AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I…I wanted to thank you, for…bringing Edward to the hospital.”
“Sure.”
Elle glanced at him, and he had the feeling she wanted to say more, but he had no idea what she had in mind. They used to be so close, he could read her mind, but now this woman who’d once been his wife was a black box to him. He couldn’t guess what she was thinking.
“Mark, I know this is hard for you, but…” Emotions strangled Elle’s voice as she paused a minute. “I am so sorry. About Timothy. I think about him every day. And…my daughter is not a replacement for him.”
The admission hit Mark like a ton of bricks. She did still care. He could see that in her tear-filled eyes.
“I’d do anything to go back to that day,” she said. “I want you to know that. I know how badly I messed up, and I’ll live with that guilt forever. And I’ve cut out all the pills. All of them. I just…I just wanted to tell you that.”
Mark nodded. The admission didn’t make his grief any less, but somehow it did loosen up the hardness in his heart he’d built up against her. She’d had a problem, and he knew she had. Maybe he shared some of the blame, too, for leaving her alone with Timothy when he knew she wasn’t 100 percent, when he knew she might slip.
“We both made mistakes,” he admitted.
She smiled. “Want to hold Emma?”
Mark glanced at the tiny baby swaddled in a pink flannel blanket. He felt his heart open a little bit. “Sure,” he said and reached for the tiny bundle. She was fast asleep, poor thing, as he held the little baby in his arms.
“She’s got your nose,” he told Elle, who smiled. “Thank you for letting me hold her.”
“Of course,” Elle said. “She’s your niece.”
The craziness of that fact had only just begun to set in. Mark held the baby for a second longer and then handed her back to her mother. It was all so much to take in—the baby, Elle, Edward. He was on the path to forgiveness, but he also knew there’d be some bumps in the road before he found his destination.
“I’ll go tell Edward it’s his turn to hold the baby,” Mark said.
“Wait, Mark,” she called. “I just want you to know. There’s enough love in your heart for more than just Timothy. Love isn’t finite, and the heart is a big place.”
He ducked out of the hospital room feeling a little bit lighter but also a little bit sadder. There was no doubt that a chapter in his life—the chapter with Elle—was absolutely done. If there’d been any doubts, today quashed them.
Then he turned the corner and he saw Edward standing close to Laura, nearly toe to toe, and he was holding both her hands.
Mark froze. What the…?
Edward was leaning over, whispering something in her ear. His body was entirely too close, and then, he met her gaze, put both hands on her cheeks and leaned forward and gently laid a kiss on her forehead.
It was tender, and he lingered, and then Mark’s whole vision went red.
What the hell was going on?
But then Mark knew exactly what was going on. Edward was being Edward.
He was stealing away something that wasn’t his.
But why wasn’t Laura resisting him? Why wasn’t she putting him off?
No, she wasn’t fighting him. She wasn’t telling him to go to hell. As he watched, he saw her smile up at him tenderly. Surely, he was imagining it all. And yet, that sparkle in her eye, that gratitude. It was the same look she’d given Mark so many times before. He knew her so well, and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, there was a little conspiracy between them.
He felt his blood run cold. He’d been here before. With Elle. He felt that same pit in his stomach he had the day she’d told him she was leaving him, the same feeling of having the wind knocked out of him.
No. Not again. Never again. Mark would see to that once and for all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
EDWARD HAD JUST told her to stay strong for the baby and had kissed her forehead when Mark appeared beside them.
“What’s going on?” he asked—half growled really. Laura hadn’t seen him approach, and she jumped, a little startled, and of course pulled away from Edward, feeling off balance. Had Mark heard the word baby? Did he know what they were talking about? She had to wonder. It made her fidget and feel guilty.
“We were just talking,” Edward said, wary.
“It didn’t look like talking.” Mark’s dark eyes flashed with anger. He was furious. But why was he so mad?
“Mark, what’s wrong?”
“He’s what’s wrong.” Mark nodded at Edward. “Elle just gave birth to your baby and you’re hitting on my girlfriend.”
