Page 77 of A Heart to Find
“I’m so happy, Jared. And I know Elizabeth is looking down and smiling like a crazy woman because her plan to reunite you with your one true love worked. Keira, I don’t know you yet, but I can’t wait to hug you and welcome you to the family!”
Keira tried to smile, but until Jared turned the phone back toward her, she didn’t know if her lips would cooperate.
Luckily, they did.
She couldn’t lie to these people—these kind, welcoming, loving-to-a-total-stranger people.
So she just smiled.
“Keira, do you like dolls? I have a dollhouse and you can play with it. We can play outside with my kitchen and we can color with sidewalk chalk and we can have a sleepova in my fort and?—”
“That all sounds brilliant, my little puffer fish. But the clock just struck seven thirty, and you know what that means…”
“Mr. Purple Bear needs to go to BED!”
Collapsing into a fit of giggles, Hailey danced the real Mr. Purple Bear on the table in front of her while Jared danced his laminated version.
Keira bit back her tangled emotions as she watched Jared being the best father she always knew he could be.
By the time they finished singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star together, Keira had dissolved into a pile of mush.
There was no way she could be friends with him. And there was no way she could not fall head over heels in love with the exuberant little girl who was helping her bear perform “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.”
In too deep. Way too deep.
But she had to be smart for a change. She couldn’t fall into old patterns of letting her emotions rule her.
“Bye-bye, Keira! See you soon!”
Keira blew kisses back to Hailey and smiled a genuine smile as she wished the little girl and Mr. Purple Bear sweet dreams.
Jared said his final goodbyes and disconnected from the call, turning to face Keira with apology written all over his confused face.
“I had no idea.”
“You sounded surprised,” she conceded.
“She was adamant that I commit to going this particular session. She signed me up and told me it was non-refundable and I had to promise her—as she was rapidly approaching death, mind you—that I wouldn’t back out.”
Keira watched him process this bizarre turn of events through a haze of confusion.
He wouldn’t look at her.
After a moment of silence, she worked up the nerve to ask the question that ate at her insides. She had to know. “So it wasn’t your idea to come here?”
He shook his head, still not looking at her.
She inhaled deeply, cursing herself for being so stupid.
When he still didn’t look up, she pushed her chair away from the table and stood, eager to get back to her room where she would stay until she could leave this island and never look back.
His hand shot out and interrupted her departure, grabbing her elbow. He looked up at her through heavy, sorrowful lids and lashes, imploring her to stay without saying a word.
She gulped and shoved the hurt aside. He needed her right now, and though it killed her to know this whole thing had been a farce, she would give him the empathy he needed.
His shoulders relaxed when she sat next to him. “It’s so weird. I want to call her to admonish her for interfering. That’s Elizabeth, though. Always knowing what I needed before I even did.”
Keira struggled to find words, but what could she say? She had too many questions, none of which seemed appropriate when all she wanted to say was she had been a fool to believe her grandmother actually led them here together.
