie, too caught up in right and wrong to experience all the nuances of life.

"How can you say you've done nothing?" she asked. "You've just given me back the one thing I thought I'd lost forever."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "What's that?"

"My self-respect."

They talked for hours, long after it had fallen dark and the resort had settled down for the night. She told him about her past, things Karen had already told him and things she hadn't, but the telling was so much less painful with Kyle there, loving her more instead of less with every sordid detail.

"The greatest gift I ever had was Mother's Day," she said, snuggling into his side where they sat on the floor, leaning against the couch.

"What did you get?" He was nuzzling her temple.

"Mother's Day," she admitted. "That's it. The day."

"Why's that?"

She couldn't see his expression but was wanned by the genuine interest he showed in every single thing about her, every word she said.

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

"The first Mother's Day after I'd become a mother was the first time I ever felt good about myself. How could I not with Ashley staring up at me, adoring me, while I nursed her?"

"I wish I could have seen that."

His words stopped her for a moment. Stopped them both. And then she continued. "Besides, I'd done something good, turned my life around. Shown myself I could be a good person. Mother's Day is like my real birthday. The day symbolizing my rebirth. I was finally free from hell."

"No mother is more deserving of the celebration," he told her. "So it's a darn good thing we have one hell of a party planned, eh?" He poked her in the side.

Jamie squirmed, as he'd meant her to do, though she knew she couldn't go to that party. Whether Kyle loved her or not, some things hadn't changed.

They talked some about Ashley. About how excited she was to spend the night at Karen's. And about Karen. How distraught her friend had been. And how happy Karen and Dennis were these days.

And then they discussed the future.

"You know I can't marry you," she said, sometime after midnight. They were lying on the couch by then, her head on his chest, both still fully clothed. Their hands had been exploring intimate places on and off for the past hour.

"What are you talking about?" He sat up suddenly, setting her beside him.

"Have you forgotten Nelson Monroe?" she asked him. She certainly hadn't. "You could lose your job, Kyle!"

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"They can't fire me for something they'll never be able to prove," he said. "You went out of business after that night with me. 1 wasn't one of your clients."

"But—"

"It doesn't matter anyway, Jamie," he said, silencing her with a gentle finger to her lips. "The town is going to take its cues from us. The way everyone else handles the situation depends largely on how we handle it ourselves."

She wanted to believe him. So badly.

"If you feel we should move, we'll move, but you have nothing to be ashamed of, honey."

"Right, Kyle. Tell that to Dean Patterson after Nelson gives him an earful."

"I don't think I'll have to, Jamie. You've already told the dean all he needs to know."

"I don't follow you."

"Ever hear the saying 'actions speak louder than words'?"

She nodded, frowning.

"You've been living in Larkspur Grove for more than four years. Living every day as the good, caring, committed, dependable person you are."

She almost grinned at his list of adjectives, except that she'd needed to hear them so badly she started to cry again, instead.

"All you have to do is stand proudly as that person and eventually even your most staunch critics will have to come around. Or show themselves for the unworthy people they are—and then who cares?"

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

"You really think so?" She could drown in the love in his eyes.

"I do." Leaning forward, he kissed her on the lips. Lingering there. "Everyone, including Dean Patterson, has a past littered with mistakes of one kind or another."

Once again, he was right.

"I'm not saying it's always going to be easy, but not many things worth having are."

"What about Ashley? How