Kim stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. The red, puffy eyes that said she had been crying stared at her. She had never felt as devastated in her life as she did at that moment. To say she was heartbroken would be a colossal understatement. Everything had gotten out of hand with anger and recriminations on both sides. Her entire life had become a complete shambles, and she was an emotional wreck.
Had she done the right thing in leaving? What else could she have done? A relationship couldn’t be built on deceit, and holding back information was the same as lying. Jared suspected his father had cheated her father, which made the debt invalid, yet he had never said anything. She shook her head as she tried to sort out what was real. He had never offered her any commitment. Did they even have a relationship? She was so confused…and so miserable.
And Chloe—the toddler who was only supposed to be at Jared’s house for a day or so—had also become a part of her life. It felt like a real family when the three of them were together. It was a feeling she had grown to cherish. And now it was gone, too.
She looked around at the boxes she had packed. More than closing a chapter of her life, she was closing two chapters. One chapter dealt with her sometimes strained and occasionally turbulent relationship with her father and the other chapter with the man she loved with all her heart…a love that would never be returned. A heavy dose of sorrow shuddered through her body. Somehow she would get on with her life, but she wasn’t sure exactly how.
She forced herself back to her packing. She would take as much with her in her car as she could and get the rest in a few days when she could borrow a van from a friend.
The ringing phone broke the silence. As soon as she answered it she heard Jared’s panicked voice.
“Chloe has disappeared. I can’t find her anywhere. I need your help. Hurry.”
There was no mistaking the urgency in his voice. It wasn’t a ploy of some sort, another bit of deceit. If the little girl had gotten outside, she could have wandered off anywhere, including down to the beach or out on the boat dock. A sinking feeling crashed inside her. Chloe could have…
Kim stopped her wild, scattered thoughts. Chloe was all right. She had to be. Kim refused to allow any other possibility. A rush of adrenaline pushed her into action. She grabbed her car keys and darted out the door.
A few minutes later she pulled up in front of Jared’s house. He stood at the open front door, the expression on his face saying he had been anxiously waiting for her. She jumped out of her car and ran up the steps to the porch.
“Have you found her yet? What happened?”
Jared pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly against his body. He wanted to say so many things to her. Primary among them was that he loved her and didn’t want to lose her. But as important as that was, finding Chloe took priority. His movements were as frantic as his words. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve looked everywhere. I don’t know how she got away. One minute she was in the kitchen, and when I turned around, she was gone.” He released her from his embrace but continued to hold on to her hand. “I thought I had a watchful eye on her. I thought I…” His words trailed off as the despair covered his face.
“Don’t blame yourself.”
His emotionally frantic state came out in his voice. “Don’t blame myself? How can I not blame myself? I was the one responsible for her. I was the one who insisted on keeping her here when you wanted to call the police. If something has happened to her, who else’s fault could it possibly be? The blame is solely mine.”
They walked inside the house and he closed the front door. Kim’s gaze darted from place to place. “You’ve searched everywhere inside the house? In closets? Under beds? Behind the floor-length drapes? You’ve checked low cupboards even though they seemed to be fastened shut? Did you look in the basement? In the garage?”
“Yes, I’ve done all of those things. She just isn’t here.”
A sick churning worked its way up her throat. “Could someone have taken her? Maybe her mother coming for her? Or Terry changing his mind?”
“No. Grant is seeing the mother right now, and he never told her where Chloe was. And as for Terry…well, I can’t imagine him doing anything that would create even the slightest bit of inconvenience for himself. You do remember how quickly he dumped her off on me, don’t you?”
Kim took in a steadying breath in an attempt to calm her rampaging fears. She could see how genuinely distraught Jared was. She needed to keep her cool and handle this logically in spite of the fact that her emotions were completely involved. It wouldn’t do for both of them to not be thinking clearly, although he did seem to have done a very thorough search of the house. She steeled herself against the emotional onslaught that threatened to overwhelm her.
“Have you searched the grounds yet? You’ve got two acres here with lots of plants and shrubbery.”
“No, I haven’t looked outside yet.”
“Toddlers can disappear in the blink of an eye and hide in very small spaces.”
They started with the heavily landscaped front yard, checking behind and in all the bushes and flower beds. Then they moved to the backyard.
They stood on the deck looking across the yard. Kim’s gaze fell on the swimming pool and hot tub. A hard jolt of trepidation shot through her body. The panic she had been trying to keep under control refused to stay submerged.
“Jared…I know you have the cover on the pool and hot tub, but could she have somehow crawled under—”
“No. That was the first thing I checked. But I’ll look again.”
He lifted the heavy lid from the hot tub so Kim could look inside, then replaced it. Next he flipped the switch that retracted the automatic pool cover. They both watched as more and more of the water came into view. When the pool was fully uncovered and Kim was satisfied, he reversed the process, and they watched until the pool was once again completely covered.
The anxiety continued to run rampant through her as they started a careful search of the backyard. With each passing minute Kim became more anxious and scared. She glanced at Jared. She could tell from the expression on his face that he was every bit as worried as she was, yet he managed to project an outer calm that gave her confidence everything would be all right. It somehow eased the full-blown panic that had gripped her from the moment of his phone call.
Lurch lay in front of his doghouse watching them as if he was wondering what in the world they could be doing. Jared searched through the shrubbery along the sidewall enclosing the backyard while Kim did the same on the opposite wall. They worked their way to the back of the property. Jared checked the lock on the back gate leading to the stairs that went down to the beach and the boat dock.
“The lock is secure. There’s no way she could have gotten out of the yard through the gate, and she certainly couldn’t have climbed over an eight-foot wall.”
Jared took Kim’s hand in his. He desperately needed the warmth of the physical contact. He loved her so very much. Through his stupidity and fears he had managed to drive her away. It felt as if his entire world had collapsed around him. Then, when he thought things could not possibly be worse, Chloe had disappeared. Somehow he had to bring the three of them back together again. Kim was there, and now they had to find Chloe.
A new thought hit him. His head snapped around toward her, and his eyes grew wide. His words came out excited and urgent. “The deck…I never looked under the deck.”
They raced across the yard toward the house. Jared went into the utility room and returned a minute later with a large flashlight. He pulled open the access panel covering the entrance to the area beneath the large wooden deck.
“I don’t think she could have pulled off this panel and I can’t imagine how she could have put it back in place from under the deck, but I’ve got to check it out anyway.” He got down on his stomach and, using his arms, he pulled himself through the opening.
He switched on the flashlight, shined the bright beam around the darkened area and carefully searched every foot of space. He pulled himself over to the place where the hot tub had been set into the deck and carefully checked all the way around the tub base. When he was satisfied that Chloe wasn’t there, he crawled out from under the deck and replaced the access door.
Kim’s anxious words greeted him. “Well?”
His voice carried the disappointment that coursed through him. “She’s not there.” He tried to brush some of the dirt from the front of his clothes. Despair surrounded his words. “I don’t know where else to look.”
He took her hand and led her inside the house. He paused at the door leading from the utility room to the kitchen. He couldn’t hide the turmoil churning inside him. “I can’t think of anything else to do or anyplace else to look. Can you?”
“You’ve already searched the inside of the house thoroughly, and we’ve covered all of the outside.” She blinked several times in an effort to brush away the tears gathering in her eyes. She tried to swallow the lump forming in her throat, but it came out as a sob. “I don’t know what else to suggest.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. He had never felt so helpless. “I guess it’s time to call the police.”
Lurch pushed his way through his doggy door into the utility room. He let out a bark, then sat down and stared at them as if trying to convey some message.
Kim kneeled next to the Saint Bernard. She gave his head a loving stroke. “What’s the matter, Lurch? Do you miss Chloe, too?”
At the mention of the toddler’s name Lurch jumped up and barked a couple of times, then went out the doggy door. He barked again from outside the house.
Kim’s gaze flew to Jared, and she saw a look of recognition that matched the sudden realization that had hit her. “Do you suppose Lurch is trying to tell us where Chloe is?”
They rushed out the door. Lurch barked again, then trotted over to his doghouse, pausing along the way to look at them as if making sure they were following.
A tingle of excitement started deep inside Kim and quickly spread through her body. Jared still held her hand. A moment later he gave it a reassuring squeeze along with a confident smile, telling her everything was all right.
He got down on his hands and knees and peeked into the doghouse. It wasn’t until he expelled the air from his lungs that he realized he had been holding his breath in anticipation of what he hoped to find. A wave of relief washed over him. Chloe had curled up on Lurch’s blanket and was sound asleep.
He reached inside the doghouse and brought out the sleeping toddler. He carried her to Kim, his words soft and soothing as he walked even though the sleeping child couldn’t hear them. “You gave us quite a scare, Chloe. We didn’t know where you’d gone and we were very worried.”
Kim could not stop the big smile from spreading across her face. The exhilaration welled inside her and pushed out in the form of a soft laugh. “I was scared to death.”
“She must have crawled out through Lurch’s dog door, maybe following him when he went outside. She’s still sleeping.”
“She’s probably exhausted from her big adventure.”
He looked questioningly at Kim. “Is it all right if we put her in her crib and worry about giving her a bath later?”
“Of course.”
Jared and Kim walked through the house to Chloe’s bedroom, the child securely nestled in his arms. He placed her lovingly in the crib. They stood and watched her for a few minutes. Jared put his arm around Kim’s shoulder and drew her close to him.
His words were soft and heartfelt. “What started as my being responsible for her has grown into so much more. It’s as if she’s part of my life, and to have to give her up to the child welfare people will be like losing a piece of me.”
He pulled Kim into his arms. His soft words tickled across her cheek. “And losing you would be like losing all of me.”
He placed a loving kiss on her lips, then held her face in his hands. He looked deeply into her eyes. “I don’t care about the debt. I don’t care about the feud. I don’t care about whose father did what. All I care about is the two of us being together.”
Jared took a calming breath to steady his rattled nerves, then finally managed to say what he had been holding in his heart.
“I love you, Kim. I love you very much. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please forgive me.”
She placed her hands on top of his. She felt the trembling, but didn’t know if it was Jared or herself. Had she heard him correctly? Could he have said what she had been longing to hear? Her words came out as a breathless whisper. “You’re not saying that just because you think it’s what I want to hear, are you?”
“No. I’m saying it because I’m not afraid to say it anymore. I love you, Kim. I’ve been so afraid of the emotion and scared to death of the commitment that goes with it, but watching you walk out of my life this afternoon frightened me even more.”
Her unbridled joy erupted full force. She flung her arms around his neck. “I love you, too. I really do. I love you.”
He captured her mouth with all the love that had been inside him wanting to get out. His tongue meshed with hers. He twined his fingers in her hair, caressed her shoulders and snuggled her hips tightly against his. Where the passion between them had always been hot and electric, now the final missing piece was in place to complete the picture, and that piece was love…deep and abiding love.
Jared broke off the kiss but continued to hold her in his arms.
“I’ve got dirt all over me from crawling around under the deck and I’ve probably gotten some on you, too. I need to take a shower.” He flashed a sexy inviting smile. “Perhaps we could take a shower together?”
She nestled her head against his shoulder as the sweetness of the moment swirled inside her. The total impact of the last several minutes, of Jared’s declaration of love, still had her senses somewhat numbed. It was what she had wanted more than anything, and now that it was a reality she was having difficulty taking it all in. “That sounds like a fun idea, but I don’t have any other clothes to put on. Besides, isn’t your attorney due here sometime soon?”
He rested his cheek against the top of her head. “You’re right. Grant is probably on his way now.”
Jared released her from his embrace as he looked at his clothes. “I really do need to take a quick shower and put on something clean.”
“You go ahead and grab a shower. Meanwhile, I have plenty of work to do in the office.”
Jared placed a loving kiss on her lips, then disappeared across the hall to his bedroom. After checking on Chloe to make sure she was still sleeping, Kim went to the office. She picked up where she had left the charity event. About twenty minutes later she looked up to find Jared staring at her.
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
He walked over to her and sat on the edge of the desk. “You looked like you were deep in concentration. I didn’t want to disturb you. What you are—”
The doorbell interrupted him.
“I’ll bet that’s Grant.” He hurried to the door and admitted his attorney to the house. He called down the hall for Kim to join them in the den.
Grant Collins nodded in Kim’s direction, acknowledging her presence. “Miss Donaldson. It’s nice to see you again.”
A flush of embarrassment heated her cheeks. “I want to apologize for my rude behavior. There was no excuse for what I did.”
“That’s quite all right. I understand.” The attorney went right to the business at hand.
“I’ve spoken with Amy Fenton, the little girl’s mother. She does not want the child back. At first she told me it was because there was no way she could properly care for her, but her true reasons came to light shortly after that. It seems she has a new boyfriend who has no interest in being saddled with the care of any children. He wants to be free to pursue his wanderings and expects Amy to go with him. She had made the choice between Chloe and the new boyfriend—she chose the boyfriend.”
Jared’s frown carried a hint of confusion and a lot of disgust at the news his attorney had brought him. “So what happens now? Where does Chloe go?”
Grant drew in a deep breath and slowly expelled it. “Well, a lot of that hinges on Terry. He is Chloe’s father and apparently is listed as such on the birth certificate.”
“Terry? He’ll never take any responsibility for raising a child. He certainly demonstrated that by bringing Chloe here, then announcing that he was leaving on an extended vacation starting immediately.”
Kim had been following the discussion with great interest. “If Terry doesn’t want her, what will happen? Will she become a ward of the state and be put into an orphanage?”
A look of deep concern covered Grant’s face. “I’m afraid that’s probably how it will happen.”
Jared looked at Kim, his eyes pleading as much as his voice. “Let’s adopt her…you and me.”
“What?” The shock quickly filled every corner of her conscious thoughts. His statement had come out of the clear blue, and she wasn’t sure what to say.
Jared pulled her into his arms. “Marry me. We’ll adopt Chloe. We’ll be a real family.”
“Do you realize what you’re saying?” She was afraid to allow her joy to burst into the open, afraid he didn’t understand the full impact of what he had said.
“Yes, I know exactly what I’m saying. I love you. I want you to marry me. I want us to adopt Chloe.”
She threw her arms around his neck as the tears of joy ran down her cheeks. Her happiness welled inside her until there was hardly any room left for her to breathe. “Yes, yes, yes! I’ll marry you!”
He placed a loving kiss on her lips. “I’m now the luckiest man in the world. I have everything I want, everything that’s important…a wife and a daughter to love forever. For the first time in my life I have a real family.”
“Uh…” Grant cleared his throat, but when he didn’t receive a response he made his way toward the front door. “I’ll call you in the morning.”
A moment later the sound of the front door opening and closing filled the room.
Jared held Kim tightly in his embrace. A mischievous grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I was beginning to think he’d never leave.”
She returned his teasing smile. “Me, too.”
“Kimbra Stevens…Mrs. Kimbra Stevens…Mrs. Jared Stevens… I hope you like the sound of those names because they’ll belong to you just as soon as we can make it legal.”
“I love the sound of those names. I love you.”
Jared continued to hold her in his embrace. The warmth and contentment radiated between them and spoke of a deep and lasting love.