Anna woke to a splitting headache the next morning. She lay in bed feeling sad and lonely. Hearing Zack running down the hall, she tried to shake off her melancholia so not to upset her son. He’d be unhappy enough when he finally realized Myles was out of their lives.
“Hi,” he said, peeping around her door.
“Hi, yourself, little man. Come snuggle with me,” she said.
He raced across the room and bound up into the bed. They snuggled together for a few minutes—all he could spare from his busy activities.
“I want to go to the park,” he said, wiggling around.
“Okay, after we do some tidying up.”
“’Kay.”
He struggled to get down.
“Let’s eat breakfast,” he urged.
“I’ll be right there. Don’t climb up on the counter.”
The last thing Anna wanted to do was move an inch. But she couldn’t lie in bed the rest of her life. Today would be the first without Myles.
She remembered when she’d had the first without Tom. The ache was just as piercing.
She’d have to tell Edith today that they wouldn’t be moving. She knew the older woman had been happy with the expectation of change.
Life would go along as it had. She’d stay in the poky apartment, fearing for Zack’s safety as he grew older and began going outside by himself.
She’d pinch pennies to make ends meet. And sit in lonely silence in the evening hours once Zack was in bed.
Tears welled again. How could she stand it?
“Oh, Myles, why wasn’t I enough?” she said softly, getting up to get dressed.
Once breakfast was finished, the apartment had been vacuumed and dusted and Zack dressed, Anna gathered their things for a trip to the park. She wouldn’t disrupt her son’s routines. He asked for so little, and she wished she could shower him with all everything he ever wanted.
The day was already warm and would probably be uncomfortably hot by mid afternoon. But at this late morning hour, it was pleasant.
Anna held Zack’s hand until they reached the park. He took off running to play with the children at the playground. She crossed the grass more slowly and sat on one end of a bench that held an older man who was watching the children. Probably a proud grandfather, she thought, smiling politely as she sat down. Her father loved to take Zack to the playground when her parents visited.
Time seemed to pass slowly as she mindlessly watched her son. If he needed her, she’d be there in an instant. Otherwise, she was content to let him interact with the other children. He’d look over occasionally and she’d wave. He played well with others and from the shrieks of laughter, she knew they all enjoyed themselves.
Suddenly, he got off the slide and began running across the grass. Anna jumped up. Was he chasing after someone who looked like Tom again? She passed the older gentleman and stopped, recognizing Myles heading toward her.
Zack ran to him and Myles leaned over and picked him up, tossing him into the air. Anna could hear his laughter from where she stood.
Her heart pounded. What was Myles doing here? Why had he come?
He settled Zack on one arm, talking to him as they walked steadily toward Anna. She wanted to run away and hide. Or stay and rail against him for letting her fall in love with him when he hadn’t fallen in love with her.
For raising her hopes and dreams only to have them smashed into dust.
When he drew closer, he put Zack on his feet and urged him back to the playground. His gaze caught hers and he walked purposefully toward her.
“Hi,” he said.
She couldn’t respond. Instead, she turned and went back to sit down, ignoring him completely. She was afraid to say anything lest tears began and never stopped.
Not deterred, Myles came and sat beside her. The older man glanced at them, then resumed watching the children.
“We need to talk,” he said.
She shot him a look and shook her head.
“I think we said all we needed to say last night.”
“Not by a long shot,” he said.
She shifted slightly, turning her shoulder to him. Maybe she should get Zack and return home.
He reached out and took her hand. When she tried to snatch it away, he held firm.
“I want you to marry me. I want us to be a family. I want to raise Zack as my own.”
“He’s not yours.”
“I didn’t say he was, I said as my own.”
“Go find your own son.”
“Maybe. In time.”
She looked at him, curious.
“Why not now?”
“I have to get this straightened out first. Time enough later to see if that boy is happy and doing well. Which is what I started out doing here. I was only going to walk by the school, see Zack, and then move on. Fate, angels, whatever changed that when you asked me for help. One thing led to another.”
She looked away, thinking about how she’d fallen in love with the man and he’d been there for a different reason.
“When Zack ran to greet me just a moment ago, love pure and simple shone from his eyes.”
“He loves you.”
“And you love me. Funny. All my life I wanted someone to love me, really love me. And when it happened, I didn’t even see it.”
Anna felt her eyes moisten with tears again. How sad to long for love. Every child should at least have that. Myles hadn’t.
“Love grows best when it’s returned,” she mumbled, swallowing hard, trying to prevent the tears from spilling over.
“I walked all the way back to my hotel last night, stunned that you’d turned me out. It gave me a taste of what life would be like without you in it forever. I can’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“Face life without you. I’m not good at this, Anna. I love you. The feelings I have for you are stronger than any I’ve ever had before. I may not be good at it, but I think these feelings will last a lifetime.”
“You’re just saying that. You managed fine all your life before finding me. You’ll do fine the rest of your life without me,” she said.
“But why should I? I love you. You love me. Let’s get married. Build the future together. Grow old together.”
“Good idea,” the older man said. “Love doesn’t come to everyone more than once. By the child you have, I’m guessing this is your second chance, ma’am. I never got it. My wife died thirty years ago. My one daughter and now her children are all I have. I wish I’d met another woman I wanted to spend my life with.”
Anna looked around Myles at the man.
“He only wanted me because he thought Zack was his son.”
“Doesn’t sound like it now,” the man countered.
She blinked and looked at Myles. “Do you really love me?”
“Oh sweetheart, you don’t know how much,” he said, drawing her into his arms and kissing her soundly.
Zack called something from the playground, but Anna couldn’t hear him. She only heard the beating of her heart as she returned Myles’s kisses. From the depths of despair to the heights of joy in an instant. Was this real?
“So you’ll marry me as planned?” Myles asked a moment later.
She hesitated only a second, then nodded, feeling fearful and excited at the same time.
“Let me be the first to wish you both a long and happy life together,” the older man said.
He smiled at them, then rose and beckoned to two children. They ran to him, calling him Grandpa, and the trio walked away from the park.
“I love you,” Myles said, holding her close. “I’ll do anything to make up for the heartache of last night.”
“You don’t need to do anything, not if you truly love me. That’s all I wanted. But what about your quest for your child?”
“Maybe together we can find him and make sure he’s okay. Love, not only biology, formed families. If he’s happy in his adoptive home, why would I want to wrest that from him? Maybe later we can approach them and let them know who we are and that we would always be available if he wants some kind of relationship. His parents may not wish that. Which, hard as it is to think about, would be okay. I wouldn’t rock his security for anything. Look at what happened to Zack when Tom died. I never want another child to go through something like that.”
“Zack adores you. I was so scared for him when I thought you were out of our lives. Those hours last night were the worst I’ve had in years,” Anna said.
“I never expected to find a woman like you. Never thought of myself as a married man. But now I can’t wait. I’ll be getting a wife and son all at once. And maybe we can add to our family when the time is right.”
“Works for me. I always wanted several children. I’d love to have a baby with you.”
“I would, too, but I would never love it more than Zack.”
“No, the good thing about love is that it’s infinite. You’ll love our next child as much, and the one after that as well.”
“How many are we going to have?” Myles asked.
“As many as we want and can afford. I would not mind adopting one or two, either, and having some of our own.”
“Then the sky’s the limit, my love.” He kissed her.