Page 121 of Broken Destiny

My wedding.

Tatiana.

The future I had spent months planning.

Because sitting here with Jiya and the children felt more natural than anything else in my life.

I lifted my gaze and looked across the table at each of them.

At Lucas, who was laughing with juice smeared across his chin.

At Emma, who was swinging her legs happily beneath the chair.

At Jiya, whose smile lit up the entire space around her.

A deep longing took root inside my chest.

I wanted this.

Them.

35

JIYA

The drive back from the farm was peaceful and scenic. Golden sunlight stretched across the open fields while rows of trees swayed gently in the afternoon breeze. Small roadside stands selling fresh fruit and flowers passed by as the distant mountains rose against the clear blue sky.

Lucas and Emma chatted excitedly in the back seat about the animals they had fed while Caleb laughed along with them.

I still could not believe how natural it felt being around him again, as though the years and distance between us had quietly disappeared. Lucas had opened up to him so easily, Emma already adored him, and even Geeta had taken a liking to him.

She had said as much that morning before we left the house.

“He’s a good man,” Geeta had told me while helping the children get ready to meet Caleb for breakfast.

And that was the problem.

A good man who had once been mine. A good man who was going to marry someone else. A good man who would soon walk away from my life again, perhaps forever, except for work. Maybe not even that.

I needed to be honest and tell him about our daughter. Hedeserved to know the truth, no matter what his reaction would be afterward. Even if he walked away again, he still had the right to know his daughter. He might want to see his daughter, to hold her, to be part of her life. I could not deny him that simply because I was afraid of losing him all over again.

“Joining us tonight?” I asked. “If you’re not too busy?”

“You sure?” he asked, glancing briefly in my direction.

Of course, I wanted him there. I wished he could be there all the time—every day, every minute, every second—but I could not say that out loud. I no longer had the right to make those claims on his life.

“The children would be happy,” I replied, turning my face away from his sparkling blue-green eyes.

“You guys want me there?” Caleb asked, looking back at the children.

“Yes! Yes!” Emma squeaked. “Tea party and chicka nugs.”

“You’ve got to try the lobster at Mama’s restaurant,” Lucas added. “I love it!”

Caleb laughed. “All right then, I’ll be there.”

We reached my house, and Caleb parked the car in the driveway.