With a sigh, he let his shoulders slump and gave in. Their magnetic pull called to him and demanded he answer the way they always had growing up. I got sidetracked.” Dillon shrugged and tried to find something, anything, else to look at but Emma’s amber eyes. “So if you’re not married, where exactly is her father?”Įmma stared at him a moment, a blank expression on her face. “The older she gets, the more I’m inclined to agree. “I think Annie looks like Janey when she was a baby, but Janey used to say she looked like her father.” She looked at him and pinned him with an odd, penetrating stare. Something he couldn’t identify flashed in her eyes, but she lowered her gaze again and shook her head. Annie was in the middle, with a wild blazing red ’do that stuck straight out from her head.Įmma’s gaze snapped to his. Emma’s was more of an auburn, a deep reddish brown. “She looks like you.” She had a full head of the thick red hair all the Stanton women had. Janey used to call her Bellie, because she has a nice round belly to match those cheeks of hers.” She laughed softly, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. “This,” Emma beamed like a proud mother hen, “is Annabelle. “So.” Dillon stepped forward and eyed the sleepy baby. In fact, he couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t taking care of someone. She was one of the strongest women he knew, and completely selfless.

That was definitely the Emma he grew up with. Besides, I have her now.” With a wistful smile, she laid her head against the baby’s. “How are you holding up?'Įmma turned to him, her eyes brimming with tears, but offered a brave smile. She stared at the floor, both arms now wrapped tightly around the baby, like the child provided a lifeline. “God, I’m going to miss her.” The words left his mouth before he realized he’d spoken them out loud. Never get to hear her laugh or see her smile or even to see that wickedness dance in her eyes when she was up to no good. He’d never get another chance to make things right between them. He still couldn’t believe Janey was dead. She had a similar one right before she dropped the news about Janey.

The odd tone of Emma’s voice made his stomach knot. “You’d be surprised what you can do when you have to.” All you have to do is love them.” She shrugged a shoulder and smiled at the baby. He found life easier that way.Įmma slowly turned to face him, her hips rocking from side to side. These days he intended to avoid marriage altogether. Until he learned the hard way, Leila was yet another woman who saw him like a means to his bank account. He wanted the marriage and family thing once, thought he was ready to take that walk. Watching her, long buried desires floated to the surface.

The Playboy's Baby by J.M. Stewart